I'm looking to make a cake for my favorite co-worker. She's a bartender, if that makes any difference. I was originally going to do a floral cake, but she is taken (and I'm male) and I don't want to get into any trouble! My cake-creating skills are anything but developed...so something easy is what I am looking to do. I'm willing to put any amount of time into this; she's that important but again, I don't have the skills to do a life-size replica of the Taj Mahal. I want to complete it by Sunday, so I have a few days to do this.

I'm looking for any and all ideas possible! Ideally, I'm looking to make a buttercream cake (no fondant) but can use decorating/royal icing. I have various Wilton tips, decorating bags, cake torter, meringue powder, coloring, etc.

A second option, since she has been eating very healthy, is to make something all-healthy (kind of like a cake made from the ingredients in a Larabar, if you are at all familiar. I just think the presentation would be a bit bland. Besides, everyone can splurge on their birthday, right??

Any help (directions, ideas, photos, links, etc) is VERY WELCOME!

Was just doing some googling and came across this:

http://www.thesugarsyndicate.com/portfolio_birthday_09.htm

My gosh, that is GORGEOUS! Looks too hard for me...but man I'd love to accomplish something like that!

Does she have a favorite mixed drink? Or does she like any liquor in particular? Make a simple cake but add a liquor flavor to the buttercream and simple syrup.

A nice bow

How about something like this?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/night_owl_designz/4997954050/

You could do one tier with a simple ribbon - - that's about as simple and easy as it gets.

Thanks all for the suggestions!

Not sure what her favorite drink is :/ I don't see her drinking much at all.

Still trying to decide, but all your ideas are much appreciated

Have you thought of gelatin bubbles? They aren't very difficult, just take some practice (like everything else), and are very impressive. They can be any color, any number, on a small, medium, or large cake. See:
http://sugarartbytami.com/tutorials/Gelatintutorial.pdf
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-706711.html

The healthiest option is also very, very simple. Not really in-your-face decorated, but good.

Angel food cake with fresh berries and REAL whipped cream.

How about the iambaker rossette cake? It is easy peasy and all buttercream. Or maybe the mycakeschool.com petal cake? Easy as well and all buttercream.
You should check their sites. Lots of great ideas. Good luck and can't wait to see what you do.

I did a candle cake for Christmas that got rave reviews. The icing was easy because I gave it a textured look. I bought some fake tealights to stick in the cake. You can add some decore around the bottom. It's extremely easy and takes little to no time. I had a couple of people at the party think it was a real candle so they were impressed. Most women like candles and not just for romance. You can also make it any color or shape. Good luck!

Thanks Apti. It was so easy, it was one of my favorites.

Classie - I think you can do whatever. You are making a cake for a friend. If you want to add flowers, then do so. Flowers don't have to be romantic. If you feel awkward, make a hat box cake and add your flowers in. Or even a tree stump cake and add flowers. Have fun and if there's something you've been wanting to try, then do it.

Yes, do a rosette cake. Here's an example of one: http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2075179/rosette-cake. You can leave your buttercream white or color it pink or any other color. This was the first thing I taught a friend to do and she decorated the cake on her own within 5 minutes of me showing her how to do it.

Just use a 1M tip (it's large). When you make your swirl, start at the middle of the rose and work outward. Just continue doing that until you have covered the entire cake. You'll look like a pro and it'll only take you a very short time to make it. She'll love it. Brides are asking for this design on their cakes now too.

How about some fancy writing sort of like these?:
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1362506/best-wishes
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1319367/generic-design-for-man
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1317618/red-white-blue

OR humor like this:
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1333233/hot-dog-birthday-time
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1317831/no-clowning

Here/s another idea:
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1300407/birthday-cake-photos

Thanks again for all the wonderful suggestions!

I do like the rosette cake...never heard of it before but that looks pretty nifty!

Found this by googling...looks so simple:

http://www.dwellingsbydevore.com/2011/10/rosette-cake-tutorial.html

Still nervous to do a "flowery" cake, but I'll have to try it one of these days...if not now then for someone I'm less afraid of!

If you do the rosette cake, just practice a couple rosettes on a piece of waxed paper first. You'll feel very comfortable very quickly and you can make your cake look like the one in the tutorial page you had. And you'll be thrilled you did such a beautiful cake for her without it being so overtly "flowery". Please post your completed cake, whatever design you choose. Have fun with it.

Every girl would like the rosette cake! So pretty! If not that, basketweave is very impressive and not so very hard. You could make a basketweave cake around the sides....some flowers around the top. Flowers on a cake is not the same as giving a girl flowers. And you can pass it off as Easter or spring.

Good luck!