I've seen a lot of people do the Wilton cross pan on top of a sheet cake, with flowers...
When my father died, I took a picture of him and when to the local supermarket and asked them to make me an edible image. I cut out mostly around his head and shoulders. I put that in the center of a round cake and put a basketweave on the sides. If I can find the picture I'll post it. I just wrote "In Loving Memory Of". Just kind of simple.
The pink heart in my pictures was my farewell to a friend...
Sounds like a good way to go for a funeral.
I've seen everything from a white sheet cake with black roses to tiered/stacked cakes done in all black with a black floral gumpaste sprays with write writing.
My first thought was "good grief" on the more extravagent ones but then an elderly lady tottled over with her walker and said "I just had to look at the cake, it's the center of any event and that's one amazing cake I can't wait to get me a piece of it and hork it down" (yes she said "hork")
That was when it hit me and I was yet again reminded that even at a funeral/memorial dinner the cake is still the center of attraction in regardless of the reason for the gathering.
You need to ask the person you are doing the order for what part of the personality of the deceased they want the cake to showcase. At first I was surprised by the requests but soon realized the trend for funerals is to celebrate life and not sit and weep. The most amazing request I had was last fall for the funeral of a 86 year old lady. Apparently this lady loved watching car races and loved a certain driver, can't remember which one right now, and also loved her snifter of brandy every evening. They had me make the race car exactly like the drivers and make a fondant replica of her driving the car with her hand out the window holding snifter of brandy. The message was...
May the Angels guide you on your Highway in Heaven.
Apparently everyone loved it.
I have done a couple and my thought has always been to do something pretty and seasonal (not a spring flower basket in Nov or tulips in Oct etc)
I make it generic.......usually just a pretty floral.
My reasoning has been you want something to brighten up a very emotional day. The cake is for the living.......keep it light and pretty.
This is kind of funny because I was just at a funeral last week, and noticed how pretty the coffin was...pink with silver tulips on the corners and such a beautiful spray of flowers and I thought to myself "oh, I could make that into a cake. Wouldn't that be pretty?" In my mind, I was figuring out how to make the handles, how to prop the lid, and all the other technical aspects, and then I realized, "Duh, you can't make a COFFIN CAKE! That would be disturbing!"
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