Ok, I had a customer place an order for just a generic birthday cake to surprise her son. Its going to be delivered where he works...at a major law firm in down town Orlando.

She really didnt care what it looked like at all. She couldnt even tell me any colors she wanted. She just wanted it to say happy birthday with his name.

So, Im thinking Ill just do a simple buttercream frosted birthday cake. But then I thought, oh heck no. That's what I did when I worked at a grocery store.....PLUS this is going to a huge law firm. The way I feel, every cake I do is an advertisement for my business. So Im thinking I may do something nicer than just a grocery store looking grab and go cake.

Its going to be a 9" round. Any ideas how I can make a nice, "generic" birthday cake...probably with fondant so it looks more impressive. I have no clue what to make though that wont look to kiddish. Its for a 22 year old.

Ideas???

How about a gift box cake with bright colors and a loopy bow. Good Luck!!

Maybe make some books out of fondant to set on top and label them 'Tax Law' or 'Personal Injury Law' or something to that effect? You can also roll out some fondant pretty thin and shape it like a manilla folder or something and maybe if you can write small enough, write 'Jason vs Age 22' or something like that? Or maybe a briefcase instead of law books. Or a couple of law books sitting on a briefcase?

Edited to say: Jason being used as a substitue for the man's name. Also, I realized after posting, these suggestions aren't all that generic... Sorry!

Oh cool ideas!!

IMO, You can't go wrong with modern masculine bold prints... stripes or dots or even argyle.

I love this black/gold cake by MayWest.

Since you want this cake to showcase your talent, what pattern or design or technique are you really, really good at? If it's too feminine, then square up the curves, or substitute simple cut-outs for flowers, etc. As for colors, pick a combination that will attract attention, in a good way of course. Most of all, HAVE FUN WITH IT! The recipient and his officemates will be able to tell that you enjoyed making the cake, weird, but true, and in turn they will enjoy it... and then coming barging through your door for cakes of their own.

Wow I love both ideas....considering she is only paying $70.00 with delivery, I may opt for the easier gift box idea. Maybe blue, green, and yellow? That's guy-ish, right?

DH would prefer blue and green. LOL "no yellow" he says.

Hi, Blue, green and yellow would work. But that black and gold cake by MayWest is really cool and I bet you can make a gift box using those colors. I guess it really depends on if you want to make it spunky and fun or sophisticated and mature. I hope you get more business out of this!

masculine gift cake!
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1444952 You can easily pick a tier design and incorporate it with your colors. (I love the "lid" aspect of it.)

Black and gold is really nice. Hmm...maybe darker colors are more sophisticated for a male? The thought of working with black fondant isnt all that appealing though. Last time I made black fondant it dissolved in my hands from all the dye I had to add. I wont have time to order black fondant.

Maybe Ill go to the law firms website and see if they have company colors....

Could you start out with chocolate MMF and then dye it black from there? Then you wouldn't have to use so much dye.

I just noticed you posted that black and gold cake. That is very nice.

I think I may stick to something fun though...only because the mom requested a generic birthday cake...something with black and gold colors probably wouldnt fit under that category.

Honesty...I dont know what Im really good at. Ive only been doing this two years and I get lots of requests for all sorts of different cakes. Usually whimsical or carved, etc. There isnt really a type of cake I do more than the others.

I think I may just do a simple package with stripes...maybe darker green, blue, and gold (instead of yellow)?

I appreciate everyone's suggestions. I dont know why a package cake didnt come to mind. That's why I love you guys. <3

The company colors are red, white and blue. i think Ill pass on that.

Ive actually never made box with a lid before. How do you guys make the lid for it? Is it just an extra piece of fondant laying on top? Do you cut a square piece for the top and just add strips around the sides?

I'm sure you'll do a great job with whatever you decide, but personally I like gold/black better -- it's just as masculine and it's more refined, which is what you seem to be going for. It's just fine for "generic," too. I'm guessing that when she said she wanted generic she meant she didn't have a specific theme or colors in mind, not necessarily that she is opposed to any great ideas you might have. Oh, and if you don't want to do black, you could use dark brown instead. It would look just as nice, and I think it's more appetizing on a cake.

Instead of black fondant why not make dark modeling chocolate and add black POWDERED food coloring. It's tasty and is great to cover cakes with. Not to mention super easy to make

If you're in Orlando, can't you go to Jester's in Kissimmee for fondant? Aside from that, could you ask her what his favorite food is (like an oreo cookie!) and make a 3d cake designed to look like it?

I order from Jester's all the time. I love them. Ive only been there once though because they are so far from me. D&G is closer to me, but still like an hour and a half from me. I live in the boonies, but I work in the Orlando area mostly. I dont really want to make a 3 hour round trip there tomorrow, plus I have to go grocery shopping for the supplies (and family )

I think I figured out what Im going to do. Ill be making it tomorrow Ill post photos when Im done for your critique. Thanks guys!

Oh poot. I wish I'd seen this before now. Books are really easy to do. You could easily to a sheet cake & cover in buttercream if you don't want to use fondant. Then you could write the name of the firm on the book cover. I did the Western KY cake in my photos (but it was an open book, yet sooo easy to do!!!). I can't really say how many guys would like a gift box. Those are more feminine to me (not knocking everyone's suggestions). But if my man were to choose he'd rather have a cake w/ stripes, no bow whatsoever. And I'd go w/ ivory as a base, blue, green &/or brown. Guys are sooo hard to make a cake for!

And I like this one, even though it has a bow

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1521459

Can't wait to see what you make

How about a chocolate transfer or chocolate curls type of thing??? They're pretty generic...

the ideas all sound fab. But what's the customer's budget?

I wish I could've gone there! I was in Kissimmee on vacation last week, but ALL of my kids were incredibly sick and I couldn't stop. There are no cake supply shops near me in NY, so I would've loved to get lost in there for a while! Good luck with your cake!

Ok, I think its ok. I hated the bow. Couldnt get it to stand up for the life of me, but oh well. It was my first time making a gift box cake. I didnt know how to do the lid, but it turned out ok I guess.

I think its fun, but still masculine. It looks like a guy's birthday cake to me. My hubby said it was acceptable in his eyes (although he would have prefered a chewbacca cake if it was his b-day!) so...here it is.

EDIT: As you can see, I took all the "black and gold" suggestions, but I wanted something bright in there too.

I like the stripes! I'm sure he'll love it!

I think it turned out great! A lot of people do the closed lid gift box cakes - the open lid ones take more time and would be more expensive for the customer anyway! I was trying to decide on a 30th birthday theme for my brother (party tomorrow - okay, can you say "procrastinate?") and this may be a good idea for him too

For your first it's great. Next time make the loops ahead and let them dry a bit w/ tissue or paper towels in between the loops. If you have some tylose powder add it to your fondant and it will aid in the drying time. But I'm sure he'll love it!

I only had a day notice with this customer. No time for it to dry, and I did add tylose. But in my experience, it doesnt seem tylose helps very much when using MMF. Honestly I should have done gumpaste...and I was going to, but I made a split second decision to use tylose instead. Ive learned my lesson. Oh and I did have paper towels in the loops too. I finished the cake at 5pm the day before, and by 9am the next morning I had to take them out for delivery and they collapsed.


Anyway, the customer absolutly LOVED it! I got THE BEST email from her this morning! Dont ya love that?

I've noticed I have to add more tylose to MMF (about 1/8 tsp for spit a golf ball size). Then put them in the oven with the light on. The heat aids in the drying. I you have time to roll out a couple of loops one day just to see I it works for you. I also like to put them on parchment on a cooling rack so the air can circulate. A days notice sucks! But nice emails are great!

The cake is really, really cool -- you deserved the nice e-mail!