Hi all, have had some great inspiration off here so thought I could hopefully tap into your resources even more - (my first post so please be gentle!)

Due to the power of facebook I have been asked to make a 21st birthday cake for a relative of a friend. I have been making cakes properly for about a year now and have taken two evening courses in cake decorating so this is a chance to really showcase my new skills.

I will only be charging her cost for this as I would like to get my name out there. The problem is she has asked for a 2 and a 1, in white fondant with green ribbon around the numbers. That is it.

I am confident in my skills of producing good fondant work so have no issue with that. I just think it will look boring and plain.

Any idea how I can make this look a bit more "showy" as this could be a great door opener to lots of her family?? She is happy for me to do whatever, but it is for a man so can't be too delicate.

A 2 and and a 1??? Please elaborate.

I think she means the number 21 in fondant is all that she has asked for.
Maybe she likes clean and non-fussy?
I would show her some pics of other cakes that you can make as an idea or even find some cute ones in the galleries here and see if she likes something there.

If she still wants "simple" enjoy it...less work for you

ohhhhhh- for a 21st birthday!!! Duhhhh

Note to self- drink entire cup of coffee before answering posts!

Maybe an interesting border - multi stripes, dots, etc. Maybe one single flower? Tough for a man. Just because you don't do a lot of work doesn't mean it won't be elegant.

You could use a really cool paper to decorate your cake board and cover with food-safe cello or contact paper.

I feel your pain on this one. I just added one to my photo file Monday that I feel is super boring. They just wanted something they could "cut and eat that tasted good"... It was a 16th birthday cake for twin girls and one is girly, one not so much. Only thing I was told is that they could agree on the color purple. Wasn't even supplied their names so that I could at least write that on there. Told the aunt to keep me in mind for their 18th birthday or HS graduation and each one would get their own cake to suit their individual personalities.

Thanks so much for your idea Bethasd

I did a lovely elegant 50th wedding anniversary cake last week, i just feel that at a large 21st party a plain cake will look awful.

I might run with the green theme and do stripes up the side of the numbers in different shades of co-ordinating green providing i can bake the numbers high enough.

Havent used number pans before - what is the best way to line the bottoms so the mixture doesn't run out?

thanks so far x

I like the idea of making the ribbon border more interesting with stripes or texture.

Also, I don't know what the number pans look like, but you could also carve the top of the cakes so that the outside border of the number is slightly more raised, I can't find a picture right now to illustrate, but I'll keep looking.

you could cover the board in camo colours and use the brick wall or clobe stone impression mat to make impressions around the cake letters.

I would talk more with the person who ordered the cake, and find out a little bit about the tastes and interests of the recipient... Be careful about incorporating patterns without asking (camo might be a risk if he is anti-hunting, lol.) Perhaps he just loves things that are really simple. I think the cake could look very stylish and elegant, especially if you use a bold or bright green that really pops, and make the 21 in a really cool font. I'm sure whatever you choose, he'll love it! Best of luck.

this is for a girl, right? why not do a black and white zebra cake --or even black polka dots on white with a lime green fondant border with a bow around the base and your green and white 21 on top? Or loopy green bow on top and the 21 on the side...or coming out of the top of the bow on top....actually there's a really cute cake that I saved from another CC'er that you could adapt to fit your needs that I was thinking of when I mentioned polka dots:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1580242.html

Hope this helps!

Just wanted to thank everyone for your input. The cake is in my photos and im pleased with how it turned out. Most importantly, the customer was really happy with it

Thanks again x