Everyday candies make ideal toppings for detailing cakes.
Save money by making a homemade cake for parties, summer break or holidays. Craft a cake particular to a special honoree or in commemoration of a big date. Enjoy quality time with the kids by encouraging them to help complete final details. If decorating requires intricate steps, enlarge a photo of the finished cake for visual reference in the kitchen. Does this Spark an idea?
Boom Box
Make your favorite teenager a boom box cake for his birthday. Make two loaf-shaped cakes in any flavor. Build the box by cutting off a long side on one loaf, frost the other loaf to that open space and then prop the full loaf up on top of the extra piece. Cover the entire cake in yellow. Place two large chocolate mint patties--one on each side--to act as speakers, line the outer edges of the box with licorice for trim, and add candies to look like program buttons. Stick two candles on top for antennae and use fruit snack strips to resemble a CD spot.
Hamburger
Whether you're baking a cake for a summer barbecue or winter birthday party, a hamburger cake is twice as tasty as the real deal. Bake four yellow mix cakes in round, 9-by-13-inch pans; two are for the buns and one for the patty. Layer the top of the bottom bun with white frosting to resemble mayonnaise and cover the middle layer with chocolate to resemble the patty. Color coconut shavings green and sprinkle them on as lettuce; add yellow and red for the condiments. Flatten red and green gum drops and place on the cake as tomatoes and pickles. Scatter puffed rice on the top bun to create sesame seeds. Cut a fourth yellow cake into strips and squirt a pile of red frosting on top to resemble french fries with ketchup on the side.
Bowling Lane
Accentuate any party, sleepover or momentous celebration with a bowling lane cake. Line up two 13-by-9-inch cakes to form one long lane shape. Trim off the sides to create an angular, tapered shape and stack a 4-inch-long and 1 1/2-inch-wide piece on each side at the wide end. Use frosting to stick all pieces together and then cover the entire cake. Add red frosting stripes on both sides to emphasize lane trim. Frost the top spare pieces with white and add gum for fun-looking balls. Place licorice as a foul line, adding chocolate chips in a triangle shape. Ten candles sit at the opposite end, doubling as pins.
Tags: entire cake, frosting resemble, with white