From the age of one to 101, I think we can all agree that
If you’re looking for a successful birthday, fun themes and numerical cake shapes are the perfect formula. With the help of this amazing list, you too can create a memorable cake for your special someone.
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1. Build A Number Shaped Cake
Let’s start this list off on the right foot. You can’t create number cakes if you don’t know how. The image above from Today’s Parent shows you how to construct your own number-shaped cake! Just follow the guide above for what kind of pans to use and how to cut the cakes. Once they’re cut, it’s a simple matter of sticking the pieces together to form whatever number you need! So much fun!
2. Arrange Cupcakes in a Number Shape
If your special someone isn’t one for large cakes, why not hand these out for the party? I won’t spend much time with this number cakes idea since the title pretty sums it up for me.
You make your cupcakes, enough to arrange into the number you need, and then you’re done! Easy peasy!
3. Update A Store-Bought Cake
This is a fantastic way to decorate a birthday cake! The best part is you don’t even have to worry about baking it. Simply buy a store-bought cake and design it however you want!
If you’re not sure what to do decorating-wise, check out the image above. That’s an awesome idea for a birthday cake! All you need to do is cut out the number shapes from the cake, and then fill the whole with candy, or ice cream, or whatever you want! Whoever it goes to, they’ll love it!
4. Polka Dot Delight
This design - like most on this list - can be accomplished in multiple ways. You can use the template from earlier to shape yourself a number cake and then decorate it with polka dots, or take a classic cake shape and use polka dots to make the age number. Who doesn’t like polka dots!?
Polka dots are a lot simpler to make then most people think. If you can get your hand on some fondant icing then all you need to do is cut circles out of it. Easy as that. Place them sporadically on your cake and you’re done!
5. Make A Drip Cake
Drip cakes have been the spectacular cake decorating feat in the last few years, and for good reason. They look amazing! To give your cake a little more pizzazz for the big day, why not stick some confetti on the sides to make everything really pop!
The key to drip cakes is too not use too much icing that it fully covers the sides. You want just enough to make those great drips like in the picture above. Stick the numbers on top and you’ve got an envy-inducing cake for all your loved ones to marvel at.
6. Add Fruit
Fruit always make desserts look a thousand times fancier than they were before you put those sliced strawberries on top. Plus, they’re delicious and give the cake a nice fruity juiciness!
You can add whatever fruit you want to a simple number-shaped cake, or take a classic cake and arrange your fruit into the number. When it comes to decorating, there is no wrong answer. Especially when fruit is involved!
7. King of the Hill Cake
No, I’m not talking about a cake decorated like the beloved cartoon (although that would be pretty cool). I call this decorating technique king of the hill because you place a picture, or - if you’ve got the sculpting skills - a small fondant sculpture of the birthday boy/girl on top of a layered cake. The cake itself can be themed with whatever the special someone enjoys (music, comics, a favorite movie, etc.).
8. Add Some Candy
Just like the fruit, you can also add candy to make the day just a little bit sweeter! I say it’d be better to use the favorite candy of the person receiving the cake, but if you’re not sure, go for the most colorful. That’s always a safe bet. The more bright colors, the more exciting a cake can look. Plus, it’s candy, you can’t really go wrong with this one.
9. Get Romantic With It
This is one of the number cakes that is sure to put a smile on whoever it goes to! If you don’t want to go quite as extravagant as the picture above, I recommend opting for just the hearts. That way, you still get all the love you want on there, and it’ll give a clean and simple look to the cake.
Of course, it’s up to you. If you want to go all out to show off how much you love someone, there’s never too much you can do!
10. Mini Square Number Cakes
This is a really neat idea for number cakes I’ve personally never seen before. The way this works is you make small, one-serving cakes. Each with their own number decoration on them. This way, there’s no need to messy anything up with a large knife slicing through all your hard work.
Think finger foods, but with cake! Enough said.
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11. A Floral Touch
To this day, I have no idea how it’s possible to make beautifully delicate-looking flowers out of sugar and icing, but I love it! Just one flower brings a whole new level to any dessert. They really bring out a subtle classiness to everything, but without overdoing to look tacky.
I love this cake above because they incorporated berries to the cake as well, and it looks amazing! What do you think?
12. Use Powdered Sugar
Powdered sugar is a long-known tool in baking. You can use it in two different ways to make this cake work: either lay a stencil down to fill in with the sugar, which looks fantastic, or lay cut outs down and use the sugar to fill in the space around the number(s).
Whichever option you go for, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much powdered sugar adds to the cake. I know I always am. You don’t even have to add anything else to the cake. That’s how useful powdered sugar is as a decoration!
13. A Combo That Can’t Be Beat
Chocolate and strawberries is known far and wide as a combo that says, “I love you,” to whoever you give it to. This chef even dipped some of their strawberries in chocolate before adding them to the cake. Then, a few sliced candy bars and some macaroons later, you’ve got a gorgeous looking cake! You may actually avoid needing to get a birthday gift if you walk in with this!
14. Find The Craziest Cake Topper
Cake toppers can come in all shapes and sizes! Hundreds of new designs are being created all the time, so it can be hard to choose the perfect one. The good thing is they’re also pretty cheap to make, so you can buy multiples to compare on top of your cake. Whatever you don’t use, save it! There’s always a birthday cake in need of a topper somewhere.
15. Cookies & Cream
Another combo that is to die for! This simple number cake is topped with Oreo’s (big and small) and pieces of Cookies & Cream Hershey’s chocolate bars. I don’t know about you, but for my next birthday, this is what I’m asking for! Maybe not this one specifically, I’m a little older than 5, but I’ll enjoy this number cake all the same!
16. Find The Perfect Theme
Finding the perfect theme to a cake shows that you truly know the person you’re giving it to. What are their interests? Do they have a favorite movie, book series? Nailing the theme and implementing it throughout the cake is a huge accomplishment, and it doesn’t take too much. A small reference here and there is all you’ll need to be crowned number 1 friend/sister/mother/daughter for all time!
17. Add Some Class
A little class never hurt anyone, and it looks so great. This is a great design idea for an older birthday, but it’s not restricted to the younger crowd. When trying for a classy look, pearls are almost always a must! Pearls give number cakes - and the recipient - a sort of respect that’s nice and subtle. I mean, when do you see things with pearls on them? They’re a fancier addition to designs, and so easy to get for cakes. So why not?
18. Classic Birthday Cake
There’s nothing wrong with going completely old school for a birthday. It’s still cake, right? A nice, rectangular cake, some icing on top, and however many candles you need to match the age. Arrange your candles in the number if you can, if not; oh well.
No one will be upset if you walk in with a simple cake. Everyone loves cake! The fancy decorations are just the, well, they’re just the icing on the cake. The icing on top of the actual icing, I guess.
19. Bring Out The Inner Party Animal
If you’re going out of your way to make number cakes, why not make it fun? What’s the special someone’s favorite animal? That’s an easy way to decorate a super fun cake that everyone will enjoy! A few stripes here, some spots there, maybe a fin or two. Everyone’s got a favorite animal, and with a quick image search, you’ll know exactly how to decorate a cake to look like it!
20. Go For Simplicity
As I said before, simple can be just as good - if not better - than the fanciest of number cakes with all the decorations and pizzazz. Get your number cake, and add a couple sugar flowers on top, or make a few quick zig-zags over the top with icing.
When it comes to being simple with number cakes, there’s hundreds of things you can do. Especially if you’re using a number-shaped cake. It’s already different than normal cakes, so now you just need to add that one thing to bring it over the top. No wrong answers.
21. Go All Out
Now we’re going to the other side of the spectrum of simplicity and all out cake decorations! This cake is for a birthday. A celebration of someone you love! Why wouldn’t you want to go all out with the cake decorating? Make it layered, and give each layer it’s own unique design, then top it all off with a spectacular topper!
I will say this option is for the more avid cake decorators, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great time trying it for yourself! I love how the cake above has spirals coming out from all directions. Adds a zany flare that looks perfect with a birthday cake!
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