1. Use funky candles, such as tall, slender birthday candles or even a mix of styles—and lots of them.
2. Stencils create lovely designs. Lightly place one over the frosted cake; dust with powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa, or bright decorator sugars.
3. Fresh flowers are a great way to make any cake special. You can find edible flowers alongside the herbs at the grocery. Or you can grow them yourself—just make sure they are food safe (look online at www. foodsubs.com) and have not been sprayed with pesticides. The flowers I most often use are violets, pansies, nasturtiums, and sweetheart roses.
4. Edible clay, available at craft and specialty stores, is a new way to add pizzazz to any cake. You can mold it into shapes, or roll it out, cut out shapes with cookie cutters, and apply directly to the cake.
5. Ribbons provide an easy way to decorate a cake. I love to put a bow on top. You can also trim the bottom edge of a cake with a wide ribbon.
6. Candy is an easy adornment. My favorites are Necco Wafers, Skittles, Wonka Nerd Ropes, colorful suckers, and gummy candies. You can also flatten gumdrops with a rolling pin and cut out shapes.
7. Colored sprinkles, dragées, edible confetti, and edible glitter found in the baking section of your grocery or craft store make for quick decorations.
8. Fresh fruit is always a good embellishment. Lemon, lime, or orange rind strips are also good cake toppers.
9. Mix small party favors or trinkets—party horns, party hats, and streamers—with colored sprinkles for an amusing cake for a child.
10. Toasted nuts, almond brickle, and grated or shaved chocolate are great options for a tailored cake.
11. Tie long, thin ribbons around tiny favors or fortunes. Place the prizes into the opening of a Bundt cake, with the ribbons draping out over the cake. Let each guest pull a ribbon to reveal a surprise.
12. Prepare simple glazes from a combination of milk, powdered sugar, vanilla or almond extract, and food coloring. Make one color—or lots of colors—to drizzle on the cake for a dramatic effect.
13. Bake your favorite cake in one of the new fun-shaped cake pans, such as the Fleur-de-Lis, Sunflower, or Rose Cake Pans from Williams-Sonoma ($29; 877-812-6235, www.williams-sonoma.com); dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar.
