I Have No Inspiration For Men's Cakes
Decorating By mcdonald Updated 12 Oct 2010 , 2:09pm by staceyflute
Okay... I can do girlie cakes all day long, I can do wedding cakes all day long but when a request comes in for a man's cake.... I just freeze up... What... no flowers?? No ruffles??? No ribbon?? What the heck will I do??!!! and most men's cakes are chocolate which leads to a chocolate frosting which presents yet another problem!!!!
any ideas or suggestions on ideas for birthday cakes for guys?? We should have an album for men's cakes!!!
I'm totally with you on this one. I always go with a theme for men, rather than a nicely decorated cake for this exact reason. I have seen others do strips and textures which works without losing masculinity. If the colors are bold, marbled fondant, fondant stripes or thinly piped stripes with a single focal point monogram or other centerpiece can work. Otherwise, I say ask for a theme....makes it easier.
Stripes, Circles, Geometric patterns are excellent for men, Browns and greens are a good colour combo, Explosion toppers are also a hit
I'm glad this came up, I have an order for my neighbor who is in his 30s for November and I have NO CLUE what to make him!!
I totally agree....if they are not "into" something I feel like I struggle to make something great...I do girlie great, it is the not so girlie that I bang myh head against a wall with....LOL glad I am not the only one!
I run into this for my husband and son in law. Some that I've made for DH are a present (choc fondant, red bow), a fish bowl, stars popping out of a little cake, and for my SIL, whose birthday is around Thanksgiving, fall leaves and a turkey. I agree, though, cakes for men are much harder. I think I'll go with Caths_Cakes' idea this year for SIL and do something geometric. Thanks, Caths_Cakes, for the idea!
I get stacks of request for male cakes with no strong hobby/interest theme! They are so hard!!
Lately, I have done:
1. Chocolate ganache with gold stars and lettering
2. Argyle fondant/RI pattern
3. Stars in party colours (one silver and blue, one 'Italian' colours)
4. Solid colour in bday boy's favourite car colour (a special blue)
5. Plain white with dark teal trim and flooded celtic knot design (from Patchwork cutters)
I always try to put 'masculine' or 'male' in the photo keywords I post here on CC if the cake is for a man.
Sorry I have so many here. They're in a file in my documents and I have no time to filter them out for you right now!
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1723134
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1760604
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1281955
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1372448
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1298339
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1234068
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1786340
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43783971@N00/5043063734/in/pool-361100@N23/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54104583@N07/5007193053/in/pool-361100@N23/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cakeislife/5031188290/in/pool-361100@N23/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52773915@N03/5023906322/in/pool-361100@N23/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bloomincakes/4963934990/in/pool-361100@N23/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftyconfections/4868748068/in/pool-361100@N23/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49165207@N02/4823875704/in/pool-361100@N23/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9291643@N06/4650463070/in/pool-361100@N23/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolrichardsonmarty/4772820665/in/pool-361100@N23/
I feel better knowing I am not the only one... I just shut down when I get a request for a male cake.
thanks for all the links and ideas.... I will go check it all out!!!
wow!! quite a few came up when I just typed in "masculine". I am surprised. Just another reminder to get everyone to fill in that information when posting cakes. It really helps sooo much.
The links provided were good too!!! I am feeling a little better now....
Thanks again ya'll!
Mama Min - if you don't mind me asking, can you please tell me what sizes the tiers of your Rubiks Cube cake were, and also how much did you charge for it (approximately)?
Flickr has a group called 'cakes for men'. Try there and you'll get a ton of ideas; http://www.flickr.com/groups/361100@N23/pool/
Thank you SOO so much for this post!! I have read the forum but have never posted anything, but this was the exact question I was going to post today... I have been doing cakes as a "hobby" for years, and have been trying to get a business going, and have finally gotten MUCH busier this past year... I usually tell people I need two weeks advance for a cake, but lately i have been getting a lot of calls from people for almost last minute, a day or two, so they are going to be pretty basic cakes... for a woman, they are going to be girly, with thier choice of colors, some flowers, etc, but WHAT to do for a basic cake for a man???? I mean, I have done fancy cars, yahts, life sized fish... etc, but that is not a basic cake that is going to get thrown together at the last minute and charged $40.... I live in a small town and there is no bakery here, not even in the grocery store, and the other person that was doing home decorating has quit, and is sending her clients to me, so I need something to do spur of the moment!!! I havent gone and looked at the pics that have been posted, but any more suggestions for a "basic" bakery style mens cake would be great!!
For a simple "last minute" type of cake for a man, just use balls, stars or other simple geometric shapes instead of flowers and ruffles. Think about the kinds of patterns you find on a man's sport shirt or necktie. Stripes/plaids/checks/diamonds are good, simple bows on a "gift" style cake are good, block/print lettering or monograms are good.
If it's chocolate frosting, just use dark and light shades of brown, or with a chocolate-brown base you can add decorations in green, blue, cream or orange/gold. (Other colors are possible too, of course, but those are the easiest ones to use for a masculine look.)
This question comes up all the time and I really don't understand what's so difficult about it, but maybe that's 'cause I am not a girly-girl myself...I don't really like flowers and ruffles on cakes.
Their favorite sports teams will never fail. Made this one for my husband and he was a happy camper!
http://stuffbystace.blogspot.com/2010/09/packers-football-cake.html
Also made this for my bro-in-law. He didn't want to cut into it! Dude wanted to save the top tier and not eat it!
http://stuffbystace.blogspot.com/2010/10/miami-dolphins-birthday-cake.html
Also. depending on the age of the guy, you could do stuff like a video game console, tool box, or their favorite music/movie.
Oops, not sure why that last link didn't work. Here it is again...
http://stuffbystace.blogspot.com/2010/10/miami-dolphins-birthday-cake.html
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