A modern twist to the anniversary cake

Thin royal icing down to a liquid consistency. Pipe randomly sized dots on a piece of parchment or wax paper, and allow to dry. These easy-to-make “dimensional” polka dots add depth to your cake that you can’t achieve with fondant ones.

Sheet fondant, gumpaste, or a 50/50 mix, and cut into 4-in. long strips. Fold one end over to the other to create 2-in. loops. Place on their side to dry.

Again, use fondant, gumpaste or a 50/50 mix to roll thin ropes. Twist the ropes into loose spirals, trimming the ends. Allow to dry.

To create unique numbers, use any standard word processing program to print out numbers to use as a template to create a monogram. Experiment with different fonts to add character to your custom cakes. Instead of cutting out a flat monogram, roll out ropes of gumpaste and use the template as a guide to create a dimensional topper for your cake. Allow to dry.

Once your decorations have dried for at least 24 hours, use silver highlighter dust to either paint or airbrush some of your pieces. When painting metallic details, try to create the decorations out of a corresponding fondant or gumpaste color. That way if you miss a small spot when painting, it isn’t noticeable, and it also gives the metallic decorations a deeper, richer color.

Form roses out of fondant or gumpaste. Or use ready-made roses available from suppliers. Then, paint them with the same metallic color used for the decorations you made.

To create a three-tier cake, use 8-in., 6-in. and 4-in. rounds. This will serve about 40 people, but you can easily increase the tier sizes if your customers need more servings. Cut the top tier at a slight angle. This quick, simple step will give your cake a more whimsical look without requiring any unusual support steps that many topsy-turvy cakes need. Cover the top and bottom tiers with white fondant and the middle tier with royal blue fondant. Stack and insert a dowel down the center of the cake to anchor it.

Start at the bottom tier and decorate up. Cut tapered stripes out of royal blue fondant and apply them to the bottom tier at an angle. This little trick gives the illusion of a whimsical cake once again without any additional effort. Use a dot of buttercream or royal icing to attach some of your dots in between the stripes. Insert bow loops around the outside edge for an instant border along with some of the spirals.

On the middle tier, cut out some random geometric circles using a set of nesting cutters. Again, this small additional step will help take your work to another level with little effort. Use buttercream or royal icing to secure metallic roses for the bottom border.

Apply more of the royal icing dots in a random pattern to the top tier. Insert your number on top and an additional decoration or two to complete the whole look.