Winter will be here sooner than you think. After Thanksgiving, it is time to prepare the bakery department for the cold weather and the holiday season with all the parties and festivities that accompany it. The following cake ideas will make a nice assorted display for the decorating department.

• For a holiday wreath, arrange 24 cupcakes in a circle. Ice the center cupcakes in white using pastry tip No. 1A or an open coupler, then smooth with a palette knife. Use grass tip No. 233 to ice the outer ring of cupcakes with green pine needles. With a quick icer tip, pipe a white banner across the center cupcakes. Add a shell border to the banner using star tip No. 22, and write an inscription using writing tip No. 3. Pipe a bow at the top of the wreath with flower tip No. 124. Place assorted gift ornaments or any other festive decorations on the outer cupcakes.

• For a unique Santa, base ice a 1/6-sheet cake with white icing. Pipe Santa's stocking cap with tip No. 12 and red icing, then smooth the icing with a palette knife. Next, airbrush his face pink and add extra pink for his rosy cheeks. Pipe facial features, such as eyes, nose and mouth, with writing tip No. 4. Use star tip No. 22 and white icing to cover the rest of the cake with Santa's beard. Use the same tip to add a tassel and trim to his cap, eyebrows, mustache and a bottom border.

1. For a snowmen cake, base ice a quarter sheet cake with white icing. Position a torn piece of paper towel on top of the cake, and airbrush blue around it to create the sky and clouds. If you are using buttercream icing, wait at least 30 minutes or until the icing has a skin on the top to place the paper towel and spray the color. If you are using a non-dairy icing, to avoid sticking, place a piece of netting or tulle on top of the icing, and then place the paper towel. To make the evergreen trees, dip a fan brush in green airbrush coloring and lightly draw the branches of the trees.

2. Pipe the snowmen's bodies using open tip No. 12, and add plastic heads, available from decorating suppliers. Pipe mounds of snow using an open coupler and run a palette knife through them to make them uneven.

3. Add a bottom “el” border with star tip No. 20. Fit a pastry bag with star tip No. 20; stripe the side of the bag with blue icing and fill it with white. Pipe a reverse shell top border. Finish the design by sprinkling some edible glitter on top of the snow to make it sparkle.

• This Hanukkah cake depicts a dreidel, a four-sided top associated with the holiday. Base ice a quarter sheet cake in white icing. Airbrush the top and bottom edges blue. Pipe the blue dreidel in the center of the cake and add gold Hebrew letters. Use a darker shade of blue and writing tip No. 3 to pipe a Star of David in the upper corners of the cake as well as the inscription. Add blue and gold shell borders with star tip No. 22 to finish the cake.

1. For a pinecones and candles cake, base ice a quarter sheet cake in white icing. Add a colorful fabric ribbon to the base of the cake for a bottom border. Airbrush the top of the cake a pale blue. Fit a pastry bag with tip No. 233 and fill with green icing that has a touch of white and blue for effect. Pipe the branches in a random design.

2. Pipe the candles on top of the pine boughs using red icing and open tip No. 12. Use the tip to pull out the icing on the sides of the candles. To pipe the flames, fit a pastry bag with open tip No. 6; stripe the side of the bag with red and fill with yellow icing.

3. To make the pinecones, use a drinking straw or a thin pretzel stick for a base. If you are using a drinking straw, make sure that the customer knows that the straw is embedded in the cake and is NOT edible. Use flower tip No. 104 to pipe leaflets in a clockwise motion, similar to rose petals, down the base to form the three pinecones. Use scissors to place the pinecones on the cake.

4. Pipe a triple “e,” reverse triple “e” top border with star tip No. 22. Sprinkle colorful red and green sugar shapes on the border to complete the design.