Attract attention with colorful cakes

1. This lazy daisy design works for any size cake. Base ice the cake with white icing, and airbrush it neon green. Use tip No. 48 with the flat side out to pipe white vertical lines on the side of the cake. Evenly space the lines 1 to 2 ins. apart.

2. Use tip No. 4 or 6 to pipe white zigzag lines between the vertical lines. Then, add a top border of daisies. Pipe orange and pink daisies using tip No. 104.

3. To finish the design, pipe yellow centers in each daisy with tip No. 6 or 7.

1. Base ice an 8-in. round cake with white icing, and lightly airbrush it pink. With tip No. 2, pipe black swirls and curlicues on the side of the cake. Use the same tip to add various size polka dots. Create the different sizes by varying the pressure on the tube as you pipe.

2. Stripe a pastry bag fitted with rose tip No. 104 with hot pink gel, and fill it with pink icing. Position the tip and gel so the gel creates the outer border of the piping. Pipe a top border of five-petal flowers.

3. Use tip No. 2 to pipe black centers in each of the flowers and random dots across the top of the cake. Pipe a black bottom band border with tip No. 48, flat side out. Sprinkle the top of the cake with glitter.

1. For a red hot chili pepper cake, use double-layer 8-in. and 4-in. rounds. Base ice or airbrush the 8-in. tier red. Then, airbrush or base ice the 4-in. round yellow, and stack it on top of the red 8-in. round.

2. Around the sides of the bottom tier, use the flat side of tip No. 48 to pipe single and double stripes of orange icing. Then, with tip No. 4, add stripes of yellow in various widths. Use tip No. 6 to pipe orange bulbs of icing randomly along the bottom border. Fill in the remaining space by piping various sizes of yellow bulbs using tip No. 7.

3. On the top, yellow tier, use tip No. 4 to pipe several green and red chili peppers. Begin the pepper by piping a large bulb of icing, and swing down and up to create the hook of the pepper. With tip No. 1, add dark green leaves at the top of the peppers. Pipe three or four strips of icing to create the tops.

4. At the base of the yellow tier, use tip No. 48 to pipe a flat orange band around the cake. Then, outline the orange band with a ribbon of yellow icing piped using tip No. 7. With tip No. 4, pipe a green zigzagging line around the top of the bottom tier.

5. Top the cake with a red and yellow ribbon. To add a message, make a plaque out of rolled fondant, and allow it to dry. Use an edible marker to write the message on the plaque or pipe the message with icing, and prop it against the top tier.