by Jan Cartwright,
Decorating Ideas editor
 Stripe a decorating bag with green icing, and fill it with white. With tip No. 22, pipe stars around the sides of the cake and a bottom shell border. |
 Place a computer generated edible baseball field on a sheet cake, and position plastic player figurines appropriately. Use tip No. 22 to pipe top and bottom borders. |
 Create an ocean by applying more icing to one side of a sheet cake and rippling it with a spatula. Airbrush the rippled icing blue, leaving the tips of the waves white. |
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Decorated cakes for men, whether young or old, are often a challenge for decorators. Customers usually request that flowers or floral arrangements not be included in the cake design. To get ideas for the theme of the cake, ask what activities the recipient is interested in. Use this activity, such as sports or cards, as the basis for your cake design. Bakery suppliers offer an assortment of sports and other decorations that can be incorporated in myriad designs.
Sports, either as participants or spectators, are popular pastimes for many men. Two of the most popular team sports in the United States are football and baseball. Apply a computer generated edible field to a base-iced cake to serve as the foundation of the cake designs. Then, use figurines from suppliers, and set them in the proper positions for a game.
Authentic sports fields
For the football field, pipe green grass using tip No. 233 around the top edge of the cake. No further top border is needed. To pipe the bottom shell border, place a stripe of green down the inside of a decorating bag before filling it with white icing. Use star tip No. 22 to pipe the border and stars on the sides of the cake.
To finish the baseball cake, pipe a red shell bottom border using tip No. 22. Use the same tip to pipe a triple "e", reverse triple "e" white top border. Add plastic baseball rings and colorful sugars to complete the design.
Surfs up
Along the coasts, surfing is gaining popularity. Use a kit from bakery suppliers to create this surfing design. Start by base icing a sheet cake with white icing. Create the ocean by applying more icing on one side of the cake and rippling it with the tip of a spatula or bowl knife. Use an airbrush to spray the sky and ocean blue, leaving white caps on the waves. Sprinkle edible glitter on the water to make it sparkle. Next, airbrush a brown area next to the water to create a beach. Use yellow icing and tip No. 10 to pipe the sun, and smooth it with a palette knife. Pipe the sun's features with black icing using tip No. 4. Add clouds using tip No. 12. Pipe a shell bottom border with tip No. 12. Use the same tip to pipe a top border using a triple "e", reverse triple "e" motion. Add some flat, plastic palm trees, and surround the trunks with green grass using tip No. 233. Place the surfer figurines on the cake, and finish the design by adding some colorful sugar dots.
Cookies decorated to resemble balls make excellent treats for birthday parties or team events. Basketballs, soccer balls, baseballs, billiard balls and tennis balls are easily duplicated on round cookies. Begin by warming quick, firm drying icing, and dip the cookies in the icing. After the cookies are sufficiently dry, you can finish decorating them. For a baseball, pipe the stitching with tip No. 3 and chocolate icing. Pipe a soccer ball's pentagon pattern using black piping gel and tip No. 3. For a tennis ball and basketball, airbrush the cookie the appropriate color. Then, pipe the stitching and other details using tip No. 3. To create a billiard ball, cut a circle out of cardboard, and place it on top of the cookie. Airbrush the cookie red, and remove the circle. In the white area left by the circle, pipe the numeral "3" using tip No. 3 and black icing.
Tee off
A golf ball cake can provide the perfect centerpiec for a crowd of golfers. Base ice a half-sheet cake with white icing. Airbrush green for the grass, blue for a water hazard and brown for a sand trap. Set the sheet cake aside. Place two, 8-in. round cakes on a cake board. Use icing between the cakes to hold them together. Trim the top edge of the cake with a sharp knife. Mound the pieces on top of the cake. Ice the cake with white icing and smooth it. Dip the rounded edge of a large pastry tip in black airbrush coloring, and use it to draw circles indicating the dimples on the golf ball. Place the round golf ball cake on the sheet cake. Pipe grass on top of the sheet cake using tip No. 233. Add a top and bottom shell border using tip No. 22. Place golf figurines on top of the cake, and finish the design by sprinkling brightly colored sugar dots. To add an inscription, cut a length of clear acetate cake band, and write a message on it in piping gel. Stand the band in the grass.
To attract attention for your cakes for men, set up a cake display especially for them. Include cakes for all ages, and change the cakes seasonally.