Americans love sports. Use this love of sports in your designs to create desserts that are perfect for any special occasion or event. Offer sports designs that correspond to the season, or during slower months, create excitement and promote sales by highlighting a sports theme. Cupcakes, cakes and cookies may be decorated to draw attention to the creativity in the decorating department and to gain sales. Bakery suppliers offer a large selection of plastic and edible decorations to further enhance your creations. I’ve selected some ideas this month that may help you to score extra sales.
The multi-sport cake is a generic design that is nice to have on hand for impulse purchases. Ice a quarter sheet cake with white icing, and airbrush bands of red and blue around the side of the cake and squiggles on top. For the borders, use star tip No. 22. Pipe a shell pattern for the bottom border, and a triple ‘e,’ reverse triple ‘e’ on the top. For additional color, sprinkle edible red, white and blue sugar stars. Place a variety of plastic sports picks and rings on top of the cake, leaving room for an inscription.
Auto racing has become an extremely popular sport, and this racetrack cake is perfect for avid racing fans. Base ice the cake with white icing, and airbrush a brown track on top of the cake, a beige infield and the rest of the cake green. If you do not have an airbrush, you can ice the cake in green icing, and pipe a chocolate icing track on top of the cake. Sprinkle chocolate cake crumbs along the track, and add patches of green grass using tip No. 233. Fit a pastry bag with star tip No. 22, add a stripe of green icing and fill it with white icing. Then, pipe top and bottom shell borders. Add plastic decorations, such as cars, trees and racing flags along with jellybean “rocks” to complete the scene.
 |
| For a fan of several sports, add a variety of sports picks to encompass all of his or her favorites. |
 |
| Create this racetrack cake by airbrushing a dirt track in the center of the cake. Add plastic racecars that can be enjoyed after the cake is consumed. |
 |
| Arrange 22 uniced cupcakes into a rough oval shape to create a football. |
 |
| Ice all of the cupcakes together to create a smooth top. Pipe laces, bands and a face to give the cake a little personality. |
 |
| To create a ball-shaped cake, stack two round cakes, and carve away the top edge. Place the trimmings on top of the cake. |
 |
| Create a variety of balls by changing the cakes’ icing color and design details. |
This football cake uses 22 cupcakes. Place the cupcakes in a football shape on a cake board using icing to adhere them so they will not move during transportation. Ice the top of the cupcakes with chocolate icing using a quick icer to ensure an even layer is applied. Smooth the icing using, and use tip No. 233 to pipe green grass along the bottom of the football. Pipe chocolate seams, white laces and a black mouth using writing tip No. 4. Add the white bands using the non-serrated side of basket weave tip No. 48. Pipe a tongue using open tip No. 10 and eyes with open tip No. 12. I used a plastic football pick for the nose.
Ball cake options
A rounded cake is perfect for sports fans, and it can be customized into almost any type of ball by simply changing the icing color and details. I sculpted the ball cake using 5-in. rounds, although any size will work depending on how many servings of cake are needed for the event. Sandwich two layers of cake together with icing. Trim the edge of the top layer, and place the trimmings on the top center of the cake, securing them with icing. Use a quick icer to apply icing on the cake, and smooth it. An acetate cake band works nicely to get an even finish. Now you can create any type of round ball that you want.
For a golf ball, leave the cake white, and use the back of a spoon to create the dimples. Then, use tip No. 233 to pipe green grass around the base of the cake, and add real golf tees for effect. If you want to create a baseball, again leave the cake white. Add the stitching using writing tip No. 4 and black gel. Pipe green grass at the base using tip No. 233. Then, place plastic bats and gloves along the grass to finish the design. Create a tennis ball by airbrushing the base-iced cake lime green. Drag a small spatula across the outer edges of the cake to scrape away some of the icing, leaving white seams. For a basketball, airbrush the base-iced cake orange. Pipe black lines using black gel and tip No. 4.
A variety of other sports can be represented on your decorated cakes that will appeal to your customers. Have samples of the designs on display or offer a book of photos. Change and/or add to the designs frequently to keep customers interested and returning for the new designs.