Half the fun of making a homemade cake recipe is getting creative with the decorations. After the cakes themselves are baked and stacked, you get to let your inner artist go wild, crafting flowers, figurines, and other decorations out of fondant or other smart materials. And when you get it right, nothing beats the look on everyone's faces when you reveal the creation—possibly to the tune of "Happy Birthday" as everyone oohs and aahs.
But whether you're looking for a homemade birthday cake idea, putting together treats for a holiday party, bringing dessert to a potluck, or simply want to spend a little time making something extra beautiful this weekend, we want to help you turn your next dessert into a treat worthy of a celebration. That's why we're highlighting some of our favorite decorating tips. From the so-simple-it's-genius (fruit leather and fondant flowers) to an impressively detailed haunted house that—we promise—will have folks talking about your skills for years to come, we've assembled 20 of our most impressive, most interesting, and (most importantly) most doable confectionary concoctions both from our site and from around the web.
Don't worry! These recipes all have easy-to-follow instructions, including templates and links to useful products and essential additions to help you avoid any "Nailed It!"-style mishaps. So you can rest assured that you'll be able to make even the most complicated-looking cakes here and come away looking like a Cake Boss.
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1
Spring Daisy Lemon Layer Cake
Green apple fruit leather, fondant, and a smart cookie cutter is the secret to these super cute daisy decorations.
Get the recipe.
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2
Coconut Angel Cake
This beautiful cake is simply decorated with generous amounts of toasted coconut.
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3
Retro Christmas Tree Cake
Reminiscent of old-fashioned frosted Christmas trees, this beautiful cakes makes good use of a shaped cake pan and a light bulb-shaped silicone mold.
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4
Towering Haunted House Cake
Go all-out this October and make a cake everyone will talk about for years.
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5
Orange-Chamomile Cake
The cute bunny cookies add a whimsical touch to this spring cake, but the edible chamomile flowers are the true topper.
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6
Candy Cane Cake
Store-bought peppermint bark, judiciously applied, turns this plain white cake into a gorgeous seasonal treat.
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7
Raspberry Pink Velvet Cake
Decorated with fresh raspberries, meringue cookies, and edible flowers, this pink velvet cake would be a fun and cheerful addition to any bridal shower or birthday party.
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8
Robin's Egg Coconut Cake
Frosted with coconut buttercream in a unexpected shade of robin's egg blue this malted coconut cake is almost too pretty to eat.
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9
Daisy Cake
Take a plain white cake from basic to beautiful with fondant daisies.
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10
Stained Glass Cake
Made from melted Jolly Rancher candies, these "stained glass" shards are a fun and easy way to dress up a cake.
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11
Candied Pretzel Cake
While this cake looks like ready for a wintry soiree, you can coat pretzel rods in any color of candy melts and sugar to fit the theme of your party.
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12
Spice Layer Cake
Decorate a nearly naked spice cake with caramel acorns and piecrust leaves.
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13
Sugared Rosemary and Citrus Cake
For an easy and rustic finishing touch, arrange sugared rosemary and dried slices of blood oranges in a crescent shape on top of your iced cake.
Get the recipe at The Sweet and Simple Kitchen.
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14
Carrot Cake With "Flowers"
What better way to finish a carrot cake than with these adorable "flowers" made from thin slices of carrot?
Get the recipe at Sprinkle Bakes.
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15
Polka-Dot Cake
Get this sweet polka-dot look simply by pushing upside-down chocolate chips into the sides of your frosted cake.
Get the recipe at Style Sweet CA.
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16
Candy Flower Cake
Turn the sides of your cake into a garden with slices of rainbow Twizzlers arranged into flower shapes.
Get the recipe at Handmade Charlotte.
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17
Petal Cake
This fun frosting technique looks complicated, but all you have to do is pipe blobs of frosting in a vertical line and smear it down with the back of a spoon before piping another row. Find a visual tutorial at the Cake Blog.
Get the recipe at Hungry Girl Por Vida.
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18
Flower Vase Cake
Turn your cake into an edible centerpiece by placing a few stems inside plastic test tubes and inserting it into the middle of your frosted cake.
Get the recipe at Alana Jones Mann.
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19
Rainbow Cake
There are no rules to this cake—just have fun playing around with a variety of frosting colors and whatever piping tips you have on hand.
Get the recipe at I Am Baker.
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20
Chocolate Forest Cake
These tiny trees are easy to make. All you have to do is pipe melted chocolate onto a nonstick surface (foil will work) and put it in the fridge. Once cool, pop the trees off the foil and attach them to the side of your cake with a little bit of frosting.
Get the recipe at Chocolate & Carrots.
