Who doesn’t love a beautiful and tasty cake? I recently attended a bake-sale-auction, being held to earn money for a worthy cause. While all the baked donations were lovely, the items that sold for the most were those that had an extra special presentation about them.

Cakes for instance. Sure we love our sheet cakes. And yes, the traditional layer cake is always welcome. But that when a cake shows up in an unusual way, we’re not just drooling over what we know will be mouthfuls of deliciousness, we’re drooling over how it looks.

So let’s talk about cake presentation. There are those gifted cake bakers that have an envied talent for decorating. One such cake showed up the night of our bake sale/auction…a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup cake. It was probably 8 inches tall and it was gorgeous. It was so gorgeous that it didn’t look real. Some of us wanted to touch it just to be sure it wasn’t made of ceramics, it was that flawless. We were in awe.

What about the rest of us, though—those of us not blessed with this talent but who also want to turn out an unusual and lovely cake worthy of a drool or two? It’s possible, and it’s a simple 2-step process.

Step 1: You know how to frost a cake. There are various frostings/icings to choose from, and various techniques to use. It doesn’t matter which recipe or technique you use.

Step 2: You now turn to a cake-topper. This is a non-frosting, non-icing decoration. And I’m not talking the traditional candles approach (they have their purpose but are a smidge boring).

No, this is creative flair at its finest. And cake toppers are easy and are limited only to your imagination. (And by the way, these can be applied to pies as well!) For instance, look at the inspiration I found on the helpful site, DIYS (www.diys.com):

For a Christmas cake, why not just top it with a variety of glass ornaments? Set the cake on a pretty stand or platter and you have easily created something so pretty it could be a table centerpiece.

But since spring has sprung and summer’s on its way, why not a cake to celebrate the season? Just 2 bamboo skewers and a hand-drawn and cut garland made from card stock, and you’ve made a statement!

Still on the bamboo skewer idea, how about an assortment of glittered and shiny stars?

Or why not just insert a card/photo holder in the top along with your choice of photos? (And you wouldn’t have to limit it to one card/photo holder, either.)

Then there are fresh flowers. (or even artificial, for that matter). Why not use these to top a cake. Depending on your choice of flowers, you can also carry on the look with colored icing.

Or draw your own bouquet, attach your flowers to toothpicks and or skewers, and arrange.

You get the idea. There are lots and lots of ways to create a beautiful presentation they’re only limited by your imagination.

Now in closing, I’ll share a wonderful buttercream frosting recipe we’ve used in our family for years. It’s a 5-star recipe from www.geniuskitchen.com. It’s the foundation for all my flavored frostings (lemon, rum, maple, licorice, orange, etc.).

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 1⁄2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1⁄8 teaspoon salt

In a bowl add sugar then add butter. Beat till blended. Next add salt. Then add the milk and vanilla and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.

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