Cake Decorating Ideas for a 60 Year Old

Choose cupcakes as an alternative cake option.cupcakes image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com

Celebrate 60 years of life with a themed birthday cake. Nearly any cake design can work for a 60th birthday party. Incorporating the significance of the milestone birthday into the cake design makes it more personal for the guest of honor. Consider the style and personal preference of the recipient as you plan a 60th birthday cake.

Number Cake

Emphasize the significance of the birthday by making the cake into a giant number 60. Look for specialty cake pans that are shaped like numbers. This makes the cakes easy to create. You can also bake a sheet cake and cut it into the numbers "6" and "0." Ice the cakes with frosting tinted to the 60-year-old's favorite color. Add decorative icing borders, flowers, dots of icing, swirls or other decorative elements to add personality to the cake.

Make the cake a custom dessert by decorating it based on the recipient's hobbies. If the 60-year-old enjoys cars, decorate a sheet cake with a car on the top. Add a speed limit sign with the number "60" on it. If the guest of honor likes hats, decorate a round cake to resemble her favorite hat. Add a brim to the hat made out of fondant. For a golf fan, decorate a sheet cake to resemble a putting green. Add the number "60" to the golf hole flag.

Whatever hobby inspires the cake, find a way to incorporate the number "60" into the design. One general option is to cut a "6" and "0" out of fondant. Let the fondant harden for a few days. Press the numbers into the icing of the cake so they stand upright.

Instead of focusing on the number 60, theme the cake after the recipient's birth year. If she was born in the 50s, decorate the cake like a poodle skirt, diner or jukebox. Find ways to integrate elements from the birth year. Another option is to divide the cake in half. Decorate half of the cake for the birth year and half of the cake for the current year. Check with a local bakery to see if they will make you an edible image from a photograph of the guest of honor. Choose a baby picture and a current picture to fit in with the birth year theme.

Cupcakes work well as an alternative to a full-sized cake. You can display the cupcakes in a number of ways and you won't have to stand and cut up a sheet cake. Decorate 60 cupcakes, one for each year of the recipient's life. Another option is to arrange the cupcakes on a tray into the number "60". You can also make small flags for the tops of the cupcakes. Print the number "60" on card stock. Cut out around the number to create a triangle, square or circle. Glue or tape the flags to a toothpick or piece of a bamboo skewer. Press the skewer into the cupcake.