Cakes for Dudes

Tomorrow, the man in my life turns the big 3-0. This has its pros and cons. Pro: cake. Con: my big 3-0 is not far behind. But lets focus on the the positives shall we?

Turning thirty is supposed to be such a big scary thing. I make jokes a lot about it, and tease him endlessly since he is hitting the milestone before I am, but deep down I don't think either of us really care all that much. Plus, we all become mature, responsible adults when we turn thirty right? Right?? All jokes aside, we aren't big birthday celebrators in the first place, so we tend to keep things pretty low key.

I have learned that it is pretty much impossible to make a surprise cake for someone you live with. I have also learned that when you make a cake for someones birthday without having a party or a bunch of people over, the majority of the cake goes untouched in the refrigerator until it ends up in the garbage. So, I am going to forgo the cake this year (sorry Steve) and hope that the pistachio gelato and half eaten shamrock shake in the freezer will suffice.

I have made quite a few cakes in my day, and lets face it, they were pretty much all for the ladies. Even the wedding cakes I have done, though they were for a couple's celebration, it was mostly the bride that cared about the look of the cake (I find the grooms tend to only care about what is inside the cake).

Obviously there are exceptions to this, but it is always a bit tricky when asked to make a cake for an adult male. It is easy to make a pretty pattern, throw some frilly gumpaste flowers on a cake for any occasion, but that is typically seen as being 'girly', and that usually doesn't fly for the guys.

So what's a girl to do? Beer, baseball, and totally neutral colors and shapes, that's what! Yay gender roles! Actually in full disclosure, the baseball cake turned out to be for a woman, which I didn't find out until the party started and totally made me happy. I also felt guilty for just assuming it was for a man. In general, I am finding it easier to break my habits of always making 'feminine' cakes. Using darker, bolder colors, utilizing more geometric patterns and shapes, bold writing and designs, and generally staying away from flowers seem to be some basic stepping stones for creating a more masculine cake.

Making it look and taste like beer always helps.