Themed Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

If you are having a themed graduation party then hopefully you'll find graduation cake decorating ideas to suit below.

Use the links below to navigate quickly to the graduation cake decorating ideas of interest or scroll down to see everything this page has to offer.

• The Pin Prick Method
• Add the graduation element to Any of the Cakes
• Pirate graduation cake
• Clown Graduation Cake
• Oriental Graduation Cake
• Casino Graduation Cake
• Mardi Gras Graduation Cake
• Fifties Graduation Cake
• Hollywood Graduation Cake
• Safari Graduation Cake
• Luau Graduation Cake
• Sea Graduation Cake
• Superhero Graduation Cake
• Wild West Graduation Cake.

Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas - The Pin Prick Method

The pin prick method is something that is used to transfer images onto your cake. I have referred to it throughout this page so thought I'd cover the detail of what is required once in the following paragraph.

1. Find an image on the internet for the theme you are choosing - google image search is great for this.
2. Save the image on to your computer and re-size it if desired. I use "Paint" for resizing images - I think this exists on most computers under the Accessories tab.
3. Now print it off.
4. Using a pin, prick the letters every so often so that the back of the paper has a "Braille like" look.
5. Next, lie the paper on your cake bumpy side down and smooth it with your hand lightly pressing down.
6. When you remove the paper, you will have the pricks slightly indented into the cake giving you a
   pattern to follow.

Add the Graduation Element to Any of the Cakes

Basically this is just one of the simple graduation cake decorating ideas that could be applied to all the cakes mentioned on this page.

All you have to do is cover the cake board with fondant icing - remember it is easy to color it by just kneading in some food coloring. Then you could add a message on top of the fondant by either piping it with some icing or writing with gel tubes or even use an edible pen.

Some wording suggestions:

• Graduate's name and the year
• Congratulations and name of graduate
• Congrads and name of the graduate
• Happy Graduation, the name of the graduate and the date.

Next, roll out some more white fondant. Cut it into a rectangle shape and then roll it up like a scroll and hold it together with a thin ribbon in a complimentary color and place it on the cake board next to the message.

The scroll may even be enough just on it's own.

Pirate Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Cover with chocolate frosting - should probably be black but dark chocolate will look much more appetizing.
2. Find a picture of a "skull and cross bone" on the internet using image search. Now "right-click" on the image and select copy and paste the image into your word processing tool.
3. Resize it by clicking on the image and dragging the corner of it with your mouse until it is the desired size.
4. Now print it off and place it on top of your cake and use the pin prick method to transpose the outline onto your cake.
5. Now use a piping bag with a biggish nozzle to pipe little blobs of white frosting to fill in the image.

~~~ pirate graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

Clown Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Create a zigzag design round the edge of the cake using small pieces of red liquorice strings or red piped frosting.
2. Colored candy coated sweets look nice placed between the zigzags.
3. Make circles for the eyes out of chocolate drops and add any colored sweet for the eyeris with a chocolate drop on top for the pupil.
4. Add a cherry for the nose.
5. Create the outline of a mouth with the red liquorice string or red piped frosting and fill in with hundreds and thousands.

~~~ clown graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

Oriental Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. A rich red is a good color to use for an oriental theme so you could blend red food coloring into your topping of choice.
2. Buy some gold or black ribbon around the middle of the cake.
3. Do a search on ebay for “oriental cake topper” for something really special to stick on top of your cake.

Casino Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Cover the entire cake in white frosting.
2. Use alternate milk and white chocolate coins to decorate around the edge of the cake.
3. Get some ready-to-use fondant frosting and mould it into 2 small cubes to make dice and just pipe some black frosting dots onto the side.
4. After some practice you could also attempt to write a message on the cake. Something short like “Congrads (name of graduate)”.

~~~ casino graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

Mardi Gras Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Instead of using 2 circular cake tins, try using oval ones instead.
2. Once the cakes are cooked and cooled, slightly cut one of the edges off both shapes and place them together so that they resemble an eye mask.
3. You will also need to cut out holes for the eyes.
4. Next cover them completely with butter-cream icing – yellow would be good to symbolize gold.
5. Cover it in lots of different colorful sweets.

~~~ mardi gras graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

Fifties Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Cover the sides of the cake with white butter-cream icing.
2. Add some black food coloring to the frosting and spread it smoothly onto the top of the cake.
3. Use a fork to trace circular marks - the idea is to make it look like a vinyl record.
4. Again like a record you could use some edible paper and edible pens to make the label in the middle.
5. The label could have the graduates name on it to make it more personal.

Hollywood Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Completely cover the cake in your covering of choice.
2. Buy a star shaped cutter.
3. Buy some ready-to-roll fondant icing and knead in a contrasting or complimentary color into it.
4. Now roll it out and cut enough star shapes so that they can be placed around the edge of the cake.
5. If the cake is covered in a smooth icing like royal or fondant icing then you will have to mix some confectioners sugar and water and apply it to the bottom of the fondant stars so that it acts like glue.
6. In the middle of the cake you could pipe a message – something like “graduate’s name Reach for the Stars”.

~~~ hollywood graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

Safari Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. The idea is to make a lions face so firstly using a round cake – cover it entirely in lemon colored icing. Just add some yellow food coloring to achieve this.
2. Next pipe the lion features using black frosting – think of a curvy “W”. With the line in the middle of the “W” being higher with a black nose on top. Then add black dots for where the whiskers would be. Don’t forget the eyes.
3. Using orange colored butter-cream icing with a wider nozzle on your piping bag, pipe blobs of orange around the edge of the cake to make the mane.

~~~ safari graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

Luau Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Using a round cake - completely cover the cake in white frosting.
2. Next cut a grass skirt drastically leaving only the waistband and a couple of inches of skirt.
3. Attach the waistband around the side of the cake.
4. Round about the edge of the top of the cake it would be nice to add some flowers to look just like a garland.
5. You could easily make these yourself if you buy a small flower cake cutter and cut different colored fondant flowers or you can buy ready made gum paste sugar flowers. For either just do a search on ebay for “flower cake cutters” and “flower cake decorations”.
6. Now pipe a message on the top – something like – “Congrads (name of graduate)”.
7. Stick some colorful cocktail umbrellas into the cake to add some vibrancy.

~~~ luau graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

Sea Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Firstly you could cover the cake board with blue fondant icing – to make it look like the sea.
2. Now cover the entire cake with a smooth coating of yellow butter-cream icing or you could make it multi-colored like a tropical fish. Now use something pointy to draw the scales on the fish through the butter-cream icing.
3. The fish body will be the circle when you are looking down on the cake from above. Add an eye using white and black frosting and then add the fin using triangular wafer.

~~~ sea graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

Superhero Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Cover the cake in white fondant icing.
2. Find an image of the superman “S” from the internet using “google image search”, resize and print it off.
3. Use the pin prick method to transfer the image onto the cake.
4. Now add yellow and red food coloring (individually) to some butter-cream icing and pipe over the “S” template. This should work well if you use a star tip and just do lots of small blobs.

~~~ superhero graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

Wild West Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

Option 1:

1. Find someone local who will print a photo of the graduate onto edible paper for you. If there is nobody local then www.picturethatcake.com will handle this for you.
2. Cover the cake in icing with chocolate laced through it – will give it an aged look.
3. Place the picture in the middle of the cake and pipe the message “Wanted” above it.

~~~ western graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Option 2:

~~~ themed graduation cake decorating ideas ~~~

Good luck with your graduation cake decorating ideas. A graduation cake is a brilliant focus for the celebrations.

Share Your Graduation Cake Decorating Ideas

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