From Father’s Day to the Fourth of July, summer brings a host of prime opportunities to treat bakery shoppers with creative new inspirations for summer cakes and desserts.

Elizabeth Riggs of Bakery Crafts offers useful tips for cake decorators to prepare your bakery for any special occasion. One handy idea is to use pieces of leftover fondant to create a complete selection of alphabet letters.

“Everybody is doing personalized cakes now,” says Riggs, who presented new decorating ideas for cakes and cupcakes at the RBA Roadshow in Cincinnati, OH. “I always have lots of letters. You don’t realize how important letters are until you don’t have the one that some customer wants.”

Using leftover fondant pieces can also add height and texture to decorated cupcakes for any holiday or occasion. At the RBA Roadshow, she demonstrated a simple trick of rolling two pieces of different colored fondant in between your hands. By rolling it long enough, you can create an eye-catching swirl pattern that is sure to grab attention as a decorative piece on your cakes and cupcakes.

“Build yourself a cupcake bar at your bakery,” Riggs recommends. “It draws attention to your selections.”

The following are other fun and festive ideas for summer cakes from retail bakeries across the country.

Oakmont Bakery in Oakmont, PA, features a fun twist on cupcake cakes with their very own Grill Cupcake Cake, perfect for summer barbecue parties.

My Local Bakery in Morganton, NC, puts the cupcake in the ice cream cone with a unique idea for Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes – made with vanilla cake and strawberry and chocolate swirled buttercream.

Golf is the perfect summer game. Get in the swing of this birthday cake opportunity with creative sculpted cakes in the shape of a golf bag, like Let Them Eat Cake bakery does in the summer months.

Add fun flavors to your summer cakes with nostalgic flavors like pink lemonade, a popular summer cake at Amoroso’s Bakery.

Sorbet and other frozen desserts are a cool addition to cakes that will enable you to heat up summer cake sales, like Las Vegas favorite Chocolate & Spice Bakery.
 
Julia’s Homestyle Bakery in Murfreesboro, TN, sculpts 3-D cakes in all sorts of designs perfect for summer fun, like a birthday cake in the design of a dirt bike.