Cakes and Figurines of Birthday People

I am often asked to make a birthday cake that is to feature the birthday person.
There are many different ways to make a cake with the same subject matter.

For example, I could make a cake bust of the person or a caricature cake. I could make a figurine to go on top of a cake, or I could create a portrait. There are then different variants for each option.

The many option allows for the flexibility needed when dealing with different budgets.

Bust Cakes
There are different variations of bust cake.
The body can be cake and the head can be decorative.
The cake could consist of just a head which is the cake.
The most complex option is when the head and the body are both cake.

The entire bust is cake

The head can be decorative. Facial features can be sculpted onto a rice krispie mix structure (RKT) or onto a foam ball. The body is then the cake.

Head is decorative, body is cake. (In the fourth image the hat was cake too)

These cakes focus just on the head. It can be a bit sinister when it comes to the cutting of the cake!

Just the head is cake

I've done bust cakes that look like bronze sculptures or marble sculptures.

Cakes that look like sculptures

If you want to downsize the bust and keep it as a keepsake it can be made as a feature to go on top of a cake

Keepsake Busts

Cost also depends on how realistic the cake is.
A cartoony cake that represents the person takes less time to do than a more realistic face.

Caricature Cakes
A more basic option is to carve the cake into a caricature that does not stand up on the board, but lies flat on the board.
Caricature cakes often have a head that is cake and a small sugar body.

Caricature Cakes

Cake Figurines
If you are after a keepsake you could have a figurine.
You could have a simple, elegant cake, possibly with painted panels or sugar flowers, the figurine being the main feature of the cake.

Simple cakes with figurines, Some figurines are more detailed than others

Alternatively, you could have a cake that I refer to as an "All About Me" cake, whereby the figurine is surrounded by items that represent hobbies and interests.
For "All About Me" cakes I get a detailed description and numerous references photos.

All About Me Cakes

There are many different types of figurine.
Some are simpler and some are incredibly detailed and more realistic.
Some are clay and some are sugar
The realistic ones take a long time to do, so more often than not they are made in clay so that the customer can keep them forever.
Cake figurines can be sold separately should you wish to make the cake yourself

More realistic figurines

More simple figurines with accessories.

Portraits
Painted portraits are also popular. They can be painted directly onto the cake or they can be painted onto sugar plaques and removed. In the past customers have removed the portraits and framed them.

Painted portraits

The portraits can also be made like a bas Relief that can be painted or left plain. The bas relief can be on top of the cake and on a sugar plaque that can be lifted off and kept. The customer who ordered the saint for had it framed in a shadow box.

Bas relief portraits and caricatures can also be done on the side of the cake like the one of Paul McCartney and the floral lady below.