by Barb Hopkins

Created on: December 04, 2009

Sixteen is a milestone birthday. Choosing an amazing birthday cake for a sixteenth birthday party can be as simple as matching the cake to the party's theme. Just as every teenager is unique, each sixteenth birthday party, its theme and the cake should match the birthday guy or girl's personality.

For the ultimate, girly Sweet 16 cake, consider a Pretty in Pink cake for the birthday girl. This cake can be designed as a traditional tiered cake, sheet cake or even a topsy-turvy cake where each layer appears to defy gravity. The key element to the Pretty in Pink cake is the color pink. If the cake is tiered, meaning it has layers, ask the baker to wrap each layer in bubble-gum pink fondant and decorate it with gum paste flowers of both deeper pinks and pale pinks. A topsy-turvy Pretty in Pink cake may take a more whimsical approach and add another color to the mix like mint green or even a bright tangerine. These accent colors might be added as fun, geometric designs or as stars to indicate the birthday girl is the star of the day.

Whether the sixteen-year-old is getting a car for his birthday or not, he may have just received his license and is most likely interested in cars and the independence they represent to a teenager. Consider making or ordering a Cool Car cake. Car cakes can be adapted to fit many budgets and can be made in a variety of shapes and designs to fit the theme of the party and the amount of guests that need to be served. One variation is to have the cake designed as a 3-D effect so it is shaped like an actual car. The car shape can be generic or to fit the birthday guy's (or girl's) dream car. If you choose a round or sheet cake, you can take a photo of the favorite car into the bakery and have it reproduced as an edible cake picture.

A sixteen-year-old athlete may enjoy a cake designed to represent their sport. For a basketball player, a round cake decorated to look like a basketball is a good beginning. For the focal point of the cake, create a replica of the player's team jersey. Instead of writing his or her actual jersey number on, substitute the number 16. This basic cake theme can work for almost any sport and will even work well for a cheerleader. For a cheerleader, put a one and a six on each pompom. This themed cake can work as a round, sheet, tiered or even an ice cream cake and can be made as large or little to serve the amount needed.

For a more whimsical cake consider a Blue Jeans cake. For years, blue jeans have been the "uniform"

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