Step back in time to the groovy era of bell-bottoms, shag carpets, and tie-dyed. This Groovy 70s Themed Cake design was perfect for a young woman, born in the 70s and ready to boogie down on her birthday.
Get your platforms ready, because this cake is about to transport you straight to the heart of funky town!
70s Themed Cake & Design Idea
Jennifer’s 50th birthday cake needed to be super fab and outta sight! This would include a shagadelic carpet, classic 70’s shapes, and far-out slang. Can you dig it?
Having a well-thought-out cake design and theme is important for several reasons:
- Visual Impact – A thoughtfully designed cake adds visual appeal to any event. The appearance and theme of a cake are directly associated with the celebration’s importance and uniqueness.
- Memorability: A well-designed cake can leave a lasting impression. The creativity and attention to detail in the design can make the event more memorable for the intended and the party guests.
- Personalization: The cake theme can be tailored to reflect the occasion or the personality of the individual being celebrated. Whether it’s incorporating specific colors, symbols, hobbies, or interests, a customized cake design adds a personal touch. The cake design also reinforces the overall theme of the party. It contributes to a cohesive and immersive experience for everyone.
- Expression of Creativity: Cake design is a form of edible art. It allows cake designers to showcase their creativity and skill. A well-executed design not only enhances the overall aesthetics but also serves as a testament to the talent and artistry of the person creating the cake.
- Tastes as good as it looks: While the design is crucial, the taste of the cake is equally important. Cake design goes hand in hand with high-quality ingredients and skilled baking.
- Photography: A cake that complements the theme of the event can become a focal point in pictures, creating lasting memories and generating social media-worthy content.
A well-thought-out cake design theme contributes to the visual appeal of an event, reflects the occasion or individual’s personality, and enhances the guest experience by creating excitement, anticipation, and lasting memories.
70’s Themed Cake Filling and Stacking
There are so many cake fillings that pair well with your favorite cake flavors. The most requested fruit fillings are raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, lemon or orange curd, pineapple, or banana.
For this 70s Themed Cake design, an eggless lemon curd filling paired best with the light lemon cake and lemon zest buttercream.
After baking, trimming, cutting, and mounting the (top tier) cakes on a cake circle/base and the (bottom tier) on a sturdy cake drum it is time to fill, stack, crumb coat, frost, and dowel your cake layers.
Since this Groovy 70s Themed Cake was a multi-tiered cake the bottom tier was mounted on a cake “drum” and the top tier was mounted on a cake “circle”.
Please see my Great Gatsby Cake from Roaring ’20s: How To Guide for more photos and information about cake stacking and filling.
70s Themed Cake Color Palette
A Cake
The
This cake
It’s important to know how many colors you’ll be working with because it’s all about planning and organization. See more
Read more on how to create your cake
Shag Carpet Piping Technique – Tips and Tricks
Creating a shag carpet piping technique on a cake can add a cool and nostalgic touch, perfect for a 70’s Themed Cake Design. In my opinion, piping the shag carpet look is the most fun to pipe. It’s fast, freeing, and doesn’t have to be ultra-perfect!
To achieve this textured effect have your cake/s prepped, compile the proper materials, and follow these steps:
- Ready-prepared cake/s covered with a smooth layer of fondant, ganache, or buttercream. The piped frosting/icing has to have a base to stick to.
- Prep several piping bags filled with buttercream or royal icing (tinted to the desired shag carpet
color palette ). Naturally, for the Shag Carpet look you’ll need more than one color of buttercream or icing to create a bold and distinct pattern.
*Tip – Use tip couplers so you can change out the piping tip to a different bag (due to having only 1 or 2 piping tips needed) – to wash for multiple colors.
- Use a Grass piping tip (Wilton #233 or a similar tip). It’s helpful to have more than one tip so you’re not bound to only one – washing it out every minute and changing it to other piping bags. No, thank you!
Instructions:
- Have a pattern in mind, a sketch, or a photo reference so you can follow a plan. To be precise take a toothpick and line your pattern on the cake.
- Start by attaching the piping tip to the piping bag filled with the colored buttercream or royal icing.
- Hold the piping bag at a 90-degree angle above the cake surface. Start from the cake bottom and work your way up or around in coordination with your desired carpet pattern.
- Squeeze the piping bag gently to create short strands of “carpet” by applying even pressure as you move the piping tip up and down in a quick, steady motion. In essence, you’re “stacking” the shag layers.
- Continue piping the strands close to each other, covering and stacking the desired area of the cake with the shag carpet effect.
- Vary the length of the strands slightly to add a realistic texture and depth to the shag carpet design.
- Repeat the piping process until the entire designated area resembles a funky and retro shag carpet.
*Tip – It’s best to do one color at a time filling in each area of your pattern as you go. After the shag piping is done go back over areas that need extra fill-in. Stand back and marvel at how good it looks!
Fondant Cake Toppers
Creating fondant figures is a delightful and imaginative experience, turning a simple lump of sugary dough into charming edible characters, or life-like objects bringing joy and creativity to the art of cake decorating.
The art of crafting fondant cake toppers is remarkably versatile. You can transform fondant into an array of intricate 3D shapes and designs to suit diverse cake themes and occasions.
I prefer to make as many fondant cake toppers (depending on the cake design) in advance 1-2 days before cake-making day stored in airtight containers. This saves a lot of time and allows the fondant or gum paste to dry for sturdy application.
*Tip – Use cellophane in place of parchment paper under fondant cake toppers (that will be seen from all sides of the cake) laying flat and drying in airtight containers. This will prevent the fondant “bottom or back” from rippling while drying.
It was prudent for me to make my groovy star glasses, signage, rainbows, and lips two days before baking. The lettering and circle shapes were done later as they needed to be soft for application. You must decide which cake decorations should be firm or freshly made depending on their purpose.
Read much more detail, tips, and tricks on Fondant Cake Toppers here. Practice molding, shaping, and cutting figures. This will help you understand and create amazing decorative elements for your cake designs.
Thanks for visiting & Happy Baking!
Be sure to check out some of my other cake decorating and baking posts for new inspo
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