If you’re celebrating an occasion with a big party, chances are you’ll need a cake to end the event with a bang.

Buying a mud cake from the supermarket just isn’t going to work; you need something impressive, something with that ‘wow’ factor to impress the guests. Here are some popular choices of awe-inspiring cakes.

Tiered cakes

Both for volume and spectacle, you can’t go past a tiered cake. Basically, it’s layers of cake, either fruit cake, vanilla or chocolate cake, iced and arranged in a tier, from the large base and upwards. Sometimes each layer is placed on top of the other, and secured with a dowelling rod through the centre, and sometimes the layers are separated with pillars to create more height, and more ‘wow’. Tiered cakes are common as wedding cakes, but they are good for anniversaries and sometimes birthdays as well. You can make one yourself, but it’s often better to leave it to the experts and get a cake shop to create one for you.

Themed cakes

Themed cakes are most popular as birthday cakes, especially children’s birthdays, and the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. The cake itself is usually chocolate or vanilla, and cut into pieces and decorated with coloured icing, lollies and special cake decorations to resemble just about anything. From dinosaurs to racing cars and cartoon characters, they are always impressive and a highlight of any party. Themed cakes are becoming popular as wedding cakes as well, and can be created for most other big events.

Cup cakes

Increasingly, cup cakes – and more specifically, designer cup cakes – are becoming very popular, and a practical way to cater for large events. A collection of cup cakes are arranged on cake stands, and can look colourful and spectacular. The cakes themselves can either be all of a similar colour and design, or they can be a collection of individually decorated cakes. They can be decorated for any occasion, whether it be a birthday, anniversary, wedding, baby shower or any other occasion, even Halloween or New Year’s Eve, and are easy for guests to eat during the party, or take home for later. Good cake bakeries will have a selection of cup cakes, and will often be able to assemble them in a display for you.

Larger than life cakes

If you’re after something with a bit more elegance and gourmet design, cake towers are becoming very popular. Whether it’s a tower of flavoured macarons, or a French croquembouche of profiteroles detailed with spun sugar, these extravagant creations are usually the brainchild of a patisserie chef from a pastry shop, and inspired by TV chefs and cooking shows. They provide a truly spectacular sight, and are often served as dessert at evening functions, or more formal events. Other intricate cakes involving choux pastry and custard are also popular, as are any cakes that combine a number of different styles of cakes and pastry. It all depends on how much ‘wow’ you want with your cake.