Suitcase or Box Cakes

• A rectangular or square cake can be decorated with brown icing to look like a suitcase or a box. Use colored frosting or, if you want a smoother appearance, use a sheet of fondant. Small details, such as stickers drawn in icing on the suitcase cake, polish the presentation. If a suitcase is too complicated for you, use a piping bag or edible ink pens to write their name across the top of the cake. For boxes, inscribe the recipient's name where the address would go and sign your name where the return address would normally be placed on a package. Bubble wrap, suitcase tags, packing labels and other inedible items can be used as toppers.

Signed In Icing

• Rather than giving the recipient going away cards, have your party guests sign the cake with icing instead. Prepare a simple cake iced in a plain color and then give guests a piping bag to write their name on the cake. You might need to make a large cake or several smaller cakes if a large number of people will be signing their names. Consider using a few different colors of icing in the piping bags to help the names stand out from each other. If you want to give both cards and a cake, surround the cake with goodbye cards from guests.

Destination Designs

• If the recipient is particularly fond of the location where they are moving, customize the cake to represent that area. Copy a map and draw the shape of the state or city borders with icing to use as a cutting guide. Alternately, ice the cake in a neutral color and then fill in the shape of the state or country with another color of icing. If the recipient is moving to a specific city, write the city's name on the cake or draw a rough sketch of its horizon with a piping bag. Alternately, print a map of the recipient's designation in edible ink on rice paper, and then lay it over the icing on the top of the cake. If the cake is iced with fondant, mist the icing with water before applying the paper.

Sarcastic Goodbye Messages

• For humorous recipients, consider writing a sarcastic message to them on an otherwise plain cake. For example, write message telling them that they won't be missed, that they are a traitor or that you hope they fail and return home. These messages can help lighten an otherwise somber mood. Another humorous idea is to write that it is “crappy” that the recipient is leaving next to a pile of brown icing on a white cake. Sarcastic goodbye cakes could hurt the feelings of some people, however, so use messages like these only if you know the recipient's sense of humor very well.