Old man's attempt to make a cake? (6)
I believe the answer is:
pastry
'a cake?' is the definition.
(type of baked good)
'old man's attempt to' is the wordplay.
'old man's' becomes 'pa's' (both can mean someone's father).
'attempt to' becomes 'try' (I've seen this in other clues).
'pas'+'try'='PASTRY'
'make' is the link.
(Other definitions for pastry that I've seen before include "Baker's product" , "See 7 Down" , "Sweet baked dough" , "Dough used in pie-cases" , "Item of bakery" .)