Sunday, July 26, 2009

Tutorial: Race Car Cake

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I made this cake for my nephew's 5th birthday earlier this year. It was inspired by the cake I made for my son last year (see below). When my cousin asked me to make a race car cake, I was thrilled, but there was only one problem...I had to figure out how to ship the cake from California to Philadelphia. I was always reluctant about shipping cakes (even fake ones) because there's just soooo many things that could go terribly wrong. But I figured, I'll go ahead give it a try and see what happens.

Jason's 3rd Birthday Cake

I decided to make the car cake out of rice krispie treats, just like the Lego Cake I made a few months ago, so it'll be easier to ship. Again, since I've got a bun in the oven, my sweet husband helped me (what a guy!). My cousin was going to order a sheet cake from a local bakery and place the race car on top of it. I took a Wilton 3-D Cruiser Pan, lined it with plastic wrap and packed it with the rice krispie treats. When I unmolded it, I spread a thin layer of buttercream and covered it with red rolled fondant.

I cut three long strips of fondant and placed them on top of the hood, the roof and the trunk of the car. I brushed clear alcohol (lemon extract or vodka) on the strips to glue them to the car cake.

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I used petit four cutters to make the headlights. I made the grill by cutting thin strips of fondant (see fondant scrolls post to learn an easy way to cut strips) and used a small round cookie cutter to make the "5" logo (see simple and easy monogram post). I painted the pieces with silver luster dust and a black food color marker.

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I colored the wheels, windshield and windows with a black food color marker.

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I used two different sizes of round cookie cutters to make the rims of the wheels. I painted the rims and spokes with silver luster dust and made the lug nuts by pushing the black food color marker into the fondant.

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I used the same fondant scrolls and simple and easy monogram techniques to make the bumper and license plate.

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The good news: the cake made it to Philly in one piece.
The bad news: the bubble wrap I used to cushion the box left bumps all over the fondant :-(
I'm not sure if I packed it too tightly or if the fondant softened while in transit, but I don't think I'll ship another cake across country until I figure out a better way to package it.

8 comments:

Rachelle S said...

That is one cool cake, I know my 2 yr old would love that!

Hey, I saw this linked by David Lebovitz on Facebook! =)

Snooky doodle said...

WOW WHAT A FANTASTIC CAKE! REALLY AMAZING! THE BOY MUST HAVE BEEN THRILLED :)

lisaiscooking said...

What a cute cake! Can't wait to hear if you think of other ways to ship a cake. I've always wondered about that.

ann low said...

I have been to your blog many times. Love the pictures and also learn a lot from your blog.
Thank you for sharing.

Anne said...

Any kid would be delighted to have such a cool cake!

Kuya Kevin said...

RC. Very nice website you have! Well, over Thanksgiving, Karen inspired Kaye with the Red Velvet cupcakes...so Kaye now has her own stand mixer. Ok...how about this suggestion to ship a cake like Devon's (but you may have already figured it out). you could surround the cake with polyester filing (like for pillows and such)...THEN you can use the bubble wrap to cushion it. They polyfil will add a layer where the bubble wrap won't leave dimples. (Quite honestly, I thought the dimples on Devon's cake was by design.) Was very impressed. Kaye will be looking to learn a lot from your recipes!

Jami said...

Very cute! Question for you about the silver luster dust, as I'm about to do a Transformers cake and thought luster dust might do the trick to make the silver mask: did you color the fondant and then paint it with luster dust? Or is it just white fondant, painted silver? Thanks!

Art of Dessert said...

Hi Jami! I made a Transformer cake a few years ago (please check my Flickr page link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/artofdessert/166267055/in/set-72157600453197229/) I just applied the silver luster dust right over fondant. I think it took two or three coats because I was painting over red rolled fondant. Hope this info helps :-)

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