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.
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.
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.
I colored the wheels, windshield and windows with a
black food color marker.
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
.
I used the same
fondant scrolls and
simple and easy monogram techniques to make the bumper and license plate.
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.
:.