Cool Homemade White Fire Engine Birthday Cake

I made this Fire Engine Birthday Cake for my grandson on his 5th birthday. He wanted a fire engine; His party was at a Fire Station in Burtonsville, Md. The fire engines at Burtonsville fire department are white so that’s why I made the cake white. I used box cake mix.

I made two cakes in a 13in. by 9in. pan, cooled them, wrapped snuggly in plastic wrap, and placed in a freezer. After they were stiff enough, I removed them, leveled the tops then cut one in half length wise. The second cake, I cut two equal size pieces approximately 5in. by 7in. inches for the front of the cake, and then carved the front of the cake. A small piece was cut to raise the top slightly. I used butter cream frosting between layers and covered with fondant. I cut circles out of the left over cake and covered with fondant. Homemade fondant tastes best. I made many colors of fondant for various pieces.

The little details on the engine were made of fondant and some pastiage. The ladder on top and the sign were made from pastiage. The fire man was made from gum paste. Anything made with gum paste needs several days to dry and paste together. I think a different kind of cake would have held up better. Fondant is a little heavy for box cake so the finished cake seemed to be smaller than when I started.