My son wanted a Lightning McQueen cake for his third birthday. I figured the only way to get the full effect of the car was to carve it.
I made three chocolate fudge 9×13 cakes and filled them with hazelnut buttercream, and then froze the cake slightly to make it easier to carve. I cut out a piece of cardboard to the size and shape of the finished car and put the cake(s) on it to shape. To carve the cake, I took a Lightning McQueen toy that my son had as a model, and free-hand carved the cake. I then crumb-coated the cake and let it set. While the car was setting, I baked off a one layer 11×15 vanilla sheet cake that I was going to use as the base (ended up being a checkered flag).
Once the car was set, I covered it in red tinted fondant. The rear spoiler was made from rice krispy treats, as well as the wheels; everything else was piped on with buttercream. I changed the Rusteeze logo with my son’s name and the number on the top of the car was changed to reflect my son’s age.
For the additions on the the base cake, I made an 8 inch round and created corners for grass, and I covered more rice krispies with fondant and buttercream to create the stands; the “spectators” was made with multi-colored non-pareils. I finished by adding a bit of brown sugar to represent the sand in Radiator Springs.
The cake was definitely a hit with my son. He was very excited to see it.
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