My 2 year old son is crazy about Lightening Mcqueen, the main character in Disney's Cars. So for his birthday I decided to make him a Lightening Mcqueen cake.
I started with 2 basic chocolate cakes, rectangular sized. The first was leveled completely flat and iced with chocolate ganache icing all around. The icing consists of melted cooking chocolate, cream and butter. When the icing is first prepared it is quite runny but after it sits for a while it thickens and the final result is a dark brown glossy finish. This was going to the base for the car.
Next I got to work on the car. Using a toy Mcqueen, I cut the cake and stacked the pieces to replicate the shape of the car. Toothpicks were used to keep all the pieces in place. Once this was ready, I used some more of the chocolate icing to keep all the pieces together and top off the car with a final coat. This is to ensure the fondant sticks.
Then it was time for the fondant. I combined 900 gms of icing sugar with 100 gms liquid glucose and 1 egg white. The ingredients were mixed until I was left with a white pliable dough. It was then divided into half. Red gel based food coloring was added to the first half and kneaded until it was combined evenly. I rolled it out on a flat surface using icing sugar on the rolling pin to keep it from sticking. Once it was the required size, I rolled it up on the rolling pin and placed it on the car shaped cake. It was then flattened all around to take the shape of the car. The excess was trimmed off.
Finally two lines of white strips were placed on the base cake to replicate a road and the cake was done.
Next I got to work on the car. Using a toy Mcqueen, I cut the cake and stacked the pieces to replicate the shape of the car. Toothpicks were used to keep all the pieces in place. Once this was ready, I used some more of the chocolate icing to keep all the pieces together and top off the car with a final coat. This is to ensure the fondant sticks.
Then it was time for the fondant. I combined 900 gms of icing sugar with 100 gms liquid glucose and 1 egg white. The ingredients were mixed until I was left with a white pliable dough. It was then divided into half. Red gel based food coloring was added to the first half and kneaded until it was combined evenly. I rolled it out on a flat surface using icing sugar on the rolling pin to keep it from sticking. Once it was the required size, I rolled it up on the rolling pin and placed it on the car shaped cake. It was then flattened all around to take the shape of the car. The excess was trimmed off.
The red car was then placed on top of the base cake. It was now ready to decorate. The remaining fondant was divided into different colors - yellow, white, blue, black and copper. Each color was shaped into different details of the cake. The lightening sign on the side, the wheels, the eyes and the headlights.
Finally two lines of white strips were placed on the base cake to replicate a road and the cake was done.
