Coolest Tow Mater Cakes and Lots of Cars Cake Ideas

Take a look at these cool homemade Tow Mater cakes and Cars cake ideas shared with us by cake decorators from around the world. Along with the birthday cakes here, you’ll also find loads DIY birthday cake-making ideas and how-to tips to inspire your next birthday cake project. Enjoy!

And don’t forget… if you end up with a cool cake, have great tips to share or pictures of awesome birthday cakes you’ve made in the past, share them here and be a part of our coolest birthday cake community.


Latest Tow Mater Cakes



Featured Cars Cakes

Cars cake by Tina N., Enfield, CT

Coolest Cars Cake Photos

My son wanted a Cars cake for his birthday so I decided on Tow Mater. It was made with a sheet cake that I cut 6″ wide twice and stacked. The cab was made with the remainder of the cake. Frosted with buttercream frosting and the tires were made of donuts.

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

Cars cake by Karri B., Keller, TX

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

I made this Cars cake for my husband’s grandfather’s 75th birthday. He loves the movie Cars and Mater is his favorite character. To get the shape for my cakes I either draw out a pattern/template (on butcher paper) or find a clip art picture on the internet. You can enlarge pictures in several different programs to get the size you need and then just print it out.

I have large square and rectangle pans that I bake my cakes in and then I cut out the shape using the template. I decided to do it this way because all of the molded pans are too small for what I have needed so far. I use store bought frosting and Wilton coloring gels to get the colors that I need. I have figured out after my first couple of cakes that making the dark colors a day or two ahead of time is totally worth while. It gives them time to set and become darker.

Cars cake by Anna H., Danville, IA

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

I used two loaf pans for this cars cake. One was a little smaller than the other. I shaped the cakes and then frosted with buttercream then I used fondant to cover the whole thing. I airbrushed the sides and hand painted the back. The rope is made of fondant.

I cut gumdrops for the parking lights and used one gum drop for the other top light. For the side mirrors and windows I used Mini candy bars. I put four in the microwave for 10 seconds and then added two toothpicks and sandwiched them between the side mirrors. The tires are made of dark chocolate that I melted and made into circles and added lifesavers to the middle.

The headlight is a white chocolate chip and the other side I used a large round tip and just pushed it into the fondant. I made the teeth out of white fondant. The back end is made with wafer cookies fondant and red hots for the tail lights.

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater
Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

Cars cake by Wendy A., Oak Harbor, WA

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

My hubby helped on this one. I took the Wiltons really big sheet cake pan and that takes two cake mixes plus another 8″round, baked it and then I cut to the shape I needed it to be for a Cars cake. One half I used for the back and then the other half I cut in half again and made the head. The inside hood fenders and back fender are made out of the round cake and also the built up sides of the truck bed. The round thing in the hood is two and a half Oreo cookies.

I just used buttercream icing and this one was fun because I didn’t have to be too careful. Tow mater looks beat up anyway. The tow stuff is those really big pretzel sticks and the rope is black shoe lace licorice. Everything else is buttercream. It was really fun to make and a big hit at my nephew’s first birthday party.

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater
Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

Cake by Sandy B., Wayne, MI

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

I used a bread pan to bake this Cars cake. It took only one box of cake mix. After the cake was done I carved it out with a knife. I used Oreo cookies for the wheels and air filter and a pretzel rod for the boom. All and all it really wasn’t that hard to do. Not too shabby for a first time doer

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

Cars cake by Leann F., Victoria, BC

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

My son just had his third birthday and is a huge “Cars” fan so I decided to make him a “Mater” cake. I started off with two cake mixes, one in a 9×13″ pan, the other split between a loaf pan and a 9×9″ pan. I froze these so they would be easier to work with and then cut approx 1.5″ off of each side of the 9×13. I did the same to the 9×9 cake and loaf as well.

I stacked graham wafers under the cake to raise it up a bit (I suggest ‘gluing’ them with icing) used the big piece as the base, the 9×9 at the front next and then finally the loaf as the cab (set even with the back of the 9×9). I iced the majority of the cake with chocolate butter icing tinted more of a rust color with a bit of yellow and red food coloring, used blue on the sides and green on the doors.

I detailed with lady fingers and chocolate wafer cookies, a yellow gumdrop for the light, green lifesavers for the eyes and Chiclets for the teeth. I did a tiny bit of piping around the windows and the doors but over-all it was fairly easy to ice as it’s supposed to look ‘rusty’ and worn out – so it didn’t matter that the brown icing showed through the blue a bit etc.

This Cars cake was fun to make and the kids loved it! My sons were so proud!

Cars cake by Kari H., Collierville, TN

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

My son really wanted a Cars theme party and, of course, a Cars cake. He loves Tow Mater from the movie so I thought I would try creating it.

I used a 3D car mold from Wilton, cut the back half of the window portion off and placed it on top of the front portion of the window to give it a taller cab.

I also cut down into the hood portion to look like the hood was missing and placed an Oreo in the front, covered in frosting to look like a spare tire. The tires are also split Oreos. The tow bar is a large pretzel stick that I hung the Happy Birthday Ben sign from. This was a fun cake to make.

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

I also made a Lightning McQueen cake to go along with this guy. I used on old 3D sports car mold for him.

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

Cake by Amy G., Greenville, TX

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

For this Cars cake, I made a sheet cake, and a 10-in square cake.

I cut the square cake almost in half, and then stacked it, leaving just enough cake to make the hook.

I then frosted the cake and used dowel rods to hold the hook up.

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

Cars cake by Jo M., Melbourne, Australia

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

My 3 year old requested a Mater cake for his birthday. After doing some research through the pages here of what others have done, I managed to pull it off.

My first cake flopped which worked in my favor as it created just the right dip for the bonnet and tray. The I made another for height and the cab. It took four normal cake mixtures and I used a roasting dish to get the size and save on dollars.

The back of Mater is placed on a small tray with clear containers underneath then I placed Sour Apple lollie strips under him to look like grass.

My son loved it but would not eat it (or let anybody else eat it)!

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

Cars cake by Carol M., Buford, GA

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

This Tow Mater (From the movie Cars) cake was a trial run for my friend’s son’s birthday in March and is made in a smaller scale than I will make it in March. The body of Tow Mater is made of a sponge cake which I sculptured into the shape based on a picture of the cars cake I got off the internet.

The face, mouth, side view mirrors and towing wing are made of chocolate. I hand drew the shapes, melted candy melts and then ‘painted’ it on to my patters. I then let it dry and constructed it on the cake. The tow ropes are made of fruit roll ups.

Cars cake by Robin H., Oklahoma City, OK

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

My son is a huge fan of the movie “Cars” so I made him a Cars cake. I made two pound cakes. I put one whole one down for the body and the other one I cut in half for the cab and the hood area.

I just used chocolate frosting and a variety of candies and cookies for the details. This was very fun to make!

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

Cars cake by Stacy O., Hilliard, OH

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

I used two cake mixes for this Cars cake, baked in regular 9×13 pan and a loaf pan (for cab). I cut rectangles out for the base and the bed of the truck. I added the loaf rectangle for cab (held together with bamboo skewers).

Ice the whole cake except windows, with chocolate frosting. Ice the windows with white icing (some green and blue on sides to look like a rusty truck).

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater

Decorate with 9 kinds of edible candies: Chocolate covered donuts for wheels and engine, Kit Kat for bumpers and engine, block Green life saver gummies for eyes (black gel pupils), Iced pretzel rod & pretzels for hoist/hook, Black licorice (cut lengthwise) to hold hoist, Skittles (yellow/red for lights), Rolos for top, Dentyne Ice for teeth, Ho Hos for sides of front.

The kids went nuts for this.

Disney's Cars Cake - Tow Mater