Coolest Lightning McQueen Cake

I made this Homemade Lightning McQueen Cake for my son’s third birthday. I baked two chocolate pound cakes (9 x 13, and 9 x 9) and had left over, so made cupcakes (for the wheels). I cut the cake free-hand in order to shape the car (using a number of cars from my son’s collection as reference!). I used filling to make the pieces stick as well as to add more volume to the shape.

I froze the cake, and then one day later I covered the cake with buttercream (thin layer) to hold in crumbs, and create a smooth finish. I placed the cake back in the freezer until the evening before the party.

Decorating this cake was interesting. I had never used fondant before. I used a marshmallow fondant recipe. It was very sticky but with shortening it was easier to use. The red was very difficult to achieve, but eventually it came through (with lots of Wilton food coloring!). I did all of the additions to the car with fondant (coloring little pieces as required).

The wheels are made of cupcakes that were covered with fondant. My goal was that my three year old and his friends would recognize it as a car, they were thrilled, and the look on his face has inspired me to continue creating birthday cakes for my kids!

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