Welcome to How To Cook That I am Ann Reardon
Today we are making a 3D lightning mcqueen cars cake.
You can use this method that I am going to show you to make any car cake that you like
but today I am going to show you how to decorate it up as lightning mcqueen because that is
the one that has been requested the most.
To make it easier for you to follow what I am doing I have drawn up a cutting template.
You will need to cut out the template and cut the cake board and some of the fondant
templates, just follow the instructions on each piece and if they are two large to fit
on the page then they have a joining line to guide you where to join them together.
That's available on the website howtocookthat.net as well as all of the ingredients for the
recipes that I am using all of that is on the website and I'll put a link in the description
below this video.
Lets start with the number 95 place some non-stick baking paper over you 95 and cut around the
coloured part of the numbers ignoring the white outline you want to cut close to the
colour.
Then roll out some white fondant If your fondant is sticky you may need to gently rub some
oil on the rolling pin when you roll it out just to stop the fondant from just gluing
to it.
Place your non-stick baking paper with the 95 cut out onto your fondant.
Then using a dry paintbrush with either some edible yellow powdered colour or luster dust
just dust that over the top half of your numbers.
Then use the red on the bottom half and blend it in the middle by gently smudging the red
into the yellow.
If you've got orange then use orange in the middle if not just blend them together.
Use a tissue to remove any excess colour so that it doesn't spill onto the numbers when
we're peeling it off.
Then gently lift off the paper.
Using a knife cut around the numbers leaving a white border around them so that it looks
just like it did in the picture.
When you are making a 3D cake like this it helps to make a lot of the details ahead of
time.
So that you're not trying to get it all done the night before the party.
Use a straw to cut out the centre of the number 9, that will be too tricky to do with a knife.
You need to make three of these number 95's one for each side of your car and one for
the top.
Once they are made don't move them off your baking paper because if you do try and move
them while they are still wet like this they're going to move out of shape, instead cut around
the baking paper and move to a tray so that you can leave them to dry.
Next for the rusteze symbol that's on the front bonnet take a sheet of non-stick baking
paper and carefully cut out the word rusteze and the curved lines around the top and the
bottom.
Don't worry about the tiny writing on the logo we are just going to do the big word.
Make sure you keep the centers those tiny little bits of the letter e if you lose it
just cut another little one because you are going to need those.
Roll out some brown fondant and place the baking paper over the top.
And then carefully place those little pieces of the e in the right spot.
And then using a dry paintbrush again brush on some yellow and then some orange and then
right on the very corners just a small tinge of your red colour you don't want too much
of that because it doesn't contrast enough with the browns you wont be able to read it
if you do too much red.
Remove the centre of the e and cut around the logo.
Then next we want to make the outline for the logo, to do that roll a long skinny snake
of black fondant.
This needs to be even the snake otherwise the outline will be uneven, if you don't get
it right first time just roll it back up into a ball and try it again it can take some practice
to get a long even snake.
If you can't roll snakes and you've tried and you just can't get it then you can try
cutting a thin shaving using a pizza cutter.
Brush a little water around the edge of the logo and then pick a starting point and wrap
the outline around using the end of your paint brush to push it into the small corners.
Once you've done that with the rusteze symbol you also need to outline your number 95.
You need more of that black so again either roll it our or use the pizza cutter.
And same thing moisten it with a paintbrush Starting at one end using wrap it around using
the end of a paintbrush or knife to get it into all of the corners Then place some extra
black outline and place it on the bottom sides of the numbers to make it look thicker like
a shadow.
To make your eyes cut out circles in the size shown on the template.
I used a piping tip for this, you only need two eyes but I like to make extra so that
I can choose the two that look the best together and look the most natural.
Using a straw cut a circle of black fondant out and place that onto the eye.
If you put a tiny dab of water onto the white it will help it stick, if you use too much
you'll have a puddle of black around the pupil so you want to make it just damp rather than
wet.
Using some blue colouring paint around the edge of the eye and then on the white fondant,
making sure you leave one quarter of the eye a bit lighter than the rest of it.
You can make these fondant details that we are doing ahead up to a month before and just
leave them to dry out in the open air at room temperature and then once they are dry you
can put them in an airtight container but make sure you've go non-stick paper between
them.
Add the tiniest little dot, a tiny ball of white fondant just to the edge of the pupil
there just to bring the eye to life.
Now to make the head lights and brake lights, to do that place your templates onto the fondant
and cut around them with a knife.
Paint them with black food colour around the edges and on the top to match the pictures
that you've got.
Paint in the yellow and red and then add the black details on the top of the brake light.
So this is just like painting a picture or just like colouring in really.
You've got the shape cut out and you just need to copy what is in front of you to colour
it in.
I am using gel colors for this, you can get those from cake decorating stores.
To make the very back of the car cut around the template in red fondant twice, trim the
second one shorter than the first and add to the base, using some water to glue them
together.
Again just making them damp not wet.
Then carefully put your brake lights into position .
Then roll out another snake of black and this time cut it into equal lengths,
Brush those with your silver luster dust.
If you can't get hold of luster dust then you could just use grey fondant for these
rods instead or silver.
Using a tiny bit of water place one in the centre, one on either side and then one half
way in between each of those.
I'm using then end of a piping tip or you can use something small and round push down
like the tip of a pen with the ink taken out of it on the end of each one so that it looks
like it is bolted into place.
I am always on the look out for other sweet channels on youtube and if you are having
a cars party then you might want to check out mycupcakeaddictions tutorial she is putting
up a mater cupcake this week I'll put a link to her channel in the description below this
video for you.
Now for your windows, roll out some dark grey fondant and cut around the template to make
the shape of the back and the side windows.
Set those aside on a tray to dry with all your other details.
Now all of that can be done ahead, weeks before the party so that then when you come to doing
the actual cake the day before the party it is not a stress.
You guys keep asking how long does it take to make these cakes, well to do all of those
details and some of them I made more than one of so that I could choose the best of
that took 6 hours so set aside plenty of time.
Now a couple of days before I want you to make the cakes and the frosting.
I am using my favourite chocolate cake recipe which is moist and delicious and all of those
recipe details are on the website howtocookthat.net along with all the details about the fondant
and frosting quantities that you'll need for this.
I am tripling the cake recipe which will give me 6 trays of cake, of which you only need
5 for this cake.
So you'll end up with one spare tray cake which you can use just to eat.
For the frosting I am making my chocolate buttercream and some ganache and I've left
the ganache overnight to firm up.
Then I'm just beating those together so it give a rich chocolatey frosting but it's not
quite as expensive as if you just used ganache using the buttercream makes it a little more
affordable.
Cut out your cake board template out of thick cardboard.
And it will also need to be waterproofed so it doesn't just absorb the moisture and the
oil from the cake and then it is going to be too soft.
So you can either do that using foil or tape. and completely cover it so it is waterproofed.
Bend your base up to match the profile of the base of the side of the car.
If you want a simpler option you can skip doing the cake board all together.
THat's fine you just make the base of your cake sit flat on the serving platter and for
that option you will need that 6th layer of cake so don't eat it then.
And there obviously then wont be a gap under your car.
If you want your car off the platter then you need to support it up, I am using 1 cm
maths counting blocks, if you are using a wooden cake board you can drill support rods
in and trim them to the right size like we did on the minion cake.
But today I am using a tile so I am not going to attempt to drill through it without cracking
it so I am going to hot glue gun them into place instead.
Once your finished your cake board should look like this with the cardboard sitting
off the tray and it is not completely flat it is going a bit up at the back and a bit
up at the front.
Once all of your tray cakes are completely cool I want you to spray them with some simple
syrup to ensure that the cake is extra moist.
When you're making 3D cakes the cake is expose to the air for quite a while while you put
it together and carve it so it can dry out, so to help counteract we use simple syrup
which suprisingly does not make the cake soggy just makes the cake moist.
Put your car template onto one of the tray cakes and cut around it using a serrated knife.
Place a small amount of frosting onto the cake board to hold the cake in place.
Then here is my trick to get it to the cake board without it breaking.
Slide it onto something flat and strong I am using a chopping board.
Bring it to one end and then fold the baking paper under the edge . Then place the start
of the cake in the correct position and pull back the baking paper under the board back
towards the the opposite edge.
As you do that the cake slides off into place.
Smother that in a thin layer of yummy frosting.
Then add you next layer using the same method.
If it is not quite in the right spot straighten it up as you go.
You need to repeat that until you have 4 layers of cake piled up.
Then cut your 5th layer into two pieces and add it to the middle section because that's
where we need more height .
Now take you side template and use that as a guide carve over the top of your cake.
Cutting over the bonnet up over the top and down the other side.
Next take the large roof template and line up the front of the windscreen which you can
see where that is from where you cut with your side template.
Cut around this template going straight down to the level of the front bonnet and no further.
Then remove the excess cake.
Then add the smaller roof template this time that up with the top of the windscreen not
the front of the windscreen . Trim down on an angle to join up with the base of the previous
cut that you've just done using the bigger template.
Next we want to slightly trim down the front bonnet just like it looks on the car in the
same width as the top of the roof. and you want to do the same thing again at the back
of the car do the same at the back of the car so it goes down slightly in the middle.
using your knife then slightly round off the corners at the top and base of the cake.
Take a round cookie cutter in a similar size to the wheels if it is slightly smaller that's
ok you can do more than one cut and using your template to find the correct location
for the wheels and push the cutter into the cake.
Then use a spoon to scoop out the cake that's in the middle there.
Next you want to cover the entire cake in frosting.
This seals in the moisture of the cake and gives us something for the fondant to stick
to.
Once it is completely covered place it in the fridge.
While it is in the fridge we are going to make our wheels to do that cut oreo sized
circles out of some red fondant.
Then using a smaller circle indent the centre.
Then using a straw cut 6 circles around the centre in the middle section.
Then take another straw and flatten it one way and then turn it an flatten it in the
opposite way and use that to cut around the edge of the wheel to cut rectangles out of
that.
Cut out 8 circles of black fondant.
Sandwhich 2 oreos together using frosting and then spread a thin layer of frosting around
the edges.
Add a circle of black fondant to the top and bottom of each stack.
Brush a small amount of water, just dampen it, onto the black and add the red circles
on top.
roll out some black fondant fairly thickly and evenly.
To help you do this you can buy rings for your rolling pin or you can use two of something
that's the same size like chopsticks like I am using here.
Cut it to size using the template and then cut a narrower strip of red fondant that has
been fairly thinly rolled and put that up fairly close to the top edge of your wheel.
Then use a chopstick to make an indent for the top of the red circle go into.
So that when you are rolling it you are not squashing that red disc that you have just
made which would make it crack so we are just indenting down using a chopstick or you could
use a ruler whatever you've got that is going to make enough space that when you are rolling
that red bit can just slot into.
Place one of your wheels on top and roll it up.
When you get to the end trim off the excess using scissors and push the end neatly into
place.
Give it a gentle roll to smooth out your wheel and then repeat that of course to give you
another 3 wheels.
Take you cake out of the fridge and using some quality paper towel gently rub to smooth
out any little bumps in the frosting.
Take a bit of time here to do this carefully because when you cover the cake in fondant
any bumps that you have in your frosting underneath you are going to be able to see .
Next thinly roll out some white fondant and place it where the mouth should go, it needs
to be bigger than the mouth will actually be.
But it needs to be fairly thin so that you don't see the line on the edge of it when
you put the other fondant over the top.
Rub a little cooking oil onto it and so the mouth template will stick over the top.
Add a really thin piece of black across each corner of the mouth just under the template.
Next I am placing a toothpick right in the middle so I can use it to find where to cut
it later, we will pull it out so it is not in the finished cake so nobody's going to
eat a toothpick you don't need to worry about that, it's just to guide us to where..
now you don't want it sticking out too much you just want it sticking out just enough
so that you can press on your fondant and find it later
Now to roll out your red fondant, lightly grease your rolling pin and roll out that
fondant.
Before I start rolling I put the baking paper over the top of my cake to measure how big
my fondant needs to be and how wide it needs to be as well.
SO that I know when I get on my baking paper I need to roll it all the way out to that
size And I know confidently that will cover the cake.
Pick up your fondant I just do that using my forearms and drape it over the car, gently
smoothing it into the contours.
Tuck it into the wheel holes and use scissors to trim off any excess fondant.
When trimming always leave more than you think you need so you can tuck it under neatly.
Somehow when you are cutting fondant at the bottom of a cake it always seems to shrink
magically once it's cut and it's too short then and you don't want that so cut it longer
than you think.
Use a ball of red fondant to smooth out over the cake without leaving finger prints on
it.
This also helps to smooth out any little imperfections or bumps you might of given it while you were
putting it on.
Now for the mouth, feel for that toothpick and once you have located it take a knife
and gently cut across in a smile shape on the front.
Gently push the fondant up and down to make the smile shape and remove the baking paper.
So you don't need to take any red fondant away we're just going to squash it up and
squash it down.
The purpose of the baking paper was to keep the teeth really white.
Pull out the toothpick and use a knife to cut the smile shape in the teeth.
Now at this point it seems to come together fairly quickly because you've already done
a lot of these details ahead so Cut the bonnet lines so that you can see where
the bonnet goes , stick on your little headlights just using a tiny bit of water to make it
stick.
Then add you rusteeze symbol to the bonnet.
Add on your side windows to both sides of the car.
Then place the number 95 on top, find where you want it to go before you add any water
to it and then brush a tiny bit of water on the back and stick it into place.
Next we need to make the rivets for the front bonnet just cut small circles out of black
fondant using a straw and then dust them with silver luster dust.
Add your four rivets to the front bonnet.
DOn't use too much water when adding your details or the colour of the fondant will
run, you just want to make a tiny little bit of water and then put them into place.
At the back of the car add a strip of fondant and support it using a ruler propped on something
that matches the height that you need.
Moisten the back of the car and add your back detail piece into place.
Secure in place using spaghetti.
Leave them long and sticking out for now we can trim them short later once it has fused
into place.
The reason we use uncooked spaghetti rather than toothpicks is because they are edible
and wont hurt anyones mouth.
Make sure when you've put that back of the car on that there is a close join between
the back piece and the cake so that you can then you can leave them to fuse together.
Use the template to cut out the windscreen and then place it on your cake.
Then cut out the red top of windscreen, I did this by hand but I will add a template
for that as well.
And then place that over the top of the windscreen lining it up up with just above the white
so that you can't see the white at the top.
Next add your eyes making sure that the white dot is facing the same way on both of them.
You can place them in the middle like this or you can put them to one side like on the
cars poster.
It's up to you.
Next we need to make the side lightning flash for our car.
So roll out some yellow fondant and use the powdered colour or luster dust again to shade
from orange to red.
Roll out some black fondant really thinly and place the yellow flash you've just done
over the top.
Then trim around the edge leaving a black border the whole way around.
The reason that we don't make this part ahead is we need it to be still malleable so that
we can put it around the shape of our car.
Place the thin end of the lightning flash near the base of the front wheel overlapping
just a tiny bit and then smooth it towards the back of the car and around that back bit.
Trim the start of the lightning flash using scissors and then using your cookie cutter
to gently cut around the wheel area.
Now you do not want to push too hard because you don't want to cut through the red fondant
here, just the lightning flash.
Add your numbers to each side of the car, brushing on a tiny bit of water to the back
of each letter to make it stick.
By now you should be able to trim off the spaghetti and remove your support from the
back.
Add you wheels, for them to fit you need the hole to be high enough right to the back,
if they don't fit just use your finger or the round cutter to push it up a bit higher.
Then slot the wheel into place.
For the front wheels you can put them in straight or you can put them on an angle just like
on the poster.
Add the other two wheels and you can cake is completed and ready to party.
Thanks for watching and if you make this cake or a different car cake using this tutorial
make sure you take a photo head on to the blog and load it up in the comments section
there I love to see what you have done.
And if you haven't already subscribe .... and join us next week for a dessert recipe following
week for chocolate and then back to cake and you can put all your requests in the comments
below.
See you all next week, Bye.