Cars Cake

Just because your child wants a Disney Cars (Lightning McQueen) birthday party, does not mean you HAVE to start dying icing red. We had a great Cars themed 4th birthday party for my son, Michael, but we had these delicious chocolate car cakes instead of a not-so-yummy red cake. These cakes are delicious and easy to make! No cake decorating skills required. Of course, you don't need to make all 3 kinds of cars cakes. Just pick your favorite. 

Loaf Pan Car Cake

This adorable car cake was so easy and fun to make. Simply use your favorite cake mix (I recommend Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge) and bake the cake in a loaf pan. Fill the pan about 2/3 full with batter. (There will be extra batter.) While the cake is baking, prepare a cake board to set it on. I like to cover my cake boards in white contact paper so I can wipe off icing drips. 

After the cake fully cools, use a small knife to carve the front half of the cake into a car shape. 

Next, ice the cake with my favorite Chocolate Ganache Icing (or whatever you like). Then the fun begins! This is what I used to decorate the cake.

• Nilla Wafer cookies for eyes (cut the bottoms off and stick a mini M and M in the center).

• Lollipops for ears/rear view mirrors 

• Dum Dums Lollipops for nose

• M and M's (yellow headlights, red tail lights, center of each tire)

• Mini donuts for tires

• Rainbow Twizzlers for smile, eye brows, bumper, and tail pipes

• Mini M and M's for making numbers and letters

• Candles

It is actually really hard to find flat circle Lollipops at the store so you might want to order some.

Yes, I could have made an exact duplicate of Lightening McQueen out of rolled fondant. It would have been hard work, and it would not have been nearly as yummy as this! 

Mini Car Cakes

These little car cakes are just the right size for each child at the party can have their own. They are also super easy to make. Simply bake a 9X13 cake or even brownies. Then cut the cake (or brownies) into small rectangles (about 1.5 inches by 2.5 inches).

I recommend icing the cakes with my favorite Chocolate Ganache Icing, but you can even use a can of icing from the store. Then decorate the cars! 

• Teddy Grams (just stick the driver into the cake)

• Mini Fudge Stripe cookies (tires) 

• M and M's (steering wheel)

• Mini M and M's (yellow headlights, red tail lights, and various colors for center of tires). 

These cakes are so yummy and kids love to get their own whole car! It also makes serving the cake easy because you don't have waste time cutting pieces. 

Mini Loaf Pan Car Cakes

These small car cakes are just the right size for a bigger kid or adult. To make these, simply bake a cake mix using a mini-loaf pan. 

Then cut a wedge out of each loaf to make it look like a windshield of a convertible car. 

Ice each car using my Chocolate Ganache Icing or your favorite icing. Then decorate using the following:

• Pepperidge Farm Gingerman Cookies (Just stick the driver right into the cake)

• Mini M and M's for yellow headlights and red tail lights

• Mini Fudge Stripe Coolies for tires (with mini M and M's in the middle)

• Lollipops for steering wheels (Cut the stick a little shorter and stick it in.)

It is surprisingly hard to find flat circle Lollipops for steering wheels so you might want to order some. 

Next you can decide how you would like to display your cars. I used a piece of poster board and the extra Rainbow Twizzlers to make a road. Enjoy!

--Annie Pryor