Vroom…It’s CAKE!

Three dimensional cakes are some of the most fun, yet time consuming to create. They involve research, specs and measurements, carving cake, fondant elements and accents, internal structure and more. We get many requests for them, but often the higher price tag deters people from moving forward. Like anything custom, these cakes take quite a bit of time and skill to create. We can create several traditional cake orders in the same amount of time it takes to create a car or truck cake, so it makes sense that these cakes cost three or four times the amount of a traditional party cake.

When we start the process of creating a car cake, we start with images of the actual car or truck. We look at images from every angle that we can. We take into account the number of servings that the client needs and choose what size cakes to bake. Because we often don’t know just what size the car will be until its carved, we can’t create too many accents, such as tires and side mirrors, in advance.

Once the cakes are baked, we layer and stack them with the appropriate fillings and internal supports. We then begin carving with a serrated cake knife. We carve to the basic shape and add a crumb coat of icing to lock in crumbs and moisture. Once this portion of the cake is chilled, we carve and reshape a bit and then add another coat of buttercream with a smooth and crisp finish. Many of these cakes are covered in fondant, so we can give them shine or paint them with a metallic or chrome-like finish.

Once the base layer of fondant is on the car, we start the process of elevating it. Up until this point, the body of the car is sitting flat on a board. But as you know, car bodies don’t typically drag on the ground, so we need to raise them up and add tires. We do this with a block support under the center of the cake, which is typically edible such as rice cereal treat sculpted into a block or rectangle. We cut the board under the body of the car and place it on the block support. We attach it to the block with dowels, so it doesn’t move during transport.

Once the car is elevated, we can make and add the tires as well as other accents including bumpers, windows, handles, mirrors and more. We layer these onto the cake until the details start to take shape. We texture and paint these accents, so they mimic the look of actual car parts.

The last elements we add are logos and other customizations that the customer wants. We often customize the license plates or bumper stickers and other personal elements found on peoples cars and trucks. It’s these little things that really make these cakes special.