Project McQueen: Part 1

Well, Cameron's 5th birthday has now been and gone, and he was stoked with his Lightning McQueen cake! I was pretty happy with it myself, but if the lead-up to the big day hadn't been a 6 day work week, I could have done better... and the plans I had for decorating the board as a desert highway scene went out the window because I simply ran out of time. However, even with the time constraints, I did manage to take quite a few progress photos along the way.

First thing's first... this is Cameron's much-loved and slightly beaten-up Lightning McQueen toy, which I used as a model to turn the cake that he's sitting on into his likeness.  It's a 10 inch square chocolate cake, but I made the mix for an 11 inch square to give it a bit of extra height.  I cut down the bicarb in the recipe slightly, hoping for a slightly denser cake that would be easier to carve.  I also froze the cake, as I've read here and there that cakes are easier to carve when frozen.