Lightning McQueen Cake and Disney Cars Dessert Table

Aiden posing with Lightning McQueen during our recent trip to Disneyland.

Aiden is a die-hard Disney Cars fan. During our last holiday, the initial plan was to bring him to Disneyworld in Orlando (much closer to Houston) but when we heard about the new Cars Land in Disney California Adventure Park, we changed our destination (incurred a penalty with the flight tickets as well!) and let's just say, Aiden became the happiest boy in the happiest place on earth.

Lightning McQueen actually drives (moves) itself from one location to another, and takes turns with Mater for the meet and greet sessions. They even interacted with Aiden, moving their eyes and even said pre-programmed phrases each time Aiden touched the body of the car or came close to pose with them.

But our Disneyland trip is not the subject of this post. I can't even bear the thought of having to filter through over 2000 pictures for this blog. Maybe during my maternity leave, eh?

Anyway, after my success with Aiden's Disney Cars 2nd Birthday, I was itching to reuse a lot of the props I had purchased for the event. And since I didn't make the McQueen cake for Aiden's birthday (way too busy!), I was itching to try my hand at the 3D cake as well. Well, my wish came true!

First up, an order for a 3D Lightning McQueen cake. A dear neighbour entrusted me with the job of creating a birthday cake for his son and I was quite honoured to be given the opportunity and trust, especially since it was my first time sculpting a 3D cake!

Used a mini Lightning McQueen die cast model as a guide to shape the fondant. 

Next, tyres! I had to use sturdy red bottle caps (since it had to support the weight of the fondant car body) and wrapped them in black fondant.

Used bottles to shape the sides of the cake to give the body more definition. Left it to dry.

Cut out holes for the tyres.

Used grey fondant for the windows. Can you see the crack lines? Beginners mistake - I should have kneaded the fondant more to get rid of the cracks before shaping it.

Check out my messy workplace - tools and fondant everywhere!

I used edible image decals to decorate the car.

Back of the car.

Does it look close enough to the die-cast Lightning Mcqueen model car?

Tyres were struggling to support the weight of the body.

Chocolate cake! Used orange-brown fondant to create a marbled effect as the base. Topped it with black fondant to make it look like Lightning McQueen is sitting on a road.

The assembled cake. 

View from the side.

View from the top.

Beginners mistake. I used shortening to cover the cracks on the car. Unfortunately it gave the car a weird gleaming sheen where I rubbed it in, and I ended up having to cover the whole car with shortening!

Armed with all the lessons learnt from the first cake, I bravely accepted another order for the same cake for Darwish, Aiden's "uncle". This time, no shortening, more kneading of the fondant and better proportionately sized fondant. And the end result was much much better!

Loving the matte finish. 

Instead of a road, I covered the cake in black fondant then laid a checkered pattern on the top of the cake.

Windscreen was more proportionate to the size of the car.

Back of the car. Tyres were a better and fit and could better support the weight of the body.

No more horrible obvious cracks on the surface of the car.

Next up, a Disney Cars Dessert Table for Darwish.

Darwish is 4!

Top view of the dessert table.

Dessert table layout.

What dessert table would be complete without some McQueen macarons?

Luigi Candy and Sally Sweets. 

Sarge Jelly and personalized water bottles.

Personalized poster and of course, my 3D cake Lightning McQueen pride and joy.

Apothecary jars with Fillmore Bubblegum, Rusteze Jelly Beans and McMissile Marshmallows.

Carrera Cupcakes adorned with personalized cupcake toppers. Personalized chocolates as well.

Reused all the decorations I purchased earlier for Aiden's birthday, including the Lightning McQueen pinata.

Designing a dessert table for a family member is easy enough (especially since I wasn't charging consultation fees for my design - chewah!) but a dessert table for a paying customer, is a whole different level of complexity. Especially since the customer turned out to be a "somebody" in Putrajaya and it was a party for his grandson.

Invitation card for the event by KiddyBounce. Yes, it was KiddyBounce's event and I was honoured to be given the opportunity to design the dessert table.

Audi is such a cool name. I had to allocate space for 2 cakes (not in picture) since both the grandparents and the parents bought cakes for the beloved birthday boy.

Top view of the dessert table.

Layout of the dessert table.

Instead of personalized water bottles, I used the Rusteze logo to personalize them. Cutting the logo was no easy feat though! Used the same logo to personalize cups filled with jelly beans.

Checkered cloth for the marshmallows.

Used Aiden's Mac truck toy as an additional decoration.

Reused Aiden's road signage and personalized it with Audi's name. KiddyBounce's inflatable castle in the background. My car and Hubby's car parked in front of the Putrajaya mansion - we had to use two cars to transport everything to the party site! 

If you're planning a Disney Cars party or embarking on a Lightning McQueen 3D cake, I hope the pictures above help give you ideas. Good luck!