Hot Wheels and Gummy Bears and Kit Kats! Oh My!

My son had his fourth birthday party today! I can’t believe I am the mother of a four-year-old, most days I am pretty sure I shouldn’t even be responsible for myself!   

For his birthday last year, he wanted a train cake. He absolutely loved Thomas the Train, so I decided to go all out. I made a two-tier cake with a tunnel running through the bottom. Yup, a tunnel. People thought I was crazy when I came up with the idea and when I started working on it, I fully agreed with them! It was a week-long process with molding a tunnel out of gum paste, making sure it was the right height and width, and making sure it could withstand the weight of the cake. When his birthday came around I spent the morning frosting and decorating the cake in bright blue frosting. It took the better part of 4 hours, but the look on his face when he saw a train track and a battery powered Thomas the Train running through his cake was worth every minute of it.

Don’t get me wrong, it was not one of my best constructed cakes. It was lopsided and a little crazy looking. If I were to do it again now, I like to think it would look a little better. To a three-year-old, however, it was magical. That was all that mattered. 

As this birthday neared, I asked him what kind of cake he wanted this year. Now, something you should know about my son, he changes his mind. A lot. About EVERYTHING. My husband actually calls him the waffler. For some reason I didn’t consider this, and about a month before his birthday I asked him the question. “What kind of cake would you like for your birthday this year Caleb?”

His eyes lit up.

“I want a cake with candy and cars on it!”

Wow, easy enough! I was in the clear this year. No fondant sculptures, no bridges, and, to my relief, no tunnels.

I always forget, when you have kids, nothing is ever that easy.

Each week there were new requests for his cake. One week he added a huge rainbow lollipop. The next week he wanted gummy bears. Keep in mind, he didn’t want me to take anything off, he just wanted everything on it.

I kept trying to keep track of everything he wanted in my head. My husband told me that no matter what I made for him, he would love it and not to worry.

But, as we all know, I’m a mom. I always worry.

A few days before his birthday party, I took him to the store to let him pick out some candy and some Hot Wheels cars for his cake. He did so with glee.

He wanted to eat it all right then and there. Luckily, when you’re 4, out of sight out of mind is how your brain works. I hid the candy in the pantry until this morning, when it all came out again.

Somehow, I didn’t remember how much candy we had until I had laid it all out.

I tried to think out a plan for the cake, for the life of me I couldn’t seem to. There was so much candy and so many requests I didn’t even know to begin. I figured I would have a better idea when I got started.

I had baked three, 14 inch, butter cakes the day before. I filled them with a chocolate frosting, wrapped them up, and left them overnight to settle a bit. This morning I got the cake out and did a quick dirty ice on the sides.

After this, I made the ramps. I had debated carving them out of the actual cake, but this made me nervous. I didn’t have time to bake three more cakes if I messed them up (and chances were high that I would.) So I made them out of Rice Krispies treats instead. I made some and let them set and harden for a few minutes. When they had set a little bit, I molded them onto the cake. I made two, one for each side.

With the ramps I made sure to flatten the tops and mold them quickly. I thought this was best since Rice Krispies treats tend to harden pretty quickly, making them very difficult to work with.

After the ramps were done I covered the whole outside with Kit Kat bars.

I cut some of them to make sure they were the right size so they would not interfere with the ramps. Then I covered the top with chocolate frosting as a base before putting the candy on.

Once this was done I started putting down candy. I took the sour strips to make a road. My husband loved it, he called it rainbow road from Mario Kart.

The strips were a little tricky because they were straight and a little stiff. They did not want to bend into a curve. With a little coaxing, I managed to get them to an acceptable bend.

Once this was done I filled in the candy, that was the really fun part.

This was the finished product.

I decided to wait until we got to Chuck E. Cheese to put the cars and the candles on the cake, I thought travel would be a little easier that way. Transporting cakes always makes me feel nervous. I put it in the cardboard box and crossed my fingers as my husband taped the box closed.

It was JUST the right size for the box. I prefer it this way, less room to move around. I put slip proof shelf liner between the bottom of the box and the car and crossed my fingers that the cake would get there in one piece.

The cake got there successfully! I got it there and pulled it out of the box. The party host at Chuck E. Cheese’s loved it, as did other people walking by. I added the Hot Wheels cars and the birthday candles and it was ready to go!

My son loved his cake, all the other children did too. While everyone was singing to him, you could see the look in his eye, just waiting to blow out the candles and dig it.

He didn’t even touch a piece of cake after the host cut it. He went right in for the orange slices on the top. He ate candy, candy, and more candy. 

It was a good party. Everyone had fun at Chuck E. Cheeses and they played for hours. We did discover that my two-year-old daughter is not a fan of the big fake Chuckee mouse, every time the head move she burst into tears. Poor baby, it took her awhile to get used to it.

This cake was one of my favorites to make. Since there weren’t really any big carving projects or anything too elaborate, I could just be creative with what he had requested.

Next cake is my daughters second birthday next month. I’m thinking a dinosaur cake! I guess we will see when the time comes. Until then, I am thinking I need a baking break! There have been so many cakes, cookies, and brownies made lately I am pretty sure I’ve gained 10 pounds just from breathing in sugar!

I’m sure I won’t take a break. Let’s face it, I love baking too much, especially this time of year. I’m guessing banana bread, that’s always tasty!

If you want to hear more about the cake or how I got into baking you can check out my podcast.  Follow me on Facebook for new creations and cake updates!