How to make a tire cake with fondant

My son's first birthday was in December and I decided to just go for it! He's obsessed with cars and wheels (and anything that kind of looks like it might be a wheel) so I started thinking of how I could make a cake look like a car or the simpler shape - a tire.

I was at a loss on how to make the tread so I started searching Pinterest and yes, this had been done many, many times before. I really liked the tread pattern used on the website "Yes It's Cake" so I tried to imitate that pattern.

Now, keep in mind, I wasn't great at cake decorating before this and it's been about seven years since I last tried! I took a few shortcuts that I knew better than to take and unfortunately, it shows. And those "shortcuts" really only saved a few minutes over the span of a nine hour project so it wasn't worth it. I'll tell you where I cut corners and what I would do different next time.

I think the most obvious mistake was the piping icing. I couldn't find my recipe for the icing I usually make (which wouldn't have even taken 10 minutes) so I just used the store bought stuff and figured I'd add powdered sugar to stiffen it. Except I lost my patience and didn't add the powdered sugar. Since the icing was too runny, the grass didn't hold a nice shape and many strands were too long. Thankfully, I found my icing recipe so I could at least include it in this post.

The other negative outcome from not making my own icing was that I also used it as my crumb coat and it was too wet. This caused my fondant to moisten and pull away from the cake. It actually developed a hole and slid partway off which has never happened to me before! I'll admit, I was a little horrified ;) I patched it up but you can see what I mean about it sliding/pulling away in the photo right where the light hits the side.

I thought maybe I didn't use enough powdered sugar in my fondant because it was a little wet after I rolled it out on the shortening greased countertop. I really forgot what it was supposed to feel like and just kind of guessed. However, now I think it was wet because I used regular food coloring instead of gel. I know you're supposed to use gel coloring for fondant but I didn't even think to check for gluten free gel food coloring. Turns out, it exists! (Update: I used it in the frosting on my son's 2nd birthday cake and it seems to works well!) The wet fondant combined with the wetter crumb coat contributed to that hole I mentioned. I tried to let the fondant dry out a little by leaving the lid off the cake carrier as long as possible but there was no saving it.

I also wish I would have replaced my fondant rolling pin. Oh man, that was tough to get the fondant over the cake without one! I literally wrapped it over my forearm to lift it up without it tearing. Seriously, get a fondant rolling pin. And a lazy susan - I wasn't able to find mine until about a week after I made the cake. Thankfully I was able to hide most of the bumps in my fondant with the tire tread pieces.

There was actually one area I cut corners on and it probably turned out better! I typically only decorate my cake with edible ingredients and planned on making sugar cookie cars but they probably would have been too big. I asked Lenny to pick up a red or blue toy car so he picked those and I love the way they look on the cake. He even found a CRX which he used to drive so that was a really neat addition!

Print

Allen's Tire Birthday Cake

• Author: Meagan Fikes
• Prep Time: 8 hours
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 9 hours
• Yield: 22 servings 1x
• Method: baking

Description

Learn how to decorate a cake using only gluten free ingredients. I made this vanilla cake decorated in a tire tread pattern for my son's first birthday.

Ingredients

*Please see notes section at bottom of recipe first*

• Black gel food coloring, as needed
• one batch of marshmallow fondant, dyed with the black food coloring
• 2 bags Bobs red mill gluten free vanilla yellow cake mix
• 2 ¼ C Spectrum palm shortening, divided (Crisco may contain gluten)
• ¼ C gluten free all purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 6 egg whites
• 1 C dairy free butter substitute, melted
• 1 ¼ C water, divided
• 2 tsp gluten free vanilla
• 8 C (32 oz) powdered sugar
• 32 oz (2 jars) gluten free, dairy free frosting of choice (I used Betty Crocker vanilla frosting which doesn't use dairy ingredients but still carries some risk for containing dairy. Simple Mills is another brand I like and is less sweet.)
• Yellow food coloring, as needed
• Green food coloring, as needed

• 2 8 inch round cake pans (make sure the walls are at a 90º angle to the base and don't taper outward like a pie pan would)
• cooling rack
• 10 inch cake circle/cake board (I found plastic reusable ones but couldn't find them online. Something like these cardboard cake circles would work too)
• Lazy susan/cake turntable - optional but recommended!
• angled spatula
• piping bag
• large fondant rolling pin
• fondant smoother
• Printer paper
• scissors
• Wilton tip #2
• Wilton tip #233
• one or two small toy cars
• birthday candle(s)

Instructions

1. It's recommended to let the fondant sit overnight so make the fondant (dyed with the black food coloring) the night before you make your cake, if possible. If you like, you can also bake the cakes ahead of time so they have time to completely cool (see next steps).
2. Preheat oven to required temperature as indicated on your packages of cake mix (325ºF for Bob's Red Mill brand).
3. Use shortening (or butter substitute if you prefer) to heavily grease the two 8 inch round cake pans - you'll want to make sure there are no bare spots. Add about a tablespoon of gluten free flour to each pan and completely coat the greased surface with the flour by rotating and tapping the pan. Feel free to add extra flour if needed - any excess flour can be dumped out or saved for the next batch of cake. Just make sure there are no large clumps of flour, especially in the edges of the pan that would create dents in the cake. Set aside.
4. Follow instructions on the package to prepare the first cake mix batter (I just did one package at a time). For the Bob's Red Mill cake mix, you'll want to reference the "white cake variation" instructions. Divide this first batch evenly between the two cake pans. Bake according to package directions.
5. As soon as the first batch of cake comes out of the oven, move the pans to a cooling rack and set a timer for 15 minutes. While the cakes are cooling in the pans, prepare the next package of cake mix and set the batter aside.
6. Once the 15 minute timer elapses, gently jiggle the cake pans until the cake moves around freely. At this point, you can flip them out of the pan and onto the cooling rack without the cake breaking. Wash and dry the cake pans and prep again as you did in step 3. Repeat the same process to bake, cool, and remove the cake from the pans.
7. While the cakes cool the rest of the way, you can make the icing needed for the crumb coat and piping work. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together 1 ¾ C of the shortening, ¼ C of the water, and vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar and continue to beat. (It should be stiff.) Transfer to an airtight container and cover the top with a layer of plastic wrap before covering with a lid. You don't want any air between the plastic wrap and the icing. Set aside.
8. Once the cakes have cooled completely, use a bread knife to level them off. You'll want to make sure the surface is flat then use a basting brush to brush away any loose crumbs.
9. If you're wrapping the cake board in any sort of decorative foil, do that now (I chose not to do this). Place the cake board centered on the lazy susan and smear a small dollop of the piping icing you made onto the middle of the cake board. Place one of your four cake layers in the middle of the cake board so it's secured by the icing smear.
10. Spread a thick layer of frosting (the store-bought stuff, not the icing you made) on top of this layer and use the angled spatula to spread it evenly. You can use a piping bag to dispense the frosting if it's easier for you. Top with the next layer and repeat until you get to the top (the top won't need frosting over it). When you get to the very top layer, I recommend placing it leveled side down so you get the clean edges from the cake pan on top. Use the remaining frosting to fill in any gaps between the layers so you have one solid stack of cake (this is where a piping bag is helpful).
11. Get out the icing you made and if it's been setting a while, you can whip it in a stand mixer to make it easier to spread. Spread a thin layer of this over the outside of the cake. Note that this layer isn't for frosting the cake, it's just to contain any loose crumbs and to allow the fondant to adhere to the cake. Too thick of a layer can cause the fondant to soften and break. After icing, make sure your cake is still stacked nicely before proceeding. Set the cake aside and store the remaining icing as you did before with plastic wrap and an airtight container.
12. Clean a large, smooth work surface very well since this is where you'll roll out your fondant. You can use a countertop or a fondant mat. Set out a bowl with plenty of shortening in it. Grease your cleaned work surface, fondant rolling pin, and hands (sorry) with the shortening. Knead your fondant until it is pliable and roll it out into a circle large enough to fully cover your cake. Use the shortening in the bowl to re-grease anything, as needed. If your fondant gets cracks, holes, or wrinkles, just knead it and roll it out again! You may need to add more powdered sugar if you roll it out too many times because it will absorb a lot of the shortening and become too wet.
13. The easiest way to get the fondant onto the cake is to lift up one end and start gently wrapping it around the rolling pin until the entire circle has been wrapped up. Starting at the base of your cake, slowly unroll the fondant up and over the top then back down the other side until it is covered. Grease the fondant smoother with the shortening and gently coax the fondant to lay flat against every surface of the cake, down to the base. Once you work your way down to the base, use a fondant cutter or knife to cut away the excess fondant (save this excess for the next step!). Use a damp paper towel or cotton swabs to clean the exposed area of the cake board. *Tip: If you develop small cracks in the fondant after it's already on the cake, paint in the area with some of the black food coloring.*
14. Knead the excess fondant and roll it out again. Use a fondant cutter or plastic knife (if you rolled the fondant directly on your countertop, be sure to use something that won't scratch) to cut into tire tread shapes as seen in the finished product photos. Each shape should be about the height of one layer of cake so you get four layers of "tread". Follow the pattern in the photos to place each shape onto the cake. They should stick without needing to add anything.
15. On your printer paper, draw or print a large block lettering style number (the person's age!). Make sure it will fit on the top of your cake and use scissors to cut it out as nicely as you can. Place this on the top of the cake and use a butterknife or something similar to gently trace around the paper number so you get a shallow indention in the fondant then remove the paper.
16. Take a small portion of your piping icing (not much, it's just to make the yellow lines on the road!) and stir in some yellow food coloring until you get a dark yellow color similar to road markings. Use a piping bag and Wilton tip #2 to pipe road lines along the middle of the number. I just did a single dashed yellow line but you could do double lines or solid lines if you wish. Tip: practice on the paper number to see what looks best to you.
17. Mix green food coloring into the remainder of your piping icing until it reaches the shade you'd like for the grass. Put this in a clean piping bag with the Wilton tip #233. Pipe grass all over the top of the cake, staying outside the number you outlined.
18. You can also pipe grass around the base of the cake if you like. You could do just a few tufts of grass sticking out from under the tire or pipe to cover up the cake board like I did. It's whatever you think looks best. Here's what it looks like without the grass at the base:
19. Finally select spots to place the one or two toy cars and candle(s) and you're finished! (Finally!)

Notes

I've linked to many of the products I used for this recipe which worked for me (severely gluten intolerant and mild dairy allergy) but if you have food allergies/intolerances or are cooking for someone who does, please thoroughly research the ingredients you buy and follow safe practices to prevent the cross contamination of any problematic allergens while cooking.

Even if you own four of those 8 inch round cake pans, you don't want to put four pans in the oven at the same time unless they all fit on the same rack. If you have some on the top rack and some on the bottom, they won't bake correctly.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @eatsomethingdelicious on Instagram and hashtag it #eatsomethingdelicious

Reader Interactions

Mastic toppers

Hello friends!

Today I'm telling and showing how to make beautiful, spectacular and unrealistically saving your time and labor costs mastic toppers for a children's cake! At the same time, we will learn how to work with sugar and wafer paper, the topic is interesting, the material has great potential, but we have never written anything about it, we need to correct it!

I will demonstrate using the example of a children's cake with Fixies. I recently had a story with him that is probably familiar to every home confectioner. Nine in the evening, the doorbell rings - the neighbors. Cake for tomorrow. To kid. With Fixies! “Really asks, really wants, birthday, how without a cake, help me out!” The situation, frankly, is not pleasant, and the most reasonable thing is to refuse, but how? After all, people are not completely strangers. And Fixikov, meanwhile, wants almost everyone. In general, in such cases, if you can’t refuse, and you don’t know how to draw too much, the only way out is to print on sugar or wafer paper and mastic toppers. Well, not to sculpt the whole company, really? nine0003

The only condition is the possibility to make this same sugar or waffle picture anywhere. To print, you need a printer, and not necessarily a special confectionery one (I'm not even sure that such ones exist), but refilled with food coloring cartridges. The service of printing on edible paper is provided by some pastry shops, as well as private pastry chefs at home, those who have purchased a printer and cartridges.

In order for the ink not to dry out and the printer to serve for a long time and properly, you need to print pictures at least once a day, which is why almost everyone who has this printer does not refuse those who wish to make sugar pictures. You just need to find a person who lives near you, write to him, agree on a price, send him a file in a jeep and agree on a time when you can pick up the finished picture. nine0003

You can print with food coloring on both sugar and wafer paper. Sugar is denser, the image on it is brighter, but it is usually a little more expensive. What to use is up to you.

Here is my sugar picture.

You see, it is packed in a zip-package (in this form, including a large thick envelope, the store where I print gives pictures to customers, very thoughtfully and pleasantly). If you're not going to use the picture right away, store it in a zip-lock bag: it won't let air in, and your picture will retain some of its inherent flexibility. From a long stay in the open air, sugar pictures dry out, become brittle and brittle. But this, by the way, does not threaten the waffle, but it is brittle in itself. nine0003

Show sugar picture closer. It is slightly rough, and the print is bright enough. The paper itself is pasted on a thick film.

Here you can roughly understand the thickness.

Let's make a baby cake topper!

Cut out the character. ..

...along the outline, with a slight indent, however, as you like.

Take a piece of mastic that dries quickly. It can be gelatin mastic (but it is completely tasteless, as for me, and it becomes very hard, I decided that if the children decide to gnaw on the topper, then it can simply be dangerous for their teeth)) or purchased mastic like Vizyon or "Top -product ”, in which SMS can be added to speed up drying (powder, sold in confectionery stores). However, if you have time, then you can do without SMS, it just takes longer to dry. nine0003

Here I have the Top Product white vanilla mastic, probably the most budgetary today, but very good.

Added a pinch of sms.

Kneaded. Rolled into a ball, slightly flattened.

Rolled out 5 mm thick (can be thinner, depending on how thick your skewers are).

Attached a picture. She circled the stack around the contour.

Cut out. This must be done very carefully!

I inserted a skewer a few cm deep so that it held well. The thickness of the skewer should be completely immersed in the mastic! In other words, when rolling out the mastic, consider the thickness of the skewer. nine0003

Lubricate the mastic with a thin layer of decorgel (can be replaced with honey diluted in water), quite lightly and evenly.

Remove the film from the picture.

Carefully glue the image to the mastic.

Our topper is ready!

Leave to dry, and you can insert it into the cake!

Drying time depends on many factors: mastic, topper size, room humidity. This little Nolik from Top Product mastic with the addition of SMS dried up, at most, in an hour. nine0003

And here is the whole gang. Bright and beautiful! And most importantly - quickly, if there is a place to print a picture.

Exit for those who need all at once for a cake weighing 1 kg)

Well, the whole cake.

The cake is made in a minimalistic design. Of the decorations - only toppers made of mastic and cogs-bolts, also made of mastic. It was an urgent cake, as you understand, so I had to do everything very quickly, and the silicone mold from the CakeUp store literally saved me in that situation. I just sprinkled it with corn starch, took small pieces of mastic, dyed it in the right colors, filled the recesses with them, walked along the surface of the mold with a knife, holding it flat and cutting off the excess mastic, and took out the details! nine0003

There is time - you can let them dry a little or freeze them in the freezer, they will come out even better. But even so, in a hurry, the result is excellent!

Mold with numbers, by the way, also from the same store. And the stand))) In short, I have a lot of everything from there) And what can you do if the things are really worth it!

We work with wafer paper in the same way. Well, or almost: the image on it is not as bright as on sugar paper, so you can often find a recommendation to cover it with decor gel on top. So it really will become much brighter, but it will acquire gloss, and not everyone likes it. The waffle also comes in waves more often, but I think it's a matter of practice. nine0003

Practice! Interesting work for you!

I hope this information was useful to you.

Author: Tori Pteat

Category: Decor
Tags: Toppers, Cake decor, Cake, Trendy cakes, Mastic, Children's cake, Molds

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