My nephew Connor loves Jeeps. Really, he loves all kind of trucks (he’s an equal opportunity type of kid) but Jeeps have a special place in his heart. So when my sister-in-law Misty asked me to make Connor’s birthday cake, I knew I had to go for the Jeep!
I found the perfect Jeep cartoon in a clip art directory, but I was unsure how I could get the image on to the top of the cake, since I had a special request for chocolate cake with chocolate icing, and I had never done image transfer on chocolate before. But some careful thinking and throwback to elementary school art skills saved the day, and I want to share that technique with you!
Instead of tracing the design onto wax paper, then outlining that image in gel icing, I decided to trace the image into the icing of the cake using a toothpick, then slowly cut away pieces of the image to trace the details. This method worked well on large cartoony inanimate objects (like the Jeep) but I suspect it wouldn’t work quite as well on something more detailed (like a cartoon character).
The trick here was to cut tiny pieces away at a time. Trace, cut, trace, cut some more. Yes, it took some time and some scissor skills, but in the end, I think it was totally worth it!
After I finished the tracing, I outlined the tracing with black icing, then filled the Jeep in with a star tip. I really was so happy with that little truck. To finish off the cake, we left the icing on the sides messy (think mud) and crushed up some Famous Chocolate Wafers with icing to create cookie/dirt “rocks” that we used as a border. Who knew rocks could be so tasty?
Finally, we finished the whole thing off, with custom 3D cake toppers from Two Sugar Babies. Her stuff is really amazing, so if you need something custom in fondant, look her up!
In the end we ended up with one happy little boy, who only wanted to eat a piece of his Jeep. My mission was accomplished.
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This is awesome! I wouldn’t have thought of cutting away pieces of the image to trace. That must take great patience!
Also, just curioius, did you take cake decorating classes or did you learn this skill on your own? You make such nice cakes!
Jen–Thanks! I actually have taken one cake decorating class–Basic Cake Decorating, at the Cake and Wedding Cottage off of Bel Air road. I took the class after Eileen and I did the wedding cake last November–where we totally winged the whole thing. That experience was slightly scary, so we decided we better take an intro class to make sure we were doing it right!
So cute!! I love it!
OMG, Connor must have been thrilled. The cake looks terrific. Thanks for sharing the idea how to transfer the image onto the cake.
Cute fits both Connor and the cake. I’m also thinking ‘lots of work’ probably fits both too.
WOW! You make it sound/look so easy! Still, I don’t think I would be able to do it ;)
The decorating isn’t really that hard….it’s really just patience and practice!
As for Connor, he’s really a sweet one :-D
As always, I’m in awe of your decoration skills. I’m checking out the Two Sugar Babies and I see that there some very cool toppers there. Connor looks so happy.
So awesome. I’m totally going to steal that technique. Thanks, Beth!
Brilliant! A really beautiful cake!!
What great looking cake and what patience that must have taken! Cake decorating is a genre of cooking that I have never even begun to imagine doing. Beautiful cakes are like a mystery to me. My son (age 15) and I have been watching episodes of the Cake Boss on Netflix the past couple of weeks–wowzer can that man decorate cakes.
*smiles*
Connor looks like one happy little guy…. you are VERY talented!
That’s amazing!!! I’m lucky to get a cake with frosting looking decent!
That jeep in icing is great Beth. Your family sure keeps your Kitchenaid in business with all of these cakes!!
Connor went crazy over this cake, and so did I!! The chocolate on chocolate might be your best cake yet!!! Thanks again!
Having been at this party, we were all very impressed with the Jeep, the cake, the kid, and the baker. I’m not sure what/who was cuter, Connor or his cake.!! Call me prejudiced but I was very proud of both my Grandson amd my Daughter-In-Law