My eldest son turned five yesterday! As well as being a lover of running, mariokart and the word poo, my son’s long term love has always been cars. He has had this love since he was about six months old and when we discovered the Disney Pixar film Cars the obsession grew.

So this year for his birthday, in the wake of the sequel Cars 2, he requested a Cars racetrack cake. He is always very specific in his requests so yesterday when he was detailing the exact expressions he wanted the cars to have I started to panic. However he reassured me in the sweetest way. He said “don’t worry mum, the cake you made me last year was fantastic.” Bless him.

Not being exactly blessed in domestic prowess and being pretty unwell still this was some undertaking. Add to that a broken dishwasher and a teething baby it was like climbing mount Everest with pixies in my backpack. I tell you this so that if like me you are contemplating a racetrack cake you can be reassured. If I can do it, so can you.

You will need.
A cake.
Green and black food colouring.
A selection of plastic cars from the film (or not)
A cocktail stick.
Paper.
A black felt tip.
Sellotape.
Ready to roll fondant icing.
Icing Sugar.
A tube of draw on icing.
A rolling pin
Strawberry jam.

So here goes.
1. First make a cake about the size (and in fact in if it’s all you have) a large roasting tin. I chose Madeira cake but it really doesn’t matter, whatever you fancy.

2. Once the racetrack cake is baked and cooled put it on whatever you plan on displaying it on. I covered a tray in tin foil.

3 Put enough icing to cover your racetrack cake in a bowl and add a few drops of green food colouring. Knead until the icing has turned green.

4. Cover your surface in icing sugar and roll out the green icing to cover your cake.

5. Cover your racetrack cake in Jam.

6. Gently lift the icing over the racetrack cake and stick it down.

7. Put about half the amount of roll on icing in a bowl and repeat the dying process to make it black.

8. Roll out to about the size of the top of your racetrack cake.

9. Cut a racetrack shape out with a knife. It’s up to you, you can go round or figure of eight.

10. Stick your racetrack on your cake using jam.

11. Draw with your tube of icing onto the racetrack. I did lines down the centre and a finish line.

12. Create a chequered flag using your cocktail stick, paper, pen and Sellotape.

13. Stick your flag and cars where ever you fancy.

14. Stand back and admire your racetrack cake.

15.  Make a cup of tea, and have a well deserved chocolate biscuit.