A checkerboard sponge cake shaped in the form of Lightning McQueen. Kids who watch Disney’s Cars movies will love this cake and the layers of chocolate and marzipan.
And then there was the child in Mumbai, India called Arnav who loved Lightning McQueen. You know the famous cartoon car in the Disney Pixar movies Cars, Cars 2, and Cars 3. Yep, that lovable red car!
So his mom, my friend Akshata, ordered a Lightning McQueen cake for his 4th birthday. And although we’ve seen a few lightning McQueen cakes before, we haven’t seen one with a checkerboard sponge inside. So sis and I set out on a voyage to craft a one and half kg Lightning McQueen cake.
The tricky bit wasn’t just the outside, but the inside too. Arnav loves chocolate sponge. So Arnav’s mom Akshata asked for a checkerboard sponge on the inside with chocolate ganache. Now, how difficult can that get, huh?
How to Make A Lightning McQueen Cake
If you think about how to make McQueen car cake, it may sound difficult! But making this DIY Lightning McQueen cake for your kid will be worth the effort! I made it for my friend’s son Arnav and he loved it!
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Creating the sponge checkerboard
We started out with three bright-colored sponge cakes- blue, yellow, and pink.
Now if I know anything about checkerboard cakes, it’s that they require time and precision, and are almost always round. So a rectangular checkerboard was interesting to work on.
I cut the sponge into long strips, most of them flat and some of them with a mound in the center. Then I created a finishing line base of fondant and started building the cake on it.
Ganache and fondant Together!
She worked on lathering the strips with a chocolate ganache to hold them together, while I worked on stealing away spoonfuls of ganache when she wasn’t looking. Good working together! The ganache was followed by a fine layer of cashew marzipan to mould the car. You’d think that ganache and fondant might not go together, but they actually taste amazing.
The marzipan layer was covered by a layer of red fondant. Yeah, I know the fondant pic looks like it came out of a Friday the 13th movie. That’s why sis had to have it on here, despite my voiced protests.
Crafting the Lightning McQueen car Cake
Anyways, post that I was put to work on creating doors, windows, and eyes for Lightning McQueen. So I couldn’t take any pictures. Anyways, the final product did look pretty good! And I managed to take pictures from different angles before Arnav’s dad came over to pick it up.
The next couple of pics were sent across to us by Arnav’s mom Akshata. He looks really pleased with the cake.
She took this picture after they were halfway through the cake for dessert. Poor Lightning McQueen getting all gobbled up! We were told that the cake was as much fun to eat as it was to make!
Lightning McQueen Checkerboard Sponge Cake
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Ingredients
Sponge Cake
- 200 grams All Purpose Flour (Maida / Plain Flour / Refined Flour)
- 160 grams Sugar
- 2 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 4 Eggs
- 200 grams Butter
- 10 ml Glycerine
- 10 ml Flavoring or Essence (Any) (Vanilla or other flavors)
- 10 drops Food Colour different colors
Marzipan
- 150 grams Cashewnuts Or Almonds (finely ground)
- 300 grams Sugar
- 150 ml Water
- 1.5 Tablespoon Liquid Glucose
- .75 Tablespoon Almond Essence
Fondant
- 600 grams Icing Sugar
- 45 grams Liquid Glucose
- 1.5 Egg Whites
- 6 drops Citric Solution
- 5 drops Flavoring Or Essence
Chocolate Ganache
- 100 ml Thick Cream
- 50 grams Milk chocolate lighter chocolate since these are kids
Instructions
Sponge
- Beat eggs in a bowl.
- Add butter and sugar and mix together.
- Add glycerine and mix again.
- Sift in refined flour and baking powder.
- Separate the mixture into 3 or 4 bowls.
- Add different colors and flavoring to each bowl.
- Line baking trays with parchment or tissue paper.
- Pour in the mixture and bake for 45 minutes. (Depending on your oven.)
Marzipan
- Grind cashewnuts or almonds to a fine paste and set aside.
- Boil sugar in water till reduced to half.
- Add in the cashewnut or almond paste and stir constantly. Ensure that it does not stick to the bottom of the vessel or it will burn.
- Add in the almond essence and continue to stir till quite dry.
- Take the mixture of the stove and cool for a minute.
- Add in the glycerine and mix well.
- Pour the mixture onto a cake board or a large open tray and let it thicken/cool or a few minutes.
- Once okay to touch, knead into a smooth ball.
- Once completely cooled down, put the marzipan ball in an airtight container and set aside.
Fondant
- Melt glucose in a double boiler.
- Add essence and stir well.
- In another vessel, lightly beat egg whites and essence together.
- Take a quarter of the icing sugar in a mixing bowl.
- Add the egg white mixture and the glucose mixture to the sugar and blend well.
- Keep adding sugar until not too sticky.
- Next pour the mixture and the rest of the sugar onto a flatboard, and knead well till it forms a soft and non-sticky ball.
- Keep in an airtight container till ready to use.
Chocolate Ganache
- Double boil the cream till the water underneath is almost boiling point and take off the burner.
- Break the chocolate into small pieces and add to the cream.
- Stir well and use.
Putting together the whole cake
- Cut the sponge into long strips that are 1 inch thick.
- Add different colors to the fondant and store in the airtight container.
- On a cakeboard, roll out white fondant in the shape of a road.
- Add black fondant squares to the white fondant to look like a finishing line.
- Place the sponge strips on the road in the shape of a car.
- Roll out marzipan and cover the car completely.
- Roll out red fondant and cover the car completely.
- Look at pictures of Lightning McQueen and decorate as required.
- Polish the cake with a mix of one part glucose to nine parts water.
- Beam with joy ant what you’ve accomplished.
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Notes
- Note that you will have leftover sponge cake and marzipan from this. You can always make minis of the rest or give the kids something to get creative with.
- This makes a 1.5 kg Lightning McQueen cake. Depending on how you cut it, it can serve 20 or 30 people.
Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
This printable recipe card is for home use only. For more recipes head over to AbbysHearth.comNotes About Making A Sponge and Fondant Lightning McQueen cake
- Note that you will have leftover sponge cake and marzipan from this. You can always make minis of the rest or give the kids something to get creative with.
- This makes a 1.5 kg Lightning McQueen cake. Depending on how you cut it, it can serve 20 or 30 people.
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Although Sarah has worked in travel for 15 years and specializes in Africa, she loves music, wine, food, and travel. Armed with her camera, she’s on a mission to photograph old memories and tell stories showcasing her East Indian community and her love for travel and culture.
Ganache with fondant. Interesting mix. Making this for my son’s birthday. I hope it turns out good.
Ganache plus fondant! That’s another level of sweetness alltogether. My son is in love with Lightning McQueen. I’m going to try this cake for his birthday next week. Thanks for the recipe.