Making a template is a great way to get the the right shape when carving and decorating a cake.  With these easy steps, you can create a template to fit any design.

You will need....

several sheets of paper or large poster board
tape (optional)
tape measure
pencil
scissors


Step 1






Take a few sheets of paper and tape them together.  Once they are lined up, use a tape measure to re-size your paper to the measurements of your cake pan.

***Decorator's Tip*** Poster board is another option.  It is already large so it will save you the step of taping.


Step 2



Draw your picture on your re-sized paper.  After drawing, I like to fold the paper in half and cut along the lines I am happier with.  I do this for templates that need to be symmetrical.


Step 3



Open it up and check your work then, make any necessary adjustments.  Here I drew the details on my template to help me visualize the end result.

That's it!  You are ready to use your template.  Here are a few examples of when a template will come in handy.  The template above was used to make the first cake.


Here I used a template to get the shape of the basketball jersey.  It was very helpful in achieving symmetry.






In this cake, the template not only gave me the shape of the house but I cut it up into smaller sections (ie door, window, roof peek, etc) to keep proportions.







Here is another example of cutting the template into sections to keep proportions.  However, in this example I blew up a picture and printed it out.









I used a template on the guitar because, honestly, this is just not something I can free hand.






On this cake a template was used to create the NY on the helmet.  More detailed instructions can be found in my Piping with a Template Tutorial.







As you can see, templates are a big part of my decorating process.  Free hand piping and carving is very difficult and templates are a great decorating tool to utilize in these situations.

3D Wilton Cruiser Pan
Large rectangular cake board
Tips # 2, 3 and 5
Red and black fondant
Red gumpaste
Thick Wire
Tan, white, orange, yellow, and black buttercream icing
Blue tinted piping gel
Crushed graham crackers
Rice Krispie Treats
Plastic cacti








Another item that will help decorate this cake is an airbrush. You will be able to cover the car in white fondant then airbrush it red. It will save you a great deal of time.

Directions for the "novice" cake:

****Please keep in mind that by using the cake mold listed above, your cake may not look exactly like Lightning McQueen because, while this mold gives you a car shape, it is not his exact shape.****


Step 1

A few days in advance, make the spoiler out of red gumpaste and place 4 thick wires
into the spoiler as it dries (the longer the better). These wires will hold the spoiler on the
cake.


Step 2

Bake the 3D Cruiser cake and freeze. To get the cake to look more like Lightning McQueen, you will need to trim cake off the top and possibly the hood to give it more of a curve.


Step 3

Once you are happy with the shape of the cake, ice the entire car with buttercream icing.


Step 4

Cover the cake with fondant. You can either cover the cake with red fondant or cover the cake with white fondant and airbrush the whole cake red.


Step 5

Use the white buttercream and tip #3 or 5 to pipe on the windows. 

****Decorator’s Tip**** Use a toothpick to outline all of the windows and the lightning bolt onto the car.


Step 6

Outline all of the windows with the black icing and tip # 2.


Step 7

Repeat the above two steps to pipe on the large lighting bolts, head lights, tail lights, and the large number on top, using yellow and orange or white buttercream (colors will depend on what you are piping).


Step 8

With tip #2 and black icing, pipe numbers on the sides of the car as well as the passenger side headlight and tail light.


Step 9

With tip #2 and yellow icing, pipe the child’s name to resemble the Rusteeze logo.


Step 10

With tip #2 and blue piping gel pipe on eyes. Be careful, as the piping gel will run if you use too much. Finally, add the pupil on the eyes with a small black dot.


Step 11

The only part that is left of the car is to make the wheels. To do this, cut circles out of Rice Krispie Treats and cover with black fondant. You can also cover with white fondant and airbrush them black. Add a red circle to the center of the wheel and pipe the word Lightyear onto the wheels. Once the car is sitting on the bottom cake you can place the wheels onto the cake. The exact size of the wheels will vary depending on the size of your wheel well. My wheels fit so snugly that I was able to place them into the well and they did not fall.


Step 12

Finally, bake, level and fill the 2 14x11 cakes. Place onto the large rectangular cake board and cover with tan icing. Next, sprinkle the crushed graham crackers on top to look like sand. Place 4 dowels into the cake to support the car. The placement of the dowels will depend on the placement of the car. Just be sure to use 2 dowels for the front of the car and two for the back.


Step 13

Place the wheels and spoiler onto the car and put the cacti onto the large cake.

****Decorator’s Tip**** If you are having trouble getting the spoiler to stay up you can take 4 lollipop sticks and place them behind the spoiler for support. Cover these sticks with black or gray buttercream. If you look at the original Lightning McQueen, you will see he has something similar on the back of his spoiler.