Mystery Machine Birthday Cake

My kids have become smitten with old school Scooby Doo cartoons. While I'm not a huge fan of television, it is one kid's show I don't mind watching, conjuring forth nostalgic glimpses of my childhood.

For my son's birthday he requested a Mystery Machine cake. The party was only a couple days after my birthday, so it worked out nicely. The less cake I've got around here, the better.

The cake was made using the marble cupcake recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I doubled it. In cake form, it made a dense cake perfect for stacking. I love putting the new mixer I won in a VegNews contest to good use!

Decorating the cake consisted of a layer of dairy-free butter cream frosting with fondant detailing. The vegan fondant I used was Satin Ice, which says right on the front page: 0g trans fats, 0mg cholesterol. Allergen information: Gluten free, dairy free, nut free. Contains no animal derived products (vegan). Certified kosher pareve. 

To top it off, we added figurines of the whole gang standing next to the Mystery Machine. I picked them up at Toys R' Us.

My husband helped with the detailing for the cake, and printed out versions of the mystery machine from all angles. Then he cut out and used them as a template for the rolled fondant.

1. The cake was made using two 9 x 13 inch cakes. They were cut first length wise and the on the end to get the correct size. 
2. I crumb coated the bottom layer of the first large piece of cake on it's own, making sure to cut out cake board slightly smaller than the cake. (we stacked it on a sturdy construction paper wrapped book to align the wheels properly).
3. Add another onto the bottom one by piecing together the cut parts from the rest of the first cake.
4. Next I put in dowel supports to hold up the two layers on the bottom.
5. Cut the second cake and put it on its own cake board, cut to match its exact size.
6. Add crumb coat and then last layer from the leftover pieces again, add crumb coat to it too.
7. Stack the second cake on top of the first one. 
8. I pushed a dowel through all layers, to hold both layers steady.
9. Put the cake in the freezer for an hour.
10. Remove and ice with blue colored frosting.
11. Print off copies of the Mystery Machine to scale to create detailing. 
12. Using a toothpick to trace the patterns on rolled out fondant.
13. To attach fondant detailing onto the Mystery Machine, lightly wet the back of the fondant with water.
14. The wheels we made using Oreos, piped frosting, and fondant flowers. 

That is the basic jist of making it. If you are interested and have questions, feel free to leave a comment or email about it.

My son thoroughly enjoyed his cake, as you can see below. Vegans can have their fancy cakes and eat them too!