Jed's birthday cake

I really wanted to do a Lightning McQueen birthday cake for Jed this year. I figured this year would be the first that he'd really be excited about his cake, and I happened upon these little guys at the dollar store.

They were the perfect inspiration for Jed's cake. And luckily, a day or so before I started with the cake, I happened on the most amazing video on Pinterest that makes coloring icing and filling a pastry bag so blissfully easy. Seriously, if you frost even one tiny thing, you'll be so grateful you watched this. I could weep that I have never known it til now.

As a little side note, I told Dave all about the revelation, and I was so excited. He looked at me with this dumbfounded look on his face and then said "Hmmm. Now I know how you feel when I tell you about my latest bow-making inspiration." At least he is honest.

Anyway, for Jed's cake, I decided I wanted to do a number 3, some grass, some dirt, and our cute little Cars characters.

I frosted a basic white cake with a thin coat of white and then piped my number 3 for the road.

Then I added some yellow lines so it would really look like a road, and then piped in the brown for the dirt side of the highway.

We pulled the filling out of a bunch of oreos and crushed them up and sprinkled it on the brown frosting so it would look like dirt. It was a good thing, because no matter how much I stirred, I could not get that brown very dark, and it was kind of sickly looking. The cookie crumbs helped a lot.

Next I used my super-duper grass tip to pipe the grass on the opposite side of the highway. I have to say, I thought my hands were pretty dexterous and strong, with all the piano playing, exercising and mothering I do, but piping all that grass really gave me an appreciation for people who decorate cakes all day. I was so sore afterwards! I am not ready to pick up the pastry bag full-time yet.

Then I popped our little guys on there and we were good to go.

I am so proud of how it turned out. And, I have to say, even though I was still a little sick when we ate it, it tasted delicious. Good cake and good frosting make for a delicious experience, no matter how it is decorated. I'll include the frosting recipe below so you can try it out. It's my very favorite.

Sue Ross's Uh-Mazing Frosting

3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup Crisco
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1-2 TBSP milk
1 TBSP corn syrup

Combine crisco and butter, then add powdered sugar, sifting if necessary. Add remaining ingredients, then tint as necessary. Store any unused frosting in refrigerator. If you need stiffer frosting, add Crisco 1 TBSP at a time until it reaches desired consistency.