Taxi shaped birthday cake - any ideas on design?

[suzywong]

My DS1 is 3 this week and he his MAD about taxis, black cabs, and I would really love to make him a birthday cake in the shape of a taxi.
I am OK with the cake and icing recipe but I can't find a template that would show me what shapes I need to cut from the basic square or round sponge to build the taxi shape.
Can anyone point me to a website or something similar

TIA

[Janh]

suzy, I think you just need an oblong-ish one (eg loaf tin) and then a squareish one to plonk on top (eg another loaf tin but cut off a bit first - you would probably have to eat that sorry ).

It would look a bit P Pat-ish but you could round off the corners with icing?

[suzywong]

That's a good idea Jan, thanks
You know just after I posted this thread I suddenly though, how long am I acutally going to spend honing and chaving sponge cake to get it into a correct fascimile of a London Taxi, and will DS1 really notice the exquisite details of my replica when presented with his birthday cake or will blowing out the candles be his priority?

[Janh]

Oh, I know, but you're allowed to do it when they're little! As they get older you can be much more slapdash

(He may not notice but it'll make a lovely photograph!)

[suzywong]

He will wet his pants with glee either way.
I happened to have to go to town this morning and took him with me and we took a cab from Knighstbridge to Tottenham court road as a birthday treat, he was in heaven, particularly around the huge congested traffic island that is Traflagar Square where the only other vehicles on the road are buses and taxis.
So I do really want to make an effort

[Janh]

ds2 was like that about buses, he would have loved a bus birthday cake but never got one (I was all caked out by then) so I think you should go for it - he may even remember it you know!

[Paula71]

Suzy, Jahn's idea sounds good, glue them together with sticky jam and maybe a chocolate icing cover (you can buy ready made sheets and in different colours), or icing with black food dye? I guess for lights etc you could use sweeties and for the windows more icing sheets with blue dye.

Either way your son will be in heaven that mummy made this just for him - doesn't have to be picture perfect.

[squirmyworm]

what a sweetie he sounds! hope it goes well.
does this (the green car on page 2) give you something to go on - ie model your creation on?

[Freddiecat]

I made a car cake for DS last week. I got it from a book in the library by someone called Sue Maggs or Waggs or something like that. Anyway the basic shape was a 7inch cake cut into two semi-circles and iced together to make a thick semi circle then with a indent cut out for the windscreen/bonnet.

My cake didn't rise very well so next time I would use sandwich tins. DS had a bit of a skinny car.

The instruction was then to brush with apricot glaze, cover with marzipan and cover with fondant icing. Then to pipe the outline of the doors and windows and bonnet and to put different colour fondant wheels and sweets for the lights.

The bit where I sandwiched it caved in slightly so I would stuff in loads of butter icing if I were you. Also this book said that fondant is really hard to colour black and it is better to buy it ready made and coloured from a specialist shop. I guess if you live in London this won't be too hard. I coloured some of the fondant I made yellow (huge sticky mess) and some blue for the wheels and it took 15 minutes of kneading to reduce the mottling on the blue so I can imagine solid black might take hours - and would stain your finger nails something rotten. You could then cut small rectangles of white fondant for the windows and just little blobs for door handles.

The great thing was as soon as DS saw his cake he said "car" (he is 2) which was a huge relief!

Good luck!

[Nutcracker]

Can't help but just wanted to say that i bet he'll love it.
My dad has a New York taxi (does weddings e.t.c with it) and he's mad on them, so when he was 50 i paid someone to make a taxi cake. It was brilliant, the detail was excellant and he was so surprised. Didn't cut it fir days as he didn't want to spoil it. It only cost me a tenner too

[suzywong]

Wow
thanks Freddie cat, some very useful tips there,
I'm definitely going to go the butter icing route.

And as you say the main point was he recognised it!

[smags]

Can anyone tell me where i'd be able to pick up some black food dye from?