Racetrack Cake

I made this adorable Racetrack Cake for my son's first birthday.  We had a Racecar Party!  Cars were definitely his favorite toys at the time, so the theme seemed fitting.  At first I planned on having just a small get-together.  Well you know me, I start gathering ideas, and I just can't seem to help myself from throwing a big, over-planned-but-worth-it PARTY!!  We ate hamburgers and chips and the kinds of food you would find at a racetrack.  I made 2 racecars out of big cardboard boxes and divided the guests into teams and had a obstacle course race with prizes for the winners (at first I was just going to have the kids run the race but at the last minute I made the adults participate and there is only one way to describe what happened next...HILARIOUS!)  We had a tire toss, colored wooden racecars, did cake and presents, and handed out a goodie-bag full of racecar paraphernalia to each kid (gotta love Oriental Trading:) and called it a night.  Phew...  The party turned out to be a so much fun (if I do say so myself!) and of course this cake was at the fore-front of the decorations.  It looked so festive and actually impressive, which is very  funny to me because it might just be the easiest birthday cake I've ever attempted.  In other words, complete success!!

Racetrack Cake

Submitted by Amy ~ The Sisters Cafe
Recipe Source: Family Fun

2 baked 9" round cakes
3 cups white icing
1-2 cups finely crushed chocolate cookie crums
2-3 cups green-dyed coconut
White Good & Plenty candies
Checked Paper or ribbon
2 toothpicks and tape
New toy cars, washed with soap and water

Using a favorite recipe or box, bake 2-9" round cakes according to package directions. Make sure to grease cake pans well. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pans. If time allows, you may even want to freeze them, which makes them much easier to handle. Cut a small semicircular notch from one cake, then position the cakes as shown below.

Using white frosting, apply a quick crumb coat to the cakes. If you have time, RE-FREEZE the cakes! It makes it so much easier to ice. When ready, cover the cakes generously in white frosting.

Place a small bowl in the center of each cake and sprinkle cookie crumbs around it to create the track.

Remove the bowls and softly press dyed-coconut onto each icing circle, then press the remaining coconut onto the sides of the cake for grass.

Lay white Good & Plenty candies in a dotted line along the center of the track.  Line the perimeter of the track with white Good & Plenty's as well.  If you run out of candies, you may also use a pastry bag to pipe a white icing border around the edge of the cake.

Create racing flags by taping small square of the paper or ribbon to the toothpicks and place them on track along with the race cars.