Wagon cake?

While most people only want to display their best work, I think there is a good story and lots of laughter in the learning process. That being said, this post is about me LEARNING to make a wagon cake. I hope you enjoy!

For Caleb's first birthday, we are planning a wagon theme. I must have watched one too many of those cake decorating shows, because I got the harebrained idea that I could make him a cake that looked just like a wagon. I brainstormed about the supplies I would need and how to make it look just right. Finally, I headed to the store in search of my edible wagon pieces.

I searched the grocery store and Walmart for food coloring to make the red icing but, surprisingly, couldn't find any. However, one of the sales associates as Micheal's recommended a type of "icing coloring" they carry. She explained that unlike food coloring, which will make icing watery, the "icing coloring" was designed to blend better. I decided to buy some and went home to test it.

I assumed that like food coloring I would only need to use a small portion of the coloring, but I had to put in the whole container to really get the icing red. I have no idea if you are supposed to use that much or not but to get even close to the color the bottle said it was, I had to dump the whole container into the bowl. Even after putting the full amount of coloring in, I still didn't feel like the icing was as dark a red as the bottle showed nor was it as dark as I needed for the wagon. So, back to the store today I went. This time I bought container of burgundy to try. My mom suggested I mix a little of the burgundy into the red I already made and it worked!

The bowl on the left has the burgundy added while
the tub on the right has the original red I was trying to fix.

Mom baked the cake for me a couple days ago while she was visiting, so once I got the right color, I was ready to icing and decorate it.

I had a hard time not getting any frosting on the pan.
I never have been great at getting everything to look smooth.
Practice makes perfect though - I hope!

These are the special ingredients to complete the look.

Originally, Mom suggested using licorice for the wagon
handle, but the more I thought about it, I decided the proportions
would be off too much. My great-aunt Pat suggested ho-hos
which seemed like it might work. Instead though, I decided to use
these Weight Watchers chocolate creme cakes because I liked tread and
the square shape. To make the handle, I simply linked three of them
together using toothpicks.

Aunt Pat also suggested I use vanilla wafers for the railings,
but, again, I thought the proportions would be off
so I decided to try graham crackers.

I planned to use oreos as the wheels but forgot to
purchase any, so I popped on some thin mints from
Dave's cookie stash.

The cake in the picture above is not what I envisioned really. Dave agreed that the proportions were off. We spent some time contemplating how to improve the current structure. I was thankful to have an engineer on my team! :) Dave suggested cutting the cake in half and stacking the pieces to help balance everything. We decided to give it a shot.

Dave used a huge butcher knife to cut a straight line down the
middle. Then, we took two spatulas and lifted one half of the cake
together. Carefully, stacking it on top the other.

We shortened the handle and closed in the open space
in the graham crackers. We both felt it was looking better.

Unfortunately, I used almost all the icing on the first trial
so I didn't have enough to work with to make it smooth
and only could icing this one side. The corner began to
crumble making even more of a catastrophe. Plus, now the
wheels were too small.

Another view of this "masterpiece" - LOL!

What have I learned from this experience to improve for next time? I think the cake does look better stacked, but I need to see if I can find two small cake pans probably and/or cut the cakes so they are more even with each other. I also need to buy extra icing so I can smooth it out better and don't have clumping from the cake underneath. Additionally, I'm going to go with my original plan to use Oreos or a bigger cookie because the thin mints aren't cutting it! Since my Aunt Pat makes cakes professionally, I may have her drop by and giving me a suggestion or two. For my cake-making friends, I appreciate any helpful words of encouragement.

I hope this made you smile and that the next cake looks more like a wagon.