Herbie: Fully Baked

I fabricated the Herbie cake over the course of two evenings for the Herbie Potty Party of Vicki's nephew, who was celebrating one month of using the potty without accidents!

All of the following was used in the creation of the Herbie cake:

Wilton Cruiser Cake Mold
Betty Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix - Natural Vanilla (4)
Great Value Vanilla Frosting (2)
Harris Teeter Grade A Large Eggs (12)
Harris Teeter Natural Vegetable Oil (1 1/3 cups)
Charlotte Water (5 cups)
Cake Mate White Decorating Icing (3)
Wilton Black Decorating Icing (1)
Harris Teeter Black Decorating Gel (3)
Harris Teeter Yellow Decorating Gel (1)
Wilton Royal Blue Decorating Gel (1)
Wilton Red Decorating Gel (1)
Wilton Black Decorating Gel (1)

On the first night, I was primarily focused on verifying the mold and testing the initial decorating options. The instructions for the mold called for 5.5 cups of batter to be baked. Since I did not bother measuring the volume after mixing the first box, I went ahead and mixed the second box in order to fill the mold. I eventually learned that filling the mold to the lip was not necessary as cakes tend to rise while baking. I then cut the mushroom cap off the mold and was easily able to get the cake out of the mold and onto the cooling rack. Once cooled, I attempted decorating the car with typical canned icing. This proved a mistake as canned icing is far too fluid for detailed decoration. At this point, I realized that this proof-of-concept was inadequate and I would need to make another. I did some other icing tests on the initial cake before deciding how to approach the next. This cake was a disaster.

On the second day, I once again baked a flawless cake. Since I had less than 24-hours until the party, I was very careful with decorating since I did not like the prospect of baking a third cake. Properly equipped with a thicker icing, made specifically for decorating, I was able to portray the famous Herbie VW (in cake and icing).