Express Train Cake Design
Additional Information
Step 1
Prepare Icing
We suggest that you tint all icings at one time while cake cools. Refrigerate tinted icings in covered containers until ready to use.
Make 4 cups buttercream icing:
Tint 1 cup blue
Tint 1 cup orange
Tint 3/4 cup yellow
Tint 3/4 cup brown (thin 1/4 cup with 1 teaspoon light corn syrup)
Reserve 1/2 cup white
Step 2
Decorate in Order
Use spatula and thinned brown icing to ice window smooth.
Step 3
Use tip 18 and yellow icing to outline cowcatcher, cab and fill in center of wheels with stars.
Step 4
Use tip 16 and yellow icing to pipe stripes on cowcatchers, engine, wheels and axle bar.
Step 5
Use tip 16 and blue icing to pipe star number on front of engine.
Step 6
Use tip 16 and blue icing top cover sides and top of engine with zigzags.
Step 7
Use tip 16 and blue icing to outline inner circle of wheels.
Step 8
Use tip 16 and yellow icing to cover small front wheels with zigzags.
Step 9
Use tip 16 and orange icing to cover edge of smokestack with zigzags.
Step 10
Use tip 16 and orange icing to pipe spiral cap on engine.
Step 11
Use tip 18 and brown icing to cover front of cowcatcher and sides of engines.
Step 12
Use tip 18 and orange icing top cover front of engine above cowcatcher with stars.
Step 13
Use tip 12 and brown icing to pipe spiral smoke.
Step 14
Baking Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F or temperature per recipe directions. Your cake will unmold easily, without sticking, when you prepare the pan properly. Grease the inside of pan using a pastry brush and solid vegetable shortening (do not use butter, margarine or liquid vegetable oil). Spread the shortening so that all indentations are covered. Sprinkle about 2 Tablespoons flour inside pan and shake so that flour covers all greased surfaces.
Turn pan upside down and tap lightly to remove excess flour. If any shiny spots remain, touch up with more shortening and flour to prevent cake from sticking. (You can use vegetable oil pan spray or vegetable oil pan spray with flour, in place of solid shortening and flour, or use New Wilton Cake Release, for perfect, crumb-free cakes!).
Make cake mix according to package directions, or use your favorite scratch recipe. (You will need a full 6 cups of batter.) Pound cake, yellow or chocolate batters, packaged mixes or your own recipe are firm and offer the best results.
Pour batter into the front half of pan. The batter will come right to the rim, almost to the point of overflowing. Snap the back half of the pan in place and tie pans tightly together in two places with household string or wire, to prevent rising batter from forcing pans apart. Place pan on a cookie sheet and bake on middle rack of oven for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in vent hole on top of pan comes out clean.
Top half of pan may be removed during last ten minutes of baking to check cake. When cake is done, remove from oven and place on cake rack to cool for 5 minutes.
Then remove top half of pan and cool 5 minutes more. Replace top pan, turn cake over and remove bottom pan. It may be necessary to tap pan with the handle of a spatula to free cake from pan.
We recommend hand washing pan in hot, soapy water.
Products
Products
The Zigzag is a popular way to fill in outlined areas, perfect for ribbed sweater and cuff effects. You can also use tight zigzags to cover the entire side of your cake—they look great!