Emma’s 2nd Birthday: Bullseye from Toy Story Cake

For the past 3 months, whenever we asked my daughter Emma what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, the answer was the same: “Bullseye Cake.” She was referring, of course, to her favorite character from Toy Story.  So of course, I turned to google, and tried to find a prototype for a horse-shaped cake that I could replicate.

I came up with nothing. Yes, there were elaborate Bullseye/Toy Story themed cakes, but nothing that I felt my limited pastry skills were equal to.  So I finally came up with the idea of making a cow-print cake using fondant, and placing a Bullseye figurine on top of it.

I started with the ingredients. I made a 2-layer carrot cake using the recipe in my absolute favorite cookbook, The Better Homes & Gardens Bridal Edition.

I made two different sizes because I wanted the top layer to be smaller. Plus, I wanted to bake them at the same time and those were the only cake pans I have. 

Next, I got ready to decorate. Using my Orange Cream Cheese Icing, I smeared some on my cake plate to make the cake stick. I frosted the entire bottom layer, and placed the top layer on.

I frosted the whole she-bang generously with the cream cheese frosting. Seriously, you can’t have too much. It is so good. That’s the easy part. Now we get to the fondant:
I just purchased white fondant (which comes in giant lumps at Michaels) and rolled it out into a thin sheet. Gently, and smoothing all the creases out, I adhered the fondant to the cake. You might notice I’m wearing a tank top in these pictures. It’s because I seriously worked up a sweat rolling out that fondant. It’s hard work!I cut off the excess with a paring knife.
I had some brown fondant, so I rolled that out and used a knife to cut out my interpretatin of cow spots, which I placed on the cake. 

Finally, I added Jessie and Bullseye!Happy Birthday, Emma!