The cake boss.

In keeping with tradition, and to avoid bad karma from my mother, I set about to make Mark a birthday cake. This was the third year in a row he wanted a Thomas the tank engine birthday themed party. For the last two years I used a train cake pan to make two different Thomas cakes, but this year I just couldn't do the train cake pan again, I needed something different.....

I started by making a pound cake from scratch. I put chocolate frosting in the middle, and covered the cake with blue fondant frosting. (Fondant generally comes white, and I had to color it Thomas blue, definitely a job you want to do with rubber gloves on, unless of course you think blue hands are charming, or you always had a suppressed desire to be a smurf.)

Next I had to add track, also made from fondant, this time dyed black.

Then it was on to train cars. I used a train cookie cutter to make the initial shape, again out of fondant, and then added other cut out pieces to make the shape look like a train. (Good news, did not have to color this fondant, was able to find a package of pre-colored fondant in primary colors.)

Final product.

Mark was delightfully happy. Ciarran called him on his birthday, and he was telling her about his cake and then proceeded to hold the telephone receiver up to the cake so she could "see" it.