Hi, all! I got a request for a cake this evening, and I have a couple of ideas, but I'm having trouble pulling it all together. This cake is for a lady and her husband who just had a baby boy about three weeks ago. The lady also lost her father a little over a month ago. They would like the baby's name somewhere on the cake, as well as some sort of tribute to the late grandfather's interests (which were racing (any kind but mostly nascar and muscle cars according to the family) and the father's occupation (fireman). Hrmmm ... My husband suggested I make a fire station or a fireman's helmet. Of course there's always a firetruck, as well, but how would I incorporate racing/nascar into that without it looking tacky and cluttered lol?

This is a hard one... Maybe a race car with the baby's name on the license plate? Parked next to a fire hydrant with a litte stuffed bear with blue ribbon around it's neck?

My imagination just went a bit wild:
How about a round cake, with the checkered cake pattern on the inside (grand pa's interest) on the out side around it you can do fire trucks, engines, fire hydrantes with a hose border with a fondant nozzle. On the top you could do a dalmation with his paw on the back of a fondant race jacket (baby's name) with a checkered flag in his mouth.

I love both of the above ideas - the first comment is what first came to my mind when I was reading it - but they are both great ideas! Good luck!

Thank you, ladies, for the ideas! The couple who ordered the cake came back the next day and said that they'd like a 'gift' cake. They still want to incorporate racing and some aspect of the firefighting business, so I am planning to make the gift with red fondant 'wrapping', black fondant 'tissue paper', and a white bow. On the tails of the bow is where I'm going to add the nod to both firefighting and racing. I'm going to paint the fireman's logo on one tail, and crossed checkered flags on the other. I'm also going to make a very small gum paste dalmatian and set it next to the bow. Subtle, yet effective lol! And now, I must set to work kneading lots of red and black into my fondant ...