Race Car Cake – A Costco Cake Hack

How to make a half sheet race car cake for around $25– without buying or using cake decorating supplies.

When asked Owen what them he’d like for his fifth birthday party, he said “race cars”. To be sure, I asked him multiple times, but his answer never changed. I’m usually extra AF when it comes to the big birthday parties I throw for the kids, but this year I was trying to streamline somethings– mostly for my sanity and pocketbook. So I came up with the idea to hack a Costco half sheet, double layered cake that feeds 48 people. These bad boys are delicious and retail for $18.99. Did I mention they’re made with 2 pounds of vanilla cheesecake filling?

Ordering the Costco Cake

In case you didn’t know, Costco has set designs you have to choose from. There’s no “Well, I’d like a cake made to look like a race track” option.

So here’s what you’ll need to do:

• Write on the order form that you want the cake “plain (borders only)”.
• Indicate that you want the message written small in the center with the color of your choosing.

Then, you’ll need to rearrange your entire fridge so you can fit this bad boy in it because it has to be refrigerated (see cheesecake filling).

Decorating the Race Car Cake

To build the race track, you’ll need 6 Hershey’s bars. I bought the 6 count package. Break the Hershey bars into sections of 4 and 2.

You’ll also need a package of regular Oreos. Because this was my first time making a race car cake, I went with the whole package, but I probably only needed about 20 Oreos. Put the Oreos (whole, do not attempt to scrape out the white part) in a food processor and pulse until they’re turned into crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, you can put the Oreos in a Ziploc bag, seal it, and crush the Oreos with a rolling pin or the bottom of a mug or drinking glass.

Start by putting two 4 piece sections on the top center and bottom center of the cake. Build the large race track oval out from those points. You’ll have to break some of the 2 piece sections into single sections. And you may have to grab a knife and trim a single section to fit. Do the same for the inner oval.

For the sake of consistency, point the outer oval Hershey’s bars with the writing in. Point the inner Hershey’s out so the flat part of the bar in closest to the writing.

Grab the crushed Oreos and spoon them into the oval. Use the back of the spoon to smooth out the Oreos, creating a level race track surface. Use caution when applying the Oreos to the cake. But if you happen to get some crumbs on parts of the cake that shouldn’t have Oreos, take a knife or toothpick and pick them off. Or say “meh” and call it good enough.

See how the Hershey’s pieces keep the Oreos from going everywhere?

Place Hot Wheels cars driving counter clockwise on the race track.

Optional: Add two checkered flags.

Voila! Race car birthday cake assembled in less than 10 minutes for around $25.

Some Notes

So the Oreos don’t get soggy, assemble the race car cake as close to party time as possible.

I crushed the Oreos and stored them in an airtight bowl the day before the party. I also broke up the Hershey’s bars the day before the party. By doing this, I was able to assemble the cake in less than 10 minutes right before we had to leave for Owen’s birthday party.

Since we have plenty of Hot Wheels cars in this house, I grabbed 6 from our private collection, cleaned them off, and used them on the cake.

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