Dinosaur Birthday Cake Recipes

REX THE DINOSAUR CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Spray bottoms and sides of two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans with baking spray with flour. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box, using 1 cup water, the oil and eggs. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooking racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Refrigerate or freeze 30 to 60 minutes for easier handling.
• For body, cut 1-inch slice from edge of one cake. From cut edge, cut out small inverted U-shape piece. Place body on tray. From remaining cake, cut head and tail. Arrange head and tail pieces next to body. Template can be found under the Tips below.
• Spoon frosting into large bowl. Stir in enough food color until desired green color. Spread thin layer of frosting over cake pieces to seal in crumbs. Refrigerate or freeze cake 30 to 60 minutes to set frosting.
• Frost cake pieces with remaining frosting. Use milk chocolate candies for spikes along back of dinosaur. Decorate body with assorted candies. Use 2 candy-coated chocolate candies for eyes and white decorator icing to make centers of eyes and teeth. Store loosely covered.

DINOSAUR CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Use a little of the butter to grease the sides and bases of two 20cm sandwich tins. Melt the rest of the butter in a small saucepan. Off the heat, add the milk, yogurt and vanilla, followed by the eggs. Beat well with a fork.
• Put the dry ingredients plus ¼ tsp salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine - this aerates and saves sifting. Tip in the wet ingredients and whisk to a smooth, silky batter.
• Don't hang around at this point. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared tins and put onto the middle shelf in the oven. Bake for 25 mins or until risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Cool for 10 mins in the tins, then carefully invert the cakes and leave to cool upside down on a cooling rack.
• Make the buttercream. Put the butter into a large bowl and sift the icing sugar on top. Add the vanilla and milk and a pinch of salt then beat for a few mins with electric beaters until creamy, pale and spreadable.
• Sandwich the cakes with just under ¼ of the buttercream and then all of the jam, if using. Mark the cake into six then cut out two of the wedges. Chill all of the cake in the fridge for 30 mins to firm up the crumbs, which will make icing easier.
• While you wait, colour the remaining buttercream with a little green food colouring gel.
• Split the sugarpaste into four pieces, one 500g, one 250g, one 150g and one 100g. Colour 250g green to make the legs and arms. Colour 150g pink, to make the spines.
• Position the cakes on the board and, once you're happy, use a little buttercream to anchor them. The main part of the cake will make the body of the dinosaur and the root of its tail, and the two cutout wedges will make the face.
• Shape the 500g piece of sugarpaste to make a tail, tapering at the end. Flatten the other end out (the piece will look a bit like a witch's hat at this point) and mould it over the tail part of the cake.
• Using a palette knife, spread the coloured buttercream over each piece of cake and the tail.
• Shape 100g white icing into eyes and teeth and poke them into the buttercream.
• Shape two small sausages to make an arm, with two claws, and position on the cake. Shape the rest of the green sugarpaste into two legs, adding claws if you like. Press them into the buttercream on the dinosaur's belly.
• Shape the pink icing into spikes and position them along the spine and under the tail. Use two small sausages of pink icing for the eyelids if you like. Finally press the Smarties all over the dinosaur, saving two for the eyes. Leave to set.
• If you want to cover the board, rub a few drops of blue colouring into the coconut until even. Mix the royal icing sugar with 2 tbsp water, then brush this all over the board and around the dinosaur. Sprinkle with the coconut and the chocolate sprinkles and leave to set. If the sponges are used fresh or within a day of baking (wrap well once cooled), the finished cake will keep in a cool place (not the fridge) for 3 days.

HOW TO MAKE A DINOSAUR CAKE

Steps:

• Assemble your supplies. To make a stegosaurus cake, you'll need two round cakes, frosting in two colors, and the decorations for the added touches. Along with your ingredients, you'll also need: Large mixing bowl, medium bowl, and a small bowl Sifter Hand or stand mixer Two round eight-inch cake pans, greased An oven preheated to 350ºF (177ºC) Two wire cooling racks Whisk Frosting knife Spatula Round two-inch cookie cutter Cake plate Piping bag with round tip
• Combine the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. If you don't have a sifter, whisk the dry ingredients together in the bowl to remove lumps, mix the ingredients together, and add air. Adding air to the dry ingredients will ensure the cake is light and fluffy.
• Add the wet ingredients and eggs. Pour the butter, milk, and vanilla right into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Use a hand mixer or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer to beat the batter on medium speed for about four minutes. Then add the eggs and beat on medium speed for another three minutes, until all the ingredients are fully incorporated into the batter. If necessary, stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure all the ingredients get mixed in.
• Bake the cakes. Divide the batter evenly between the two greased cake pans. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes. You know the cakes are ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or the cakes spring back when you press them gently. Allow the cakes to cool in their pans on the wire racks for 10 minutes.
• Cool before decorating. When the cakes have cooled in their pans for a few minutes, turn them out onto the wire cooling racks. Set them aside to cool completely, to room temperature, for about an hour or hour and a half.
• Make the frosting. Place the butter into a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream the butter on medium-high speed for one to two minutes with a hand mixer or a stand mixer's paddle attachment. Beat in the sugar 1 cup (125 g) at a time, until all the sugar has been incorporated and the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla and 2 tablespoons (15 ml) of milk and beat for another minute. If the frosting is too thick to spread properly, beat in another tablespoon of milk.

DINOSAUR BIRTHDAY CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 160°C Grease two 7.5 cm deep 24cm (base) round spring form cake pans and line their bases with a circle of baking paper.
• Using an electric mixer, cream butter, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl until pale. Add eggs 2 at a time beating well after each addition.
• Sift the flour and baking powder together into the same bowl. Add in sprinkles and chocolate chips and gently fold mixture until just combined.
• Pour half of the mixture into each cake tin and bake for 40-45 or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean.
• When cooked, allow cakes to cool in tins for five minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
• When cakes are at room temperature, slice the top off both so that they have a flat surface and set the tops aside.
• Out of one cake cut out an oval (for the body) and a banana-shape for the tail. Reserve remaining cake.
• Out of the second cake cut out a piece for the head connected to the neck (small oval for head and curved shape for neck- I followed the curve along the outside of the cake for the neck) and 4 small rectangles for the legs. Reserve remaining cake.
• Out of leftover cake cut-offs, cut out six small triangles for the spikes along the dinosaurs back.
• Assemble the pieces together on a cake board or desired serving platter to get the rough shape of your dinosaur, shaping and sizing where necessary until you're satisfied with the shape. Remember you can perfect the shape with icing.
• Dust off any crumbs and set dinosaur aside.
• To make the icing beat the butter with an electric mixer until white and creamy. Add icing sugar 1/2 a cup at a time and beat well. Add in milk and beat for a further 1-2 minutes. Lastly, stir in enough food coloring to achieve your desired colour.
• To ice the cake, start by spreading icing on the tops of each spike that goes along the dinosaurs back. Pour some sprinkles in a shallow bowl so that you can't see the bottom of the bowl. Press the iced top of each spike onto the sprinkles carefully so that it is covered in sprinkles. Return spikes to their position on the dinosaur and continue icing the cake.
• Spread and even, smooth layer of icing all over the cake using dobs of icing to connect each section of the cake if necessary. When cake is completely covered in every nook and cranny and icing is used up you are ready to decorate.
• Place 3 mini m&m's on each foot of the dinosaur to create toes.
• Place the mini marshmallows on the head for eyes and dot the black writing icing on each marshmallow to make pupils.
• Draw a smile on the face of the dinosaur using the red writing icing.
• Lastly place the smarties on the dinosaur's back and neck for spots.
• Chill cake for at least 1 hour or until icing is set and ENJOY!