My cousin's son was having a construction themed party so it was time to revamp a cake I made for my son at his own digger party a year and a half ago.
The cake was yellow and this was my first attempt at CHOCOLATE buttercream! Yum!
The chocolate buttercream turned out to be the perfect color for mud. When I originally made this cake for my son's 3rd birthday I used regular buttercream and added brown food coloring. I wasn't completely happy with the color. This is much richer looking and tasting!
The yellow piping is out of regular buttercream. I just made a large batch of regular buttercream, scooped out what I needed to pipe the edges, then added the cocoa to the rest! Super easy!
The road is made of crushed Oreos and melted butter.
I can't believe it took me this long to discover chocolate buttercream! Now...what should I make next?
Just to let you know...I have added a full tutorial on how to make this cake with "grass" instead of "mud"! Check out my May 2012 post titled "Cars Cake Tutorial". It gives a step by step on how to prepare your cake board and how to get the road (number) just right. On the tutorial I filled in the rest of the cake with grassy buttercream, but if you're going for the construction look, you can just use chocolate buttercream instead and run some tires through it for tracks! Hopefully the step by step will help you out! Good luck and happy baking!
What did you use on the cake board? Is that just striped paper?
ReplyDeleteI just google imaged the caution stripes (then copied, pasted, & stretched them out in a word document). I printed them at home and taped them to the board. I've also covered the board with caution tape if you already have some for the party.
DeleteThank you. A few more questions. How did you get your two so perfect? Any other helpful hints would be great. Your cake is adorable. Thanks again.
DeleteI will be making a similar one in May and I will blog it. If you need the specifics before then, here they are...
DeleteI crumb coated the cake first and then frosted it. I drew a number on paper and got it just the way I wanted it, using the cake pan as a guide to make sure it wasn't too big or too small. Then I cut out the number and set it on top of the frosted cake. I traced around the number with a toothpick and removed the paper so I could see the shape of it on top of the cake. Next I took crushed up Oreo's and melted butter and mix them together. I used a small spoon and set the Oreo/butter mixture on top of the number on the cake. I used a knife and spoon to flatten the Oreo mixture and smooth the sides. Then I let it harden completely (about 30 min). I filled in the rest of the cake with buttercream. I drove the cars through the frosting to create the tracks. I also made a little more of the Oreo mix and added piles of dirt. Let me know if you have any other questions...and if you are going to be making this cake with grass instead of dirt (for the frosting around the number), let me know because you would do that a different way. I hope your cake turns out great and I hope this helps! Good luck!
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ReplyDeleteCould you tell me what kind of trucks you used on this cake? I'd love to make this for my little ones birthday next month.
ReplyDeleteThe little tractors are CAT brand and I'm pretty sure I picked them up at Walmart. They came in a pack and were less than $10. My sons still play with them! Target sometimes has plastic diggers too. Good luck! If you are looking for more of a step by step tutorial on how to do this cake, check out my May 2012 post. It has a similar cake (just made with grass instead of mud). It would tell you how to get the road on at least! I hope it turns out exactly how you want it! I'm sure your son will love it and he'll think you are the coolest mom ever!
DeleteThis is such an adorable cake! Thanks for the idea. I was looking for something to make for my three year old (construction-obsessed) son's birthday tonmorrow and this is perfect.
ReplyDeleteAnd to Unknown, I think those are the little CAT construction trucks that Target sells. :)
Thank you! Your son will love it! I have a step by step tutorial for a very similar cake on my May 2012 posting. I learned the hard way on this cake so you might want to check it out. Good luck! And I hope your son has a wonderful birthday!
Deletei absolutely love this cake and am totally copying it for my son's 2nd birthday in a few weeks. Where did you find the recipe for chocolate buttercream? Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I googled Wilton's Chocolate Buttercream recipe. If you are on pinterest, there are several to choose from. Mostly they seem to be a regular buttercream with cocoa added. I hope that helps! I'm making this cake again this week...this time for the little brother of the birthday boy.
DeleteThanks so much! One more question....Where did you find the cone candles?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I got them through Oriental Trading Company but I think Party City also has them. I hope you are able to find them! Good luck!
DeleteHow did you get the yellow? Gel or just food flooring drops? Thanks!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI almost always use Wilton gel. I don't use the drops. I know Wilton isn't the only one who makes gels but they seem to be the easiest to find just ta my local Michaels and JoAnn's. Hope that helps!
DeleteGreat! I thought so but I wanted to make sure. I am hoping mine will turn out this awesome. I am making it next week for my son's second birthday.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! It's not very hard to do. Just check out the tutorial on the cars cake and it explains how to do the road. Once you get the road done, the rest is super easy. I hope you enjoy making it and I'm sure your son will love it!
DeleteI LOVE this cake and plan on making a similar one for my son's second birthday. My question is, what size cake pans did you use? How many did your cake serve?
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea,
DeleteI'm glad you like it! I've made this a few times now and it's always a hit! I have a tutorial for how to make it on here too if you want to use that.
For the pan, I use an 11"x15" (x2" deep) pan. It holds 2 cake mixes. That's it! If you needed more cake, you could always make two pans worth (4 cakes) and stack the two sheet cakes into layers. We usually have about 25 people total and it's enough with the single layer. I hope that helps! Good luck and happy baking!
I just have to thank you for the inspiration. I actually made my son's 3rd birthday cake, using some of your ideas on this post. It was a huge hit. Mine did not look as near as neat as yours did but they got the idea. I wish I was a perfectionist because it would have been a lot neater, lol.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! That is fantastic! My first one didn't look that great but just watch... Your friends are all going to call you up and ask you to make this cake for their kids and you will be a pro before you know it! I'm so glad it gave you a little inspiration! You made my day!
DeleteI love this! I am going to attempt it tomorrow for my son's 2nd birthday. What did you use for the rocks?
ReplyDeleteAwesome Beth! Your son will love it! I actually bought the "chocolate rocks" at Winco (our grocery store). I think Walmart carries them too. They are literally candy made to look like rocks. If you can't find any near you, you can always make an extra pile of the Oreo road or use graham crackers to make some dirt. Here is the link to the cars cake tutorial with a step by step for how to make this cake. I hope you have fun making it! Good luck! http://mythreetinythings.blogspot.com/2012/05/cars-cake-tutorial.html
DeleteThank you for the great ideas! Quick question: do you have a specific ratio for the oreos-butter mixture, or do you just add butter until you get the desired texture? So cute!
ReplyDeleteHow many oreos and butter did you use for the road?
ReplyDeleteLove this cake!!! How much butter do you use with a pack of Oreos? Did you use a food chopper, blender?
ReplyDeleteLove this cake!!! How much butter do you use with a pack of Oreos? Did you use a food chopper, blender?
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