The Easiest Boys Birthday Cake Ever!

Dump Truck Birthday Cake ~ Maybe Baby Brothers

First of all, let me say I am not a natural born event planner or cake decorator! The first couple of years on their birthdays the boys got the token chocolate cake (square, iced and a number shaped candle shoved in the middle). As they have got older I have had to get a little more creative but I have drawn the line at fondant or any other sort of fancy coloured smooth icing and instead adapted to the chocolate theme as best I can get away with.

Then out of the blue the other night Cohen (my 3, soon to be 4 year old) says to me ‘Mummy, for my birthday I want to be a pirate and have a pirate party and a pirate cake!’. I was completely thrown. Since when did he start having an opinion about these things? I thought I had at least a few more years up my sleeve of being able to decide what the cake would be, but apparently not! This birthday gig just got a million times harder. I have already used up the treasure chest idea two birthdays ago (which would loosely fit the pirate theme!) so that leaves me with a pirate ship of some description.

Which brings me to the topic at hand.

For Finley’s 2nd birthday last year I made the easiest boy cake that I could find the inspiration for on Pinterest and today I am sharing my adaption of that with you and wishing I could just repeat it! Pirate ship cake be damned (but at least my attempt will also warrant another post, perhaps a ‘Nailed it!’ version!).

So without further ado, for those with toddler boys looking for something that looks good but isn’t too hard to make, look no further! I bring you the easiest boys birthday cake ever, the Dump Truck Birthday Cake!

Dump-Truck

Dump Truck Birthday Cake ~ Maybe Baby Brothers

 

Dump Truck Birthday Cake ~ Maybe Baby Brothers

THE CAKE

The recipe I used for the actual cake is the delicious and oh so easy Annabel Langbein Chocolate Cake (check out the recipe by clicking on the link!). It is literally a ‘throw all ingredients in a cake mixer and hit the go button’ kinda cake. But be warned it makes a large amount of cake batter! I made it in two square tins and sandwiched them together with icing to make a tall cake.

THE ICING

I always use Nigella Lawson’s Sour Cream Icing (Note: That cake is also one of my go to’s and AMAZING but it is quite a dense thin cake, as opposed to the other one which makes a much larger cake which is what you want for this). Don’t let the sour cream put you off! I know it sounds weird but trust me, it is delicious. Don’t cut corners with sieving the icing sugar or cocoa though or you will end up with a very lumpy looking icing! The reason I know that is because I have done it before, let that be a lesson to you all!

Now onto the fun part!

So what do you need to recreate this:

SHOPPING LIST FOR DECORATING THE CAKE:

A Mini Dump Truck (I got a John Deere one from Farmers)

Two packets of Tim Tams, Chit Chats or similar (for you foreign folk, that would be chocolate coated biscuits with a biscuit middle)

2 x Crunchy Bars

3 x Flakes

1 x big bag of Maltesers (or 2 to be safe, you can always eat them later!)

METHOD

Put the two cakes together with just enough icing to hold them and then spread the remainder of the icing all over the cake including the sides.

(TIP: I made the cakes the night before and wrapped them in plastic wrap before putting them in a sealed container in the fridge, this stopped the cake from crumbling and the icing from melting. I also put a strip of baking paper just under each of the fours sides of the cake covering the edges of the plate so you can just remove them after you have finished the decorating and the plate is clean!).

Chuck an entire packet of chocolate biscuits into a blender (I used my smoothie maker) and blend it to a find crumb (you can always do more later if you need it but start with just one packet). This is the dirt. Sprinkle the ‘dirt’ all over the cake pressing into the icing to hold in place. Next, place the dump truck where you want it positioned. Break apart the Crunchy bars and position them under the dump truck and down the side (remove the baking paper from this side now) followed by the Flakes and Maltesers until it covers the side as if dumped by the truck. Insert candles and remove the rest of the baking paper, wiping any excess ‘dirt’ from the other three sides. And you’re done!

See, how easy was that!

If you ever decide to give it a go, I would love to see the photos!

What do you do for your kids birthday cakes? Are you a fancy cake maker or would you rather pay someone else to do it for you?

Joining Jess at #IBOT today!

39 thoughts on “The Easiest Boys Birthday Cake Ever!

    1. PS: I commented on your blog accidentally with my old Blogspot account name ‘Mummy in Waiting’. Oops! Thought I’d better let you know that was me!

  1. I am not a fancy cake maker at all! Sure they look pretty, but when they are just going to be cut and eaten I can’t be bothered going to all the trouble. Basic chocolate cake, either round, square or their age number (got some awesome cake tin from Coles that you bake the cake in specific moulds depending on the number you need and then ice together) and now that Punky is getting older I let her go nuts decorating the cake herself with sprinkle and those shiny metallic ball things you can get. Letting her decorate her own cake is much more satisfying for her and easier for me!

    Poor second child Zee hasn’t had a proper birthday cake yet (she’ll be 2 in July) but I plan to make up for that this year (though it will still be simple!). Your dumptruck cake looks really awesome!
    #teamIBOT
    Kylie Purtell – A Study in Contradictions recently posted…What is a WeMo Switch? {And why would I want one?} | TechnologyMy Profile

    1. Second child always gets a little neglected, I remember last year scrambling for a present at the last minute for my youngest (he’s a December baby too, poor wee tyke!) and for my oldest I had had stuff stored away for months. Letting them decorate it themselves sounds like a fab idea, I bet she has a blast!
      Haidee recently posted…The Easiest Boys Birthday Cake Ever!My Profile

  2. I am very much a pay someone else this year. My little boy turns 3 next week and is getting a George Pig cake, made by someone else. This cake looks pretty awesome too, and I wouldn’t have minded making one like that. I’m making my daughter a standard heart shaped cake for her 1st birthday, with some piped roses. Do you think the sour cream frosting would go with that?
    I get really annoyed about the expectation that all mums to be expert cake decorators these days!
    Great post, thanks so much 🙂
    Dani @ sandhas no home recently posted…Getting through the dayMy Profile

    1. The sour cream icing may not have a smooth enough finish to go nicely with piped roses but maybe give it a trial run and see what you think. Ah, Peppa Pig strikes again! If my son asked for a George pig I would be outsourcing too! Far easier 🙂
      Haidee recently posted…The Easiest Boys Birthday Cake Ever!My Profile

    1. If you mess it up just cover it in more flakey goodness and tell him it was a construction site that had been demolitioned recently! Hehe.

  3. That cake looks epic! The kids would go wild over it 🙂 I am a fancy cake maker for birthdays, BUT I am no good at it. I try and try, but it always ends in tears. My two year old wants a clifford the big red dog cake for her next birthday. Yikes!
    Renee recently posted…The difference between four and twoMy Profile

    1. A RED Clifford cake?! Eek! My worst nightmare! Good luck with that! How long have you got to prepare? I need to start looking up pirate ships pronto on Pinterest so I can get a plan of attack in order.

  4. I made that cake too, for my oldest’s 2nd birthday. The cake even came out lumpy but it was all good, fit right in with the dirt theme. I’ll never forget his face: “Wow!!!” For a pirate ship cake, could you try for the same thing? Frost a cake in bkue, find a toy pirate ship, and stick it on top? Good luck, however you make it!

    1. I really want to know what this monster truck track looked like! Do you have photos? If so can you post one on my FB page? Just hit the coffee cup on the side bar 🙂

  5. Oh wow, Haidee, it does sound super easy! And girl, what a cake! Now I’m thinking how to use this for a girls b-day party..hmm. My youngest turned 7 and sooner or later will be her party so I will have to think of something like this. I love it! This looks amazing! So cool!

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