Dinosaur Birthday Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease or spray two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide batter between pans. Bake and cool cake as directed on box for 8- or 9-inch rounds. For easier handling, freeze cooled cake 45 minutes or until firm.
• Cut 1 cake in half lengthwise, making 2 half-circles. Sculpt 1 half-circle into a head and the other half-circle into a tail. For body, cut 1-inch slice from edge of remaining whole cake. From cut edge, cut out a small inverted U-shaped piece. Place body on tray; arrange head and tail pieces next to body.
• Spoon frosting into large bowl. Stir in enough food color until desired green color. Attach cake pieces with a small amount of frosting. Frost cake with a thin layer of frosting to seal in crumbs. Refrigerate or freeze cake 30 to 60 minutes to set frosting. Frost entire cake.
• Decorate with yellow candies. Add chocolate chips for eyes. Store loosely covered.

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.

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!