Construction Birthday Cake Recipes

DIGGER 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. Stir the cocoa into 2 tbsp milk until smooth. Put the butter into a large bowl and sift the icing sugar on top. Add the cocoa mixture, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Beat for a few mins with electric beaters until creamy and spreadable. Add the extra 1 tsp milk if you need to.
• Place one of the cakes towards the back of the board or plate, and fix it with a little of the buttercream to stop it slipping about. Spread with ¼ of the buttercream.
• Sandwich the second cake on top. With a small, serrated knife, cut away a scallop-shaped crater from the top cake. Cut about half way down into the sponge and removing about a quarter of the top of the cake. Keep the piece you remove. Position two diggers on the top of the cake to see if your crater is about the right size and shape, then set them aside again.
• Using a palette knife, paddle the rest of the buttercream evenly over the top of the cake and down its sides. Make sure that the edge of the excavated area is defined.
• Snap the ends from enough of the KitKat fingers to follow the edge of the excavated area, then press them into the buttercream. Now fix the rest of the whole fingers around the side of the cake.
• Crumble the cake that you removed in step 6, to make soil. Part-fill the excavated hole with the soil, adding a few Smarties, if you like. Position the diggers on top and put some soil and Smarties into their buckets.
• Fill a lorry or dump truck with more crumbs and Smarties, and let some of the soil and spill over the edge of the cake and the broken KitKats.
• Use the marker to write your message on the card and draw some diagonal black lines. Cut the straight part of the straw into two equal pieces, then fix these to the back of the card with tape to make a sign. Position the sign at the back of the cake. 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 2 days.

DUMP TRUCK CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Pour into two greased 8x4-in. loaf pans. , Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , Using a serrated knife, level the top of each cake. Crumble removed tops; set cakes and crumbs aside., For frosting, cream shortening, butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in milk and vanilla until smooth. , Place 1 cup frosting in a small bowl; tint yellow. Place 3/4 cup frosting in another bowl; tint blue. Leave remaining 1/4 cup frosting white. Frost the top of one cake yellow; top with the remaining cake to form truck body., For truck cab, measure 2-1/2 in. from one end. Cut at an angle 1-1/2 in. deep and 1/2 in. toward the front of the truck. Remove cake wedge and save for another use., For dump truck bed, leave 1-1/2 in. of cake for cab roof, then cut 1/2 in. deep at an angle. Make a horizontal cut to the back of the truck. Remove cake wedge and save for another use., For wheel axles, place two Ho Ho's side by side and 1/2 in. apart near one corner of an 11x10-in. covered board. Place the remaining Ho Ho parallel to and 2 in. from the inside Ho Ho. Carefully arrange truck body over Ho Ho's. Frost the hood, doors and bottom third of the truck with yellow frosting. For wheels, attach doughnuts with plain frosting on each side of truck. , Spread some of the white frosting on the slanted windshield. Place the remaining white frosting in a pastry or plastic bag; cut a small hole in a corner. Pipe the windows on the doors. Frost the rest of the dump truck blue., Cut thirteen 3/4-in. strips of licorice. Arrange eight strips on the front of the truck for the grille; set the remaining strips aside. For headlights, cut gumdrops in half. Place rounded half of each on outside of grille; discard the remaining cut gumdrops., Cut two 3-1/2-in. strips, two 1-in. strips, six 1-3/4-in. strips, two 1-1/4-in. strips and four 2-in. strips of licorice. Using the 3-1/2-in. and 1-in. strips, outline the windshield. Place two 3/4-in. strips on windshield for wipers. For doors, position two 1-1/4-in. strips for the door tops; place the 2-in. strips for the door sides. Decorate sides and back of truck with remaining licorice., Place M&M's on back of bed for rear lights. For back bumper, break candy bar into individual sections at perforations. Cut one piece in half widthwise. Place some of the chocolate, flat side out, on the truck back (save remaining chocolate for another use). Spoon reserved crumbled cake into truck bed for dirt.

CONSTRUCTION BIRTHDAY CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 13x9-inch pan. Cool cake in pan 5 min.; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Cut 2-inch-wide strip off one side of cake; cut into shapes to create boulders.
• Frost remaining cake with COOL WHIP; sprinkle with cookie crumbs to represent dirt.
• Place boulders in piles on top of cake. Place clean small toy construction vehicles on top of cake.