Construction Themed Birthday Cake

Hi there! I started making my kids' cakes about 8 years ago. I am NOT a baker or fancy cake decorator but I've always had luck with the cakes from Family Fun (www.familyfun.com). They give a lot of detailed instructions and make it really easy. The first cake I ever made was a Fire Engine from that site. The second cake came from Taste of Home, though, and was a really cute Dump Truck. Here is a link - http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Dump-Truck-Cake. I love the donut wheels! If you Google different cakes, you will find a ton of ideas! My family is always so impressed with the cakes, but really, they are not hard at all! Good luck!

Super fun & cute, messy too, but maybe exactly what you are looking for. Get a play dump truck - a decent sized one - clean out the back end really well and layer together a trifle of cubed chocolate cake, chocolate pudding and top with crushed Oreo cookie crumbs or more cake crumbs. Looks like dirt. :) You can make it more "construction-y" by serving it with a sand shovel. Of course the birthday child gets to keep the truck, too. :)

Have fun and Happy Birthday to the little one!!

Go to www.familyfun.com or www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com and they have some great ideas. I had a friend who did one and it turned out really cool.

J.,

I have 5 boys and for years we have been makeing their cakes at home. It really isnt that hard. We have made an articlated tractor, a bulldozer, a drag line crane, a pick-up truck, a school bus, a tug boat, a train, and quite a few more.

We use the cut up cake method. For the pick-up truck which was probobly the easiest we used 2 loaf cakes (just bake the cake in a loaf pan) When the cakes are baked and cooled then slice the tops off to make them flat. Put the cut side of one loaf cake facing down, then cut the second loaf cake into thirds, use frosting as glue and put the 1/3rd of the loaf sort of centerd on the whole loaf. This creates the cab of the truck. You want the hood of the truck in front, and the bed of the truck behind the cab so you would want to make that a little longer so don't center it exactly.

To decorate we always let the kids help, that way it didn't have to look perfect. We used graham crackers cut in half lengthwise to form the sides of the bed of the pickup truck, we used small stick pretzils pushed into the cake to hold the crackers in place, but you could use wooden skewerst too. We used a long skinny tootsie roll for the exhaust, and sticks of gum for the windows. Then we filled the bed of the truck up with candy corn one time, and another time we made it we filled it up with bite size shredded wheat cereal. The wheels were small chocolate donuts.

You are only limited by your imaginition, and once you get the hang of doing it your ideas will go off in lots of directions. If you have any questions email me.

Hi, I found a website called www.cakecentral.com; You can register and they have pics of just about anything as well as recipes, etc.

I made a cake for my son, and I bought the Matchbox trucks so he would have them when we were finished with the cake. I made crushed Oreo dirt, I used raw sugar for sand, and I bought candy rocks to decorate, as well, I cut a couple of cupcakes into hills, and used frosting for grass. If you desire a little pond, too, use blue frosting and top with piping gel for a water look. Want some pine trees? Invert some ice cream cones and frost green. You can make an almost entirely edible and fun cake very simply. Best of all, you can make it any way you want. Enjoy!

Ditto on the dump truck idea from Robin. Our son requested that for his high school graduation cake (we own a construction company)I thru in some gummy worms for more fun. We used the "dirt " recipe but I like Robins recipe better.

Bob the Builder is good too depending on the age.

What a blessing that you get to be a stay at home mom!

Let me know how it goes!
M.

My brother recently graduated with a degree in construction management. We made him a chocolate cake to look like a construction site. We baked a flat sheet cake and a few addition cakes (in small oven safe bowls). We started with the sheet cake and then frosted the "hills" (smaller bowls of cake) onto the sheet cake. We didn't get fancy with the frosting (just plain chocolate) but we did top it off the hot wheels dumptrucks and plastic construction workers (you can buy them in packs of 100 like "army" guys). It was a cheap and easy way to get the "construction" effect.

Hi J.,

I had a construction theme for my son's 5th birthday party last year. I bought a little construction set from the dollar store and made a "paved road" through the middle of the cake. The rest of the cake was frosted green (grass)with some "dirt" (crumble cookie) piles. After singing Happy Birthday, the kids got to pick a truck or something off the cake and it was put in their goody bags. The local dollar store had construction decorations, plates, cups, etc. (much cheaper than Bob the Builder stuff) I also used bright yellow lunch bags (dollar store) with construction clip-art (off computer) and a thank you note for joining the party as goody bags. It was a huge success! Good luck to you.

Go to cake supply store they usually have for 2 dollars or so like a construction truck with all the little display things it would be really cute they even might have bob the builder or hanny manny. I love making cakes I make all my kids cakes with themes I just haven't done that one yet. If you need help let me know.

I did a race track cake a few years ago-- you can adapt that idea. Decorate the top with little cones and real matchbox cars/trucks.

If you send me your email address I can send you a picture.