Sweets for the Sweets ... Rex the Dinosaur Cake

A signed up for a Dino Cake for Birthday Dreams (A charity that brings birthday's to homeless kids).  The cake was for a VERY sweet little 5 year old.  When I went to the shelter to deliver the cake, I walk up and I hear it's the cake lady.  This is one of my favorite shelters and usually do one cake a week for one of their residents. The little boy was so stinking cute and so happy with his cake.

He had requested a confetti cake and the theme was dinosaurs.  I started with making the cake.  I found a Fluffy Confetti Cake on the Food Network.

Ingredients

• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pans
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for the pans
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

Directions

1. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans; dust with flour, and tap out the excess.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Beat the butter, sugar and oil in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla until combined.
4. Alternate folding the flour mixture and the milk into the batter with a spatula, adding the flour in three additions and the milk in two, starting and ending with the flour, until just smooth. Add the sprinkles, and fold 3 or 4 times until just blended to prevent the colors from bleeding too much. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
5. Bake the cakes on the same oven rack until golden on top and the centers spring back to the touch, 35 to 40 minutes. Rotate the pans about halfway through if they seem to be browning unevenly. Let cool in the pans about 10 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks and let cool completely.

After the cakes were cooled I started to carve out my dino!  It was super easy, 2 round cakes made this dinosaur.  I found a T-Rex Dino cake with template on Betty Crocker.  I fixed it up with a few of my own tricks.

All Boxed up and ready to be delivered

Ingredients:

1 box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ devil's food cake mix (Homemade Cake)

Cake Board

2 containers Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting (or Homemade Frosting)

Betty Crocker™ gel food color (AmeriColor Green Color)

19 milk chocolate candy drops or pieces, unwrapped (Green Candy Clay)

Assorted round chocolate candies (candy-coated chocolate candies, miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits, coating wafers, chocolate chips)

Betty Crocker™ white decorating icing (from 4.25-oz tube) (White Candy Clay)

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Spray bottoms and sides of two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans with baking spray with flour. Make and bake cake mix as directed on box, using 1 cup water, the oil and eggs. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooking racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Refrigerate or freeze 30 to 60 minutes for easier handling.
• For body, cut 1-inch slice from edge of one cake. From cut edge, cut out small inverted U-shape piece. Place body on tray. From remaining cake, cut head and tail. Arrange head and tail pieces next to body.
• Spoon frosting into large bowl. Stir in enough food color until desired green color. Spread thin layer of frosting over cake pieces to seal in crumbs. Refrigerate or freeze cake 30 to 60 minutes to set frosting.
• Frost cake pieces with remaining frosting. Use milk chocolate candies for spikes along back of dinosaur. Decorate body with assorted candies. Use 2 candy-coated chocolate candies for eyes and white decorator icing to make centers of eyes and teeth. Store loosely covered.

ALEXIS NOTES: I used a homemade cake instead of the cake mix. I used some green Candy Clay (Very simple to make it's Candy Melts & Corn Syrup click link for recipe) I had on hand with a bunny cooker cutter, I used the ears to make the spikes for the dino.  I inserted a tooth pick into the spike and then into the cake. I used brown candy melts for the dots along with brown Reese's Pieces for the smaller circles and the toes.  I used white Candy Clay for the teeth.

Thanks for stopping by!

If you're looking for a GREAT charity please check out Birthday Dreams,

You can send them donations through Amazon if you would like!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.