Dinosaur Cake and cupcake recipe

The recipe for this dinosaur cake makes great cupcakes/fairycakes too.

For the fairycakes/cupcakes cook at 160C for about 25 minutes.   The dinosaur cake is double the recipe  and cooked at 160C for 1 hour.

This method for this cake is ideal if you don't want to fork out for a dinosaur cake tin-the template for this cake was a simply sketched from a picture of one such tin.

The cake:

• 225g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 230g sugar caster
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 375g self raising flour
• 240ml buttermilk (shake before using so that you don't just use the watery part)

You'll Need:

• jam or syrup
• buttercream
• roll out icing
• black food colour (available from  www.squires-shop.com/or in Ireland, www.decobake.com/-you have to ring decobake or visit the shop-they don;t have an online shop)
• red food colour
• green food colour

Fit a mixer with a paddle attachment

Beat the butter, sugar, zest and vanilla on low speed, increasing to medium as the sugar combines with the butter.  Stop the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally. 

Add the eggs gradually, if the mixture cracks, add a bit of the flour and continue.  Stop the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally so that all the mixture is combined equally.

On low speed add about a quarter of the flour, then about a quarter of the buttermilk, continue in this manner until all mixed in-don't over mix or the cake will be heavy.

Prepare the tin by brushing with butter and dusting with flour or brush with butter lightly and line with greaseproof.

Cook the cake at 160C for one hour.

Allow to cool.  Prepare a template of a dinosaur- a pencil caricature drawing of a dinosaur on greaseproof paper.

Pin the template in place on to the cake and cut around it with a sharp knife.

Pin the template on  thick cardboard draw around it and cut out the shape.

(sorry about the poor quality photo) 

Cover the cardboard with tin foil and attach the cake to the board with jam , buttercream or icing.
This allows the cake to be  picked up which makes icing it easier.

Brush the cake with warmed jam or syrup-flavour of choice.

Colour the buttercream in red, green and black or colour of choice.

Give a thin coat of buttercream to the whole cake.

Make the teeth, eyes,  mouth, and claws out of roll out fondant.

Position the fondant pieces on the cake

Place the cake on another board that has been spread with buttercream or wrapped in dinosaur wrapping paper.

Pipe the black outline first with a plain nozzle.


Fill in the cake with green and red buttercream

Next. with a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, fill in the cake according to the design.

Pipe the sides of the cake.

Finish the cake by placing coloured marshmallows around the cake on the base board, dot with chocolate eggs if liked.