Dinosaur Birthday Cake (with Volcano, Lava and Oreo "dirt")

For Ryan's dinosaur-themed birthday party today, I got creative (*surprise, surprise*) and made a fun volcano cake.

I lined both a large 11"x14" cake pan and a Small Batter Bowl from Pampered Chef with parchment paper before pouring the batter of two chocolate cake mixes.

(*Note about the batter bowl: you can safely bake in it...I also used it to make the skirt of Barbie's dress for Kaylin's princess cake last year. The cake is very dense, so it takes longer to bake, but it is SO moist! Any smaller, oven-proof glass bowl would probably work OR you could shape the volcano out of any shaped cake pan with a serrated knife.)

Once the cakes were baked and cooled, I covered and frigerated them until I was ready to decorate the final cake.

Yesterday, I transferred the large, rectangle cake to a serving platter and frosted it with chocolate frosting. Then I took the "volcano" piece out of the batter bowl and used a serrated knife to make the top (which would be the bottom) perfectly flat. I flipped it over and frosted it, too.



Ryan and Kaylin helped me crush Oreo cookies (minus the filling) in a sandwich bag to make "dirt" on the surface of the cake. FYI: I think I used less than 1/2 of a package of Oreos. (after this picture was taken, I covered the volcano and the sides of the cake with Oreos, too)


A little red food coloring in some white frosting created the lava. I microwaved it for about five seconds to make it runny and easier to work with. (*Note: every kid wanted a piece of cake with lava on it.)

The final addition was a few smaller dinosaurs on top, plus a tree from one of Ryan's race track sets.

Happy Birthday, Ryan!!!