Dog Park Cake

Somehow, I overlooked this post...I know, my own child's birthday cake...and a month late at that. Sorry...I guess I was too preoccupied while David was job hunting. I'll keep this post up for a week, and then I'm going to archive it and change the post date (so it looks likes I didn't post it so late, lol).

Speaking of David, this cute cake was his idea. I found the tiny plastic dogs at a party supply store; they were in a pack of 12 for $2.50. In the past, we've ordered our cakes, since I am not the most creative person when it comes to cake decorating (for proof, click here). We decided not to do that, because making your own cake is always cheaper.

If your little one likes dogs like Gabriel does (he's obsessed), this is the cake for them!

Dog Park Cake

1 box cake mix

Ingredients called for on the box of cake mix

1 batch Wilton butter cream frosting (for recipe click here)
Green food coloring (I prefer the gel or paste colors)
1 package Twizzlers Pull-n-Peel candy

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

Various printouts of park scenery (you'll see, don't worry!)

Flat/round toothpicks

Clear tape

The first thing you'll want to do is bake the cake according to the directions on the box in a 9x13 cake pan. I made a chocolate cake, but you can make your child's favorite flavor. In our house, it's all about the chocolate baby! Let the cake cool completely.

Now just google some images that appeal to you. I found these on the internet, shrunk them down to about 20% of their original size, and printed them out in color on card stock. Then you just cut them out and tape them to some toothpicks.

Here we have some lovely trees, shrubs, flowers, a freaky looking guy throwing a frisbee, and a doogie-sized water fountain. This cake is going to the dogs...I mean, to my angel boy!

I wish I could draw these out...stamp them...anything like that, but I've already told you I can't draw a lick (for proof, here's another cake I made with printouts off the internet).

Make the butter cream frosting, tint it green (add the green gel coloring a little at a time until you get the shade you like), and set it aside.

Carefully place the cooled cake on a serving platter, and slide strips of wax paper under all four sides. This will keep the platter nice and clean while you frost the cake.

Now frost the cake with the frosting...it doesn't have to be perfect. Use the Twizzlers candy (separate it into individual strands first), make some paths in the frosting, then fill them in with the graham cracker crumbs.

Here's a pic of the dogs...aren't they cute?

Now just place the dogs and the pictures on the cake and you're done!

I'm sorry I didn't take more pics of the process...I was in a bit of a hurry to get this done during naptime. Here are some pictures of the finished cake. It really is easy...you can do it!

As you can see, Gabriel's eyes lit up when he saw his cake. He need a bit of help blowing out his candles, but he dug right into his piece of cake, and ate it up! That's our boy!

Happy Birthday Gabriel!

God bless your table tonight!