Dump Truck Cake

My son turned TWO this month! He loves everything and anything associated with "wheels", so after being inspired by a post my friend did about her son's birthday cake, I tried my hand at this dump truck. You'll notice I made several changes in my version. Most of them weren't intentional and just sorta happened. But the little man was appropriately excited when he saw his birthday cake, which was all I needed to be satisfied.


1 (9 by 5-inch) loaf pound cake
1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
Red food coloring
4 Twizzlers or Red Vines
1 cup coarsely crushed chocolate cookies
½ cup thin pretzel sticks
Brown M&M's Premiums or Peanut M&M's
2 chocolate-covered doughnuts
6 mini chocolate-covered doughnuts
8 yellow M&M's
1 bar (4 oz) white chocolate
2 mint Mentos

Trimming the cake:

1. Place the cake on a clean work surface. Using a bread knife, trim the top to make it level.
2. Cut a 2-inch piece from one short end of the loaf cake. Cut a wedge from the top of the remaining pound cake, 1 ½ inches down on one short end (see template). Set the wedge aside.

For the white and red frosting:

1. Spoon ¼ cup of the untinted vanilla frosting into a small resealable plastic bag.
2. Add red food coloring to the remaining frosting to tint it red.

Assembling the cake:

1. Cut a 1-inch slice from the long edge of the reserved wedge; discard the scrap and place the slimmed wedge on a serving platter, wide cut side down. Spread some of the red frosting on top.
2. Place the larger cake on top of the trimmed piece, as pictured. Spread the top and sides of the larger cake with some of the red frosting and make smooth.
3. For the dump truck's cab, place the reserved 2 by 5-inch loaf end in front of the large cake and cover with red frosting.

For the candy decoration:

1. Trim the red licorice to match the dimensions of the truck trailer and use to line its top edge. Place a trimmed piece of licorice along the top back edge of the cab of the truck.
2. Fill the top of the cake with crushed cookies, pretzels, and M&M's. Allow some of the cookies and pretzels to fall onto the serving platter.
3. Press the regular-size and the mini-doughnuts onto the sides of the cake as tires. Snip a small corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe a dot of vanilla frosting in the center of the doughnuts and add the yellow M&M's to the center.
4. Insert 2 pretzel sticks into the top back corners of the truck cab.
5. Cut the white-chocolate bar into a 1 ½ by 3-inch rectangle and two ½ by 1-inch rectangles. Press the smaller white-chocolate "windows" onto the sides of the truck cab. Press the large rectangular white chocolate "window" into the front of the cab.
6. Press the Mentos underneath the large window on either side of the front of the cab for the truck's lights.

Cake Anatomy:

Cake Cutout: