How to Make a 3D Train Cake

A 3D train cake will make a grand entrance at your next party or dinner whether for a train-loving child or an adult leaving town by train. If making this cake for a birthday party, replace the lollipops with birthday candles. Serve the train cake along with extra servings of the edible cargo and cotton candy so everyone gets their share. Add additional train cars if making this cake for a smaller group so that each person can have her own car to enjoy. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Cut two loaves of pound cake in half across the middle. Position the cake halves as if they were still attached but spaced 3 inches apart, and in a curved line on a large cake board to form the base of the train.

Place an uncut loaf of pound cake at one end of the cake halves, which will be the train engine. Spread a liberal amount of white frosting on one of the long 1-inch wide sides of a 4-by-4-by-1-inch crisp rice bar. Press the frosted side across the top center of the whole pound cake.

Add 2 cups of white frosting to a medium bowl. Tint the frosting the color wanted for the train engine car using liquid food coloring, such as black. Cover the top and four sides of the whole loaf of pound cake and the crisp rice bar with the tinted frosting.

Add 4 cups of white frosting to a bowl. Tint the frosting the color wanted for the remaining train cars, or divide the frosting into four separate bowls if making each car a different color. Spread the frosting over the tops and sides of each of the train cars.

Press two circular-shaped gummy candies to the right and left sides of each car, near the cake board, to form the train's wheels.

Position an ice cream sugar cone upright on the front end of the train engine car for the smoke stack. Smear 1 teaspoon of white frosting into the top of the cone. Fluff 1/2 a cup of cotton candy and press it gently into the top of the cone using the frosting as glue to form the smoke coming out of the stack.

Insert 12 unwrapped small round lollipops into the top of the car directly behind the train engine to symbolize balloons. Add 1 cup of gummy bears to the top of the next car in line, pressing them gently into the frosting to hold them in place. Pile 1 cup of candy-coated chocolate pieces into the third car of the train. Place 1 cup of popped popcorn on the top of the last train.

Take two of the bear-shaped candies and position these in front of the crisp rice bar so the bears look like they are driving the train. Line the top edges of the three train cars holding edible cargo with black shoestring licorice to give the cars definition and help hold the food items in place.

Tips

- You can use any flavor of pound cake for this project, or replace the pound cake with devil's food cake since the latter is also a dense cake.