My husband owns an excavator and our son thinks that it is the coolest thing in the world. This dump cake was a lot of fun to build although it was definitely time consuming. Seeing the look on our three year old son’s face made it worth while the effort.
I started with two 9×13 single layer cakes. The entire cake was constructed before any icing or decorating began. The only parts that were not edible were the bucket exhaust, pipe and ladders. The tracks of the excavator were two strips cut from one of the single layer cakes. Then we placed a piece of thin cardboard on top of the tracks and built up on that. We used small Oreos for the wheels in the tracks and created the chain between the Oreos with black piping gel. Then we piped black icing across the tracks to give it its ridges.
The body of the excavator is basically made from a square piece of cake placed directly on top of the cardboard. Then pieces were cut to make the cab and back of the excavator. These pieces were added after the body was iced. The cab was designed and decorated before we added it to the cake. The boom was cut out of cake and then we placed it on some cardboard that we had bent into shape. We iced that before we attached it to the cake.
The dirt pile that the excavators arm is in was created with leftover cake pieces iced with chocolate icing. We used a broken chocolate bar to give the dirt some lumps and sprinkled all over with Oreo crumb to give the effect of dirt all around the machine and dirt pile. This dump cake was a big hit with everyone especially Landon because it was just like daddy’s!
More Dump Cake Ideas
Dump cake by Julie B., Cincinnati, OH
We baked three cakes in three loaf pans and let them cool. For this dump cake we stacked two on top of each other to create the cab and cut the other in half and placed each half on top of the other for the cab. The windshield was then cut out. We applied the crumb coat and after it was dry we used Wilton food colors to color the icing.
The wheels are chocolate donuts and the ‘dirt’ is crumbled chocolate cookies! We elevated the cake on a 2×4 covered by foil!! It was the hit of the party!
Dump cake by Mandy R., Moncks Corner
This dump cake was made for a three year old that loves tractors. I wanted to make it extra special so I made it on lazy-Susan. I took the lazy-Susan apart and attached a square board instead of the round one that comes on it (very simple to do; only one screw). I also used a small round cake pan up side down under the lazy Susan to give it more height so that the tracks of the track hoe would fit.
The cake is basically two 9×13’s double stacked and then a piece cut to size for both sections of the top of the track hoe. I iced the cakes with icing then covered the cake with fondant tinted yellow and the section where the driver would sit covered in black on then placed it on top(It is easier to cover a cake with fondant if you ice it smooth and then freeze for an hour). I painted the stripes on the sides with gel coloring made for icings.
The tracks of the track hoe or just strips cut from a single layer sheet cake and iced gray and then I piped the same gray lines across the tracks to give its ridges. The tracks just sit on the cake board below the raised track hoe. The arm of the track hoe was a cardboard letter V that I bought at a craft store and then cut a little off of one side and covered in the same yellow fondant. I cut a small square for the arm to fit down in the cake and then inserted the arm.
The bucket was made from black polymer clay that I bought at a craft store. I shaped it and baked it (as directed) and attached with two small nails that I just pushed through the clay bucket and then through the cardboard of the arm. This dump cake was a big hit and everyone was even more excited that it spun all the way around.
Dump cake by John P., Darwin, Australia
We built a dump cake for my son’s second birthday. Bought a chocolate cake mix and made it in a loaf pan for the shape. (Cheated and also bought a Swiss roll). Cut the loaf pan cake short for the correct shape. Cut the Swiss roll in half lengthways to make the front end scoop and the other half shortened to make the rear end scoop. Added yellow food dye to the frosting and coated all cake parts.
I used musk stick lollies for the hydraulics arms to the scoops. A sheet of fine chocolate for the roof held up by licorice sticks. We had to pass skewers through the licorice sticks to give it strength to hold up the roof. The eyes are marshmallows and the ends of licorice sticks held together with toothpicks that also hold it in place on the cake. Wheels are wagon wheel biscuits and wagon wheel mini biscuits for the front.
The smile and eyebrows is a licorice strap cut to shape. The dirt in the scoop is chocolate buttons and broken chocolate squares. Birthday candles in front scoop. Everyone thought it was fantastic. Browsing through forums like this is what gave me the idea to do this cake.
Dump cake by Terra D., State College, PA
I made this template for the dump cake on an 8.5″x11″ sheet of paper and I baked a 9x13in. cake for the body of the bulldozer and a 9x9in. square for the bucket and used the remaining batter for cupcakes. As I was making it I realized that my tracks were too small but it was the only one I could borrow from my son’s trucks so I was stuck.
Anyway the arm connecting the bucket and the smoke stack are iced pretzel rods and the dirt in the bucket is crushed chocolate cream Oreos. The light on top is a gumdrop. I used hardhats as bowls for chips and decorated the house with caution tape orange cones and construction signs. I also made cupcakes for a playgroup party with construction signs and words piped on top.
Dump cake by Jodi C., Raleigh, NC
I first want to explain that Michael Paul wanted a Scoop cake but his mother didn’t want the face on it just the truck; therefore I made Scoop without a face. To make dump cake I used two regular sized loaf pans and four mini loaf pans. The body of the truck is the two bigger loaves stacked together with buttercream frosting in the middle.
The mini loaves were cut to shape to make the cab, the bulldozer, the digger and the pile of dirt. Vanilla pirouettes were used for the arms of the bulldozer and the smoke pipe; Oreos for the front tires and Little Debbie’s Fudge Rounds for the back tires; a Dum Dum for the light; and a straw (the only inedible part) for the digger arm.
The last mini loaf and other cake ‘scraps’ formed the pile of dirt with some fudge frosting and six crushed Oreo cookies.
Dump cake by Jodi C., Raleigh, NC
I first want to explain that Michael Paul wanted a Scoop cake but his mother didn’t want the face on it just the truck; therefore I made Scoop without a face. To make dump cake I used two regular sized loaf pans and four mini loaf pans. The body of the truck is the two bigger loaves stacked together with buttercream frosting in the middle.
The mini loaves were cut to shape to make the cab, the bulldozer, the digger and the pile of dirt. Vanilla pirouettes were used for the arms of the bulldozer and the smoke pipe; Oreos for the front tires and Little Debbie’s Fudge Rounds for the back tires; a Dum Dum for the light; and a straw (the only inedible part) for the digger arm.
The last mini loaf and other cake ‘scraps’ formed the pile of dirt with some fudge frosting and six crushed Oreo cookies.
Dump cake by Deidre Z., Tomahawk, WI
First my husband made a stand for the cake to be lifted off the ground. It was a thin but stable piece of wood attached to four small blocks that were covered by the wheels of the truck. The dump cake it self was simply cake mix as I wanted to put more time into the decorating.
The layers were three standard cake pans (9×13 I think). The first two layers I did not cut at all. I simply frosted with a thin layer of frosting and put raspberry jelly between each layer. I took the third layer and cut about a 1/4 of it off. I then placed that layer on the back part of the truck. The angle off the back of the truck was a simple cut I made off the top layer. I took that piece and put it on the front part of the top layer to create the rounded top. I then took the extra cake and cut a small square to create the cab.
I made butter cream frosting found on www.wilton.com and made some of it yellow, some black and a small amount grey which I used on the cab for windows and the grill of the truck. The wheels were those marshmallow covered chocolate things. I put some yellow frosting in the middle of all four wheels. The headlights were made with yellow frosting. The cake was a HUGE hit for my son’s second birthday party!
Dump cake by Traci M., Morrisville, NC
This dump cake was for my son’s 1st birthday. His favorite toy was a yellow dump truck so that’s where the idea came from.
I used a couple of Sara Lee frozen pound cakes and cut to shape. I had seen directions somewhere on how to cut the pieces but when the time came to make the cake I couldn’t find the directions so it was trial and error. I put a candy bar on the back of the truck to tilt the bed. The walls of the back of the truck are graham crackers. Oreos for the wheels…and the “dirt” in the back is Oreo cookies crushed with M&M’s sprinkled in for color. The cake was a big hit. My son made a huge mess knocking all the crushed cookies in the floor, but it was well worth it!
Dump cake by Judith R., Greenbrier, TN
The base of this dump cake is a 9×13 cake pan. The wheels are 4 mini-bundt cake pans. The “cab” is a mini loaf pan cut to shape. The bed of the truck is made of two 9×9 cake pans. One cut to make the sides. The “lift” is a cake mix box. The dump cake is held together with toothpicks and icing.
We did put 2-in. wood pieces under a 9×13 piece of wood so that the cake would be up some. The “dirt” is crumbled graham crackers. Licorice is used for the bumpers and smoke stack. M&Ms are the headlights and brake lights.
Dump cake by Yvonne E., Calgary, Canada
Other than running to the grocery store at 10:00 pm for more yellow food coloring this dump cake was fairly simple to make. You will need two 11 x 13 cakes and a fairly large (4 ft x 4 ft) piece of cardboard to assemble it on.
Step 1: Cut out a section of one of the 11 x 13 cakes. This cake will form the main section (cab) of the Excavator.
Step 2: Cut the second 11 x 13 cake into 3 equal pieces (horizontally). Place one piece under the cab section (this will become the caterpillar tracks of the excavator). Arrange the other two pieces to form the arm of the excavator. You may shorten either piece as you desire. Using the first cut out from the cab cut a small triangle to arrange at the end of the arm to be the scoop.
Step 3: Ice the dump cake cover in yellow/orange icing.
Step 4: Using black icing draw in tracks excavator name (Deere Volvo etc) and door/window on cab.
Final Step: Using the remainder of the cab cut out crumble it and place it under the tracks and by the scoop to make “dirt” for the excavator. My son and his friends loved the cake and they all wanted some “dirt” with their piece.
Dump cake by Holly M., Albany, CA
My son announced he did not want a dump cake for his construction-themed 4th birthday party but a crane cake! And not only a crane but a crawler crane — not a truck crane. (No using of cookies or doughnuts for wheels!) Well I like a challenge.
The dump cake itself was easy; I baked a simple square, cut a strip from one edge to be the treads (with additional shallow angles cut from the top) and cut off one corner of the larger square to make the shape of the truck body. I used lemon yellow food coloring with just a bit of red added to get the construction-truck orange color and frosted the whole thing with buttercream.
The crane arm is pieced together with Pepperidge Farm Praline cookies and chocolate-covered candy reception sticks with stacked chocolate wafer cookies providing support in the middle. All glued together with royal icing. Thin licorice provides a “cable” and the hook at the end is a cashew. I also used the licorice to outline the doors and windows on the truck.
The window is more royal icing (since that happened to be white and I’d tinted all the buttercream!) The crawler tread is formed from bubble gum tape covered with rows of licorice bits.
The dump cake after the candles were blown out was served to the adults present. The kids each got a plain square of chocolate cake and I set out trays of “construction materials” they could use to build on (decorate) their own construction site (square of cake). The “construction materials” were more wafer cookies, licorice, graham crackers piles of brown sugar and black decorating sugar chocolate “rocks” candy etc. (representing steel beams lumber sand gravel etc.) and a lump of grey buttercream for “cement”. I also put out an assortment of small (Hot Wheels size) plastic construction trucks that could be driven over the site.
The kids all loved it!
Dump cake by Amanda S., Western Australia
We live in a mining town and my son is obsessed with the haul pack trucks his dad fixes. I made this dump cake out of 3 23cm cakes. One cake I cut a little off one side to make it rectangular and that was the base piece. I used the next cake to create an angled piece to allow the tray to tilt up. The last piece I used for the tray cutting into the middle so the lollies could sit in place.
The cab of the truck I cut out of left over pieces. I piped butter icing onto the truck using a star piper. The wheels are mint slice biscuits the exhaust and grill are licorice. I melted chocolate and piped the “CAT” trademark onto greaseproof paper setting it in the icing once it had set. (This is easier than it sounds). Then I placed the lollies in the tray candles on top and it was done.
This dump cake is actually pretty easy. It can be made the day before you need it as the butter icing keeps the cake inside sealed and fresh. Once it has been done just lightly cover with plastic wrap and store in a cool dark place. (No refrigeration necessary).
The cake board is my cutting board covered in foil. BUTTER ICING: 200g margarine, 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence,, and food dye to suit. Beat all together until creamy.
