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Dump Truck Cake Recipe

Dump Truck Cake Recipe photo by Taste of Home

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GEARING UP to host a construction-themed birthday? This mouthwatering hauler will get your party on a roll! Our home economists made the treat speedy by using a packaged cake mix and spreading on east-to-mix frosting. What' more, they formed the truck's shape with basic loaf pans instead of a special mold. You can pave the way for your own big rig, too...just follow the simple instructions featured here!—Taste of Home Test Kitchen

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Dump Truck Cake Recipe

Prep: 1 hour Bake: 25 min. + cooling

Yield: 8-10 Servings

60 25 85

Ingredients

1 package chocolate cake mix (regular size)
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon shortening
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter, softened
2-2/3 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Yellow and blue liquid food coloring
3 Ho-Ho snack cakes
6 chocolate-covered miniature doughnuts
Shoestring black licorice
2 large white gumdrops
2 red M&M's
1 milk chocolate candy bar (1.55 ounces)

Directions

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour into two greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans.
Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
Using a serrated knife, level the top of each cake. Crumble removed tops; set cakes and crumbs aside.
In a small bowl, cream shortening, butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the milk and vanilla until smooth.
Place 1 cup frosting in a small bowl; tint yellow. Place 3/4 cup frosting in another bowl; tint blue. Place 1/4 cup frosting in a third bowl; leave plain. Frost the top of one cake yellow; top with the remaining cake to from truck body.
For truck cab, measure 2 in. from one end. Cut 1-3/4 in. straight down; cut at an angle 1-1/2 in. deep and 1 in. toward the front of the truck. Remove cake wedge and save for another use.
For dump truck bed, leave 1-1/2 in. of cake for cab roof, then cut 1/2 in. deep at an angle. Make a horizontal cut to the back of the truck. Remove cake wedge and save for another use.
For wheel axles, place two snack cakes side by side and 1/2 in. apart near one corner of an 11-in. x 10-in. covered board. Place the remaining snack cake parallel to and 2 in. from the inside snack cake. Carefully arrange truck body over snack cakes. Frost the hood, doors and bottom third of the truck with yellow frosting. For wheels, attach doughnuts with plain frosting on each side of truck.
Spread some of the white frosting on the slanted windshield. Place the remaining white frosting in a pastry or plastic bag; cut a small hole in a corner. Pipe the windows on the doors. Frost the rest of the dump truck blue.
Cut thirteen 3/4-in. strips of licorice. Arrange eight strips on the front of the truck for the grille; set the remaining strips aside. For headlights, cut gumdrops in half. Place rounded half of each on outside of grille; discard the remaining cut gumdrops.
Cut two 3-1/2-in. strips, two 1-in. strips, six 1-3/4-in. strips, two 1-1/4-in. strips and four 2-in. strips of licorice. Using the 3-1/2-in. and 1-in. strips, form the windshield. Place two 3/4-in. strips on windshield for wipers. For doors, position two 1-1/4-in. strips for the door tops; place the 2-in. strips for the door sides. Decorate sides and back of truck with remaining licorice.
Place M&M's on back of bed for rear lights. For back bumper, break candy bar into individual sections at perforations. Cut one piece in half widthwise. Place some of the chocolate, flat side out, on the truck back (save remaining chocolate for another use). Spoon reserved crumbled cake into truck bed for dirt. Yield: 8-10 servings.

Originally published as Dump Truck Cake in Country Woman May/June 2001, p46

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Dump Truck Cake

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Reviewed on Sep. 03, 2012 by halee0310

Nice only 1 gum drop needed since cut in half. No picture of back of truck & found the directions all over the place not in order needed to do the work.

Reviewed on May. 09, 2011 by rodsgirl

I just made this cake for my son's 2nd birthday. He LOVED it! I thought some of the instructions were hard to follow but was able to just go by the picture for most of it. A few things I did different: I used my own chocolate cake recipe rather than a mix. I froze the cakes overnight before finishing the next day; MUCH easier to cut and frost that way. I also used black frosting and piped all the black parts on because I could not find black string licorice. Mine turned out almost exactly like the picture and overall it was a great success!

Reviewed on Jan. 19, 2009 by s_pants

Has anyone made this cake? Any suggestions?