This construction site cake has everything a kids' birthday cake needs to make young and old happy: It is delicious, looks special, and yet is super easy to make. We made the cake for our son's 4th birthday. Matching vehicle plates, police napkins, and cups.
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Taste and Occasion
The birthday boy and his guests were thrilled that I am now writing this post about it. Initially, I thought such a recipe was too unspectacular to get its own post. Those of you following me for a while know I am not a fan of motif cakes. So I made a construction site cake without fondant. Specifically, I made the digger cake foolproof by turning a simple mole cake into a construction site. If you want to make the digger cake yourself, you don't need complicated instructions this way, either. Just the recipe from this post, which you can decorate as you like. For example, I have taken toys from the large collection of our son. Concrete mixer, excavator, truck, pylons. We have three quadrillions of them 😉. But you can also buy fancy construction site sets.
Ingredients
As already written, the digger cake is a regular mole cake. So, it is a simple cake batter base, slightly hollowed out after baking and then dome-shaped and spread with whipped cream. For a fruity-fresh component, banana pieces and/or cherries are added to the cream. The whole thing evolves into a construction site cake with crumbled cake pieces representing the earth for the excavator work.
Unfortunately, our son doesn't tolerate cocoa or chocolate, so creativity was essential. I colored and flavored the dough brown with cinnamon, whole cane sugar, some carob, and green and red food coloring. We do everything for the perfect children's birthday cake, don't we 😉? And for me, with this recipe, it fortunately worked. And everyone enjoyed it!
How to make the Construction Site Cake
First, preheat the oven to 360°F/80°C. Grease a small springform pan (7 in / 18 cm), beat the softened butter with the brown sugar until fluffy, and stir in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and possibly cinnamon. Grate the chocolate. Stir both briefly into the butter-egg mixture.
Now, pour the dough into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool. Place the cake base on a large plate. Using a tablespoon, scoop to a rim of about 0.4 in / 1 cm. However, the bottom should not be hollowed out too deeply so that it is still stable. Crumble the pie crust pieces into a bowl. It's time to cut the bananas into small pieces and spread them on the hollowed-out base. Whip the cream with sugar and cream stiffener until stiff. Spread in a dome shape on the cake base, going almost to the edge. Then sprinkle the cake with pastry crumbs. Press these down a bit. Refrigerate the cake for about 1h, dust it, and plate it with baking cocoa. Decorate with small toy vehicles and traffic signs.
Top Tip
For a construction site cake without chocolate and cocoa, you can use a mixture of cinnamon, carob, whole cane sugar, green and red food coloring.
Mini pylons, mini traffic signs, and construction site vehicles are suitable for decorating the excavator cake.
Recipe Card
Construction Site Cake
Equipment
- 1 small springform pan 7 in / 18 cm
Ingredients
For the dough
- 75 grams (⅓ cup) butter, soft
- 90 grams (7 ½ tablespoons) brown sugar
- 3 eggs, large
- 100 grams (⅘ cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- 2 tablespoons baking cocoa, or carob
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 30 grams (2 tablespoons) dark chocolate, grated
For the filling
- 2 pieces bananas
- 300 grams (1 ⅓ cups) cream
- 2 packets cream stiffener
- 30 grams (2 ½ tablespoons) sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking cocoa, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360°F/80°C. Grease a small springform pan (7 in / 18 cm). Beat the softened butter with the brown sugar until fluffy, and stir in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder and possibly cinnamon. Grate the chocolate. Stir both briefly into the butter-egg mixture.
- Pour the dough into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool.
- Place the cake base on a large plate. Using a tablespoon, scoop to a rim of about 0.4 in / 1 cm. However, the bottom should not be hollowed out too deeply so that it is still stable. Crumble the pie crust pieces into a bowl.
- Cut the bananas into small pieces and spread them on the hollowed-out base. Whip the cream with sugar and cream stiffener until stiff. Spread in a dome shape on the cake base, going almost to the edge.
- Sprinkle the cake with pastry crumbs. Press these down a bit. Refrigerate cake for about 1h and dust cake and plate with baking cocoa. Decorate with small toy vehicles and traffic signs.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
More delicious children's birthday cake recipes can be found on this blog, from colorful to healthy. For example, the numbers cake, the rainbow sheet cake, or my banana zebra cake.
About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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