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If you have little boys then sooner or later you are likely to be making a train cake, possibly even a Thomas the Tank Engine. The train itself is fairly simple slabs of cake, coated in butter cream with biscuit wheels, licorice details and carriages filled with lollies. But the face is tricky, it does not work using buttercream and to make it out of fondant takes a little bit of know how. This video shows you a simple trick to use when making the face for you cake. If you’ve never heard of fondant click here for fondant basics.
Check out other Thomas cakes here:
Thomas Cakes, Parties and Food -Best of the Web
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nut free macaron recipe 
choc orange macaron recipe
How many cakes did you have to make to get the layers right? Do you have any directions on that? Thanks! My son is two and I’m planning his cake today:)
Hi Christina, I used:
For the carriages:
2 loaf pans – one for each of the carriages – just cut the edges and tops completely flat, trim them a little shorter to carriage size and then cut out a small rectangle from the top of each for lollies – just cut the edges down about 2cm and scoop out with a spoon. It does not need to be very deep and it does not matter if it is not flat at the bottom of the cavity as it will be covered with lollies. The carriages are a different coloured butter cream at the bottom – use a colour similar to your cake board.
Thomas:
1 purchased jam (jelly) roll cake for the round part (when cutting the face make it slightly larger than the cake is to allow room for the butter cream).
2 loaf tins. Cut one in half like you were going to make two even layers. Put the halves side by side to make the base – trim as needed. Use the other one to make the bit of the thomas that has the three on it. If you are unsure about cutting the shape just print out a thomas (right click and copy image, paste into a word doc and stretch to the desired size), cut out the picture and use it as a template for your cake.
Don’t worry if the cake does not look perfect – use the butter cream icing to cover any mistakes.
A trick with the butter cream – it tends to get cake crumbs in it particularly on a cut cake like this. If that is happening do a thin layer of butter cream all over, put it in the fridge to firm up, smooth it out and then do a second layer of butter cream.
Hope your sons birthday goes well.
THANKS for the really detailed and quick reply! My cakes are in the oven, I’ve made the frosting and I’ll try all the stacking tomorrow! Great blog:)
Hi lovely Ann,
im so happy to find your wonderful Thomas cake. Im also planning my sons second bday cake and decided to go with this lovely cake, but i have a question, what did u use to attach the carriages to each other? a licorice string? or are they not attached?
also, how early can i start this project? does it stay well in the fridge?
last, any ideas on how to transfer this cake (from home to bday location?) i thought to ask since u seem so creative.
hope to hear from you and thank you for all your wonderful work!
*smiles
Hi DiiDii,
Happy second birthday to your son.
I just used licorice to join the carriages.
You can make the fondant details like the face, number and funnel a month ahead and leave to dry out (don’t put in an airtight container until they are dry or they won’t harden).
As for the rest of the cake I like it to be fresh so I make it the day before the party. If you need to make it earlier you could make the cakes, shape them and add the buttercream. Then freeze it. Get it out of the freezer the day before the party and allow it to defrost in the fridge.
Then on the day add the fondant details, wheels and lollies.
To transport it ensure that you use a firm cake board – eg made out of wood covered in wrap, not cardboard. You need something that will not warp or shift as the cake is transported. Add a dab of buttercream under each cake on the cake board to help hold it in place. Cakes don’t like hot or humid weather so if that applies keep it out of the sun or your butter cream will go very soft. If possible have someone hold it in the car or use tea towels to level and secure the cake board on the back seat or floor. We transported this cake to the venue where we had my sons birthday and had no problems with it at all.
I’m sure you son will love the cake.
Ann
hiya…just reading through your spiel about transporting cakes….I do this on a regular basis as I deliver all my cakes…i place a double layer of non slip rubber matting under my cake board or cake box…voila!!! that cake doesn’t move…I have even used it on double stacked ball cakes with great success…although I do drive with caution….!!! hope this hint helped..
thanks : )
Thanks for the great Thomas face! I have just made one to add to the Birthday Boy’s cake!
Glad it helped, happy birthday to your birthday boy!
you’re so clever! thanks for all the videos. you give very clear instruction and the videos are very well made.
Thanks gaki
Great instructions. I am making this for my DAUGHTER’S 3rd birthday. Simple to follow and I cant wait to see my little girls face light up with she sees Thomas
Happy Birthday to your little girl, hope she loves her cake and has a great 3rd birthday.
I am also going to make for my DAUGHTER’S 3rd birthday. Thomas is her life!!
looking forward to making this for her and really excited about all of the terrific instructions and tips!
Happy 3rd Birthday to your daughter, have fun making the cake, remember you fondant details can be made a few weeks ahead and left to dry out – this takes the stress out of it the day before when you are making the cake.
Do u have step by step instructions how to make this cake?
Hi Nicole, For the carriages:
2 loaf pans – one for each of the carriages – just cut the edges and tops completely flat, trim them a little shorter to carriage size and then cut out a small rectangle from the top of each for lollies – just cut the edges down about 2cm and scoop out with a spoon. It does not need to be very deep and it does not matter if it is not flat at the bottom of the cavity as it will be covered with lollies. The carriages are a different coloured butter cream at the bottom – use a colour similar to your cake board.
Thomas:
1 purchased jam (jelly) roll cake for the round part (when cutting the face make it slightly larger than the cake is to allow room for the butter cream).
2 loaf tins. Cut one in half like you were going to make two even layers. Put the halves side by side to make the base – trim as needed. Use the other one to make the bit of the thomas that has the three on it. If you are unsure about cutting the shape just print out a thomas (right click and copy image, paste into a word doc and stretch to the desired size), cut out the picture and use it as a template for your cake.
Don’t worry if the cake does not look perfect – use the butter cream icing to cover any mistakes.
A trick with the butter cream – it tends to get cake crumbs in it particularly on a cut cake like this. If that is happening do a thin layer of butter cream all over, put it in the fridge to firm up, smooth it out and then do a second layer of butter cream.
Hope that helps
Hello!
Thanks for the wonderful tutorial! After searching high and low for a Thomas cake, this is it!! One question! If I make my fondant pieces ahead, can I leave it out to dry without being covered? For how long? I’m talking about 2 days before the party. Will it be too hard to transport onto the cake? Also, after the cake is finished, how long can it sit out before getting too hard? Thanks for helping me with my son’s 2nd birthday!
Hi Tammy, You can make the fondant pieces up to a month or two ahead, how long they take to go hard depends on how thick they are, things like the number on the side should be firm within a day. Yes leave them uncovered. If you put them in an airtight container they will not dry out. Once they are dried you can store in a container with non-stick paper between them. I usually make the complete cake the night before the party, the fondant on the cake doesn’t dry out as fast because it is in contact with the buttercream which has moisture in it.
Hi, your Thomas cake looks brilliant and I really want to try it for my daughter’s 3rd birthday in a couple of weeks. I have a couple of questions though. When you say ‘Loaf tins’ can you give me the dimensions you use as my loaf tin is quite small and I’m not sure it would work. Also, do you have to use a specific butter icing recipe or can you use any that you are happy making and how do you go about coloring it? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks so much.
Hi Anna, yes buttercream recipes are here http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/buttercream-cupcake-frosting-recipes/ I colour it using gel colours that you can get at a cake decorating stores. But you can use normal colouring you will just need quite a bit of it so omit the milk from the buttercream recipe, add the colour and once you are happy with it then add more milk if you need it. If you think your loaf tins are too small then they probably are, just turn them upside down on the bench next to a rolled cake and if it looks too small to you then use something else. You can either use a large rectangle tin and cut it to shape or if you don’t have a tin you can use a box, see the video with the 1D cake for instructions on that. http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/one-direction-cake-with-logo-on-the-inside/ They do not need to be an exact size they just need to look right to you with your carriage.
Hi.
Im making this cake for my nephews. Terrified but determined. Its an amazing cake. Just wondering, Can I cover yhe whole cake in fondant icing? Rather than using buttercream?
Thanks
Alex
Hi Alexandra yes you can but you still but buttercream under the fondant to make it stick to the cake.