3D Thomas Train Cake Recipe
Would your Thomas obsessed pre-schooler love a themed birthday party with an amazing cake in the shape of the famous little blue train? Well, you’re not alone. Thomas the Tank Engine toys are amongst the best-selling preschool items in the US, UK and Australia. Kids everywhere love a Thomas party and thankfully, plenty of other brave parents have paved the way (check out their party ideas here). And read on for step by step instructions to make the 3D Thomas train cake.
To make this Thomas Cake you will need:
The Cake & Fondant Template
This Thomas cake will serve 40 people, you can scale it down if you have less guests.
Cake: two and a half times the rich chocolate cake recipe baked into five trays 25cm (9.84 inches) x 38cm (14.96 inches) baked at 356F (180 degrees Celsius) for 20 minutes.
Fondant for thomas train cake
400g (14.11 ounces) black fondant
650g (22.93 ounces) blue fondant
450g (15.87 ounces) red fondant
30g (1.06 ounces) yellow fondant
160g (5.64 ounces) grey fondant
Note: Fondant quantities are actual amounts used on the cake, so allow extra for rolling out.
Frosting for train cake:
Two quantities of buttercream recipe in flavour of your choice
Two quantities of ganache recipe, allow to cool completely at room temp overnight. Whip together with the buttercream, use to cover the outside of the train before adding fondant.
Equipment needed for train cake:
Fondant extruder (makes it quicker and easier but optional you can roll long skinny snakes instead).
Circle cutters
Ruler
Pizza cutter (optional)
drinking straw to cut small circles
rolling pin
non-stick baking paper
spray oil
metal piping tip or something with 1.7cm (0.67 inches) diameter to cut circle
To make the thomas train face see this previous post:
Instructions
1: Make the fondant details ahead of time so they can dry out (see video)
2: Bake the cakes, prepare the frosting and make the simple syrup. This can be done 2 days before the party. See above for quantities.
3: Construct and decorate the cake the day before the party. See the video for demonstration. You will need a very strong cake board that is at least 35cm (13.78 inches) long and 20cm (7.87 inches) wide.
4. If it is very hot where you live, store in the fridge otherwise room temperature is fine.
5. Enjoy the birthday boy or girl’s face when they see their Thomas cake. Don’t forget to take photos!
by Ann Reardon
2013
My Cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country:
http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.
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Hi Ann, I have done some cakes before, but haven’t tried any 3D cake till today. Planning to do this for my son’s 3rd birthday. Can you tell me how much time the final assembling takes approx if I have the templates cutout a week or 2 before itself? Also, can I leave the cutout fondants outside or keep it in the fridge? I live in Ireland. Thanks
Hi Aswini if you make the fondant details ahead leave them at room temp until firm / dried out and then store in an airtight container. Assembling once the cakes are baked and cooled and the frosting is made – if you’ve never made a 3D cake before I’d allow yourself at least a few hours.
Thanks for the reply Ann. Can you tell me the payment method on your webstite? Do you accept credit card payment? Also, can you tell me the approx quantity of cake needed? I mean the weight or so? As I intend to make a different cake
Hi Aswini, I have not weighed this cake, and all cakes will have a different weight as a heavy mud cake will weigh more for the same volume of cake than a sponge cake. If using a different recipe you will need ot go on volume, make enough to make the required number of trays of cake. For payment you can use paypal or on paypal there is the option of paying with credit card without registering for a paypal account.
I’ve never done a 3d cake…let alone used fondant. Is this too challenging for a beginner?
Hi Chelsey, not at all, scroll through the comments and you’ll see some pictures of cakes made by people just like yourself.
Great Thank you! I will post picture for sure once its done.
Hi Ann,
Made this one using your templates (different cake and frosting), but it’s not even close to what you created. Anyway, my little boy didn’t mind imperfections :). Thanks heaps!
This is a really beautiful cake Sanela! I love the tracks and grass around the edges. Well done.
I was wondering where I could get a template because I live in Ireland
Hi Erin, it is a digital downlaod so as soon as you purchase it the link is provided to you on screen when you click on it it will either autop download to your computer or open on screen, depending on how your computer works. If it opens on screen you click file ‘save as’ to save it to your computer and print it out.
Thank you
Here is my finished Thomas the Train….thank you very much for the template
Well done Amy, great 3D cake
Thank you Ann for your very quick response to my downloading the link problem. I have received the template, and appreciate the expediency. Thanks again.
great thanks mary
Hi Ann,
Could you please tell me what size cake board you have used?
Many thanks in advance!
Virginia
Hi Virginia,
The board I have the finished cake on is 37cm x 24.5cm
Many thanks Ann!
😀
Hi Ann I have purchased your Thomas the Train template I am about to make the face today so has time to dry I was wondering how big of a circle cutter do I use (how many inches?) in your template there is a picture of Thomas’s face do I use that size circle for the face and cake circles?
Thanks Amy
Hi Amy, yes that is correct make it in the size shown on the template
Here is my finished Thomas cake.
Great job Jennie
and this is the inside of the cake. All different flavours.
Hi Ann, Very happy with your templates. This is how my Thomas turned out. It was for my nephew Michael.
lovely sandra, I’m sure he would of enjoyed it
Hi Sandra, Great job on this cake, especially the face of Thomas. It looks spot on. Glad that the templates were helpful.
I received mine instantly. the link only worked for a couple of days. x
I have posted a question as I am dithering whether to make the parts of the train out of fondant + tylos or just normal fondant. my cake is booked for the end of the month too.
hi marianne, just checking everything worked out with the template?
Hi,
I’m in the process of making your 3D Thomas cake for my son’s 3rd birthday, which I am assembling tomorrow. Just wanted to say how helpful your tutorial and all the templates have been. I’d have been completely stuck without them. I love to bake but have never decorated a cake with fondant before, it’s been a great lesson and you have made it really enjoyable to do.
I decided to use up some of the remaining grey fondant I had over to make fondant cupcake toppers for my son’s party. I have added a picture of them below.
I will hopefully upload a pictured my finished cake after tomorrow.
Thanks again 🙂
these look awesome Jennie great idea
Hi I made this cake for a friend last week and this is how it turned out. I was pleased overall but his face/head turned out way too big for some reason so it didn’t sit flush with the curved blue bit and it was also really heavy so I had to use cocktail sticks to keep it in place. I still need a lot more practice with covering with fondant as that bit was really difficult but luckily there are lots of details to stick on to cover up the mistakes!
Well done Caroline. Yes the stick-on bits can be very helpful at disguising imperfections 🙂
I made this for my sons 2nd birthday and it was a huge hit! This was my first attempt at a 3D cake and your video and template were amazing. I finished assembling the cake at 1am and sadly cracked the face and didn’t have time to make another but other than that it turned out great!
Wow allison, this is your first 3D cake and it looks awesome well done
Can you please tell me how many people, this size of a cake serve? Thank you.
hi lubka, i think it serves about 40 people.
Hi Ann
Do you have a cake recipe for the portions required that does not contain eggs?
We have allergies to nuts, eggs and coconut in the family.
My son would love this cake if I could make it.
Hi Natasha I havent tried an egg free cake recipe that I like yet, but will post one if I find one.
Hi purchased and Made the cake today
I make quite a lot of cakes but Found the template a bit tricky when putting the pre made parts on they all seemed to crack
Also the cake is huge I think my friends little boy will be eating this until next year
Would be better to make it smaller and make the parts as you go
Hi Marie, Well done on making it, were you pieces fully dried out when you were placing them or still soft in the middle? They are more likely to crack if still soft.
Hi there. Thank you for your tutorial. I have just purchased your train cake template. I need to make a cake to serve only 20-25 people. Do I just reduce the size of the template in order to make the cake smaller? I was just going to photocopy and reduce the template that way. Any advice would be great.
Thank you.
Hi Emily, yes that will work well
Hello, I have purchased your tutorial 2 weeks ago. It is wonderful.
now I have a client who would like to have Thomas cake to serve 50 people. Do you have any idea where I can find z blueprint of Thomas train, or templates to serve so many people. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Lubka
Hi Luka, you can enlarge the template.