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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Please suggest how many days in advance can i make the parts which are marked“make ahead of time”.and how shall i store them.
Thanks
Hi Poonam, the fondant parts that need to be made ahead and allowed to dry, can be made a week or so in advance. Once totally dry and hard, just store them in airtight container in a cool environment.
Hi Ann,
I just wanted to say thank you for the great tutorial. My 4 year old son loved his cake!
Great work Eni, Your thomas face looks perfect and I love the tracks!
Ann,
I want to make this cake for my son’s second birthday. However, I don’t need it to be quite this big. Do you have templates for the same cake but smaller sizes?
Hi Lee, If you wish to scale the template to make it a smaller size, then you can but really to make the level of fondant detail required for this cake, it is an optimum size.
Hi Ann, I can not find grey fondant, any suggestions? I live in sydney.
Also should the template be printed on a4 paper?
Hi Linda, Templates should be printed on A4 people without scaling. You can order grey fondnat online or via your preferred cake decorating store. However you can colour your own. THis page: https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/sugar-paste-fondant-cake-decorations/ shows you how to colour fondant. To obtain grey you will need black gel colour. Just add a very small amount and mix well. It is easy to darken the grey by adding a dot or so of black gel colour. You can’t lighten it easily so best to slowly build up the colour you are after.
Mix black with lots of white until you get the grey you need. Re paper size, print then all on the same size paper so the ratios are right and the only question is how big do YOU want the cake. Give a trusted adult the kids and get a few more hours sleep
This was one of the most difficult ones but successful! Used rice krispy treats for the head as it was heavy with cake. Thank you for template fantastic!
side pic
Great work Egli, the cake and the board look fabulous!
Here is my effort with the Thomas Cake! Thank you for the detailed instructions. My son absolutely loved it!
Wow Lynette, your detailed fondant work is phenomenal. Well done!
Hi have purchased template for Thomas. Does it get emailed to me.
Hi Kelly. On purchase the link appears on screen for your immediate download. You receive an email as back up with a link to download. The links are active for a couple of weeks. If you didn’t see a download link and there isn’t an email (check your junk mail folder) then it is likely that it didn’t go through. or your email was entered incorrectly. Check and if you think there was an issue please email customer-care[at]howtocookthat.net and the team will sort it for you.
Hi just purchased the thomas template and looking forward to giving it a go. Am currently printing all the recipes so i can make a shopping list, i have 2 questions:
1) i recall video mentioned simple syrup but cant find a link to the recipe.
2) what do you consider hot with regard to putting cake in the fridge? I live in Perth Australia and its currently quite variable but did have 40 degrees yesterday, does the fridge affect how the frosting looks.
thanks
Hi Rachel, Ann is from Australia and is well used to 40 degree days. Yes we would consider that hot. In most modern fridges the moisture level is kept low so the cake as long as it is covered with fondant will be fine. They are best kept cool rather than cold. When you take the cake out of the fridge you can get condensation on the fondant if the room is very warm. It is best to let it reach room temperature slowly. Simple syrup is simply sugar and water. Here is a recipe for you: 1/4 or 55g (1.94 ounces) cup sugar , 1/4 or 63g (2.22 ounces) cup water, Heat the sugar and water together until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.
Can someone send me template please. Im eager to know the measurements of the pieces that I have to make ahead oh time.
Hi Rose, the measurements are all available from the template which can be purchased using the Buy it now button.
Thanks Ann for the great template first time ever, definitely some lessons learnt in the process. But chuffed with my first attempt although it took 3 goes for the face, arrghhh. Also I need more tips on sticking the face/funnel to the cake as it was quite heavy so used a few skewers. Also thought I’d do an extra bit with the lamp heheh. Thanks again as overall pretty easy to follow directions. But now also appreciate the $500 charges for these cakes worth it!!
Hi Michelle, Great job and yes you can see why cake decorators charge what they do. It is time consuming and fiddly.
Super happy with my cake! Thank you! My 3 year old son was very excited to see his Thomas cake!
Great job Tamsyn. Your fondant detail looks perfect.
how i can print detail ?
Hi Liliya, You can purchase abd download the template via the buy it Now button or the Shop page.
Hello Ann, my son LOVE this cake. Thank you very much for all the details you share to make it! This year i’m making your 3D spiderman cake! Kisses from Argentina!
It looks great did u buy the templates? Did they come via email? Thanks
Wow, It looks so good Ines. Well done!
Can anyone tell me how the templates are sent once purchased? are they emailed or posted?
Thanks
Emailed with a download link.
Hi Sheree, Purchased templates are sent to you as an email with a download link. You can download the template and save it to your computer. The link will eventually expire so best to ensure that you save it where you can locate it in the future.
What do your cake trays look like? I’m new to this
This is my first attempt at a 3D cake
That is a phenomenal first effort Carol. My first go was no where near as good. Well done!
Can I ask how much blue fondant you need to roll out to cover this cake
Hi Ryan, You will need about 650g as per the recipe. If you are purchasing ready made fondant , you usually can obtain it in 1kg lots.
Hi – I slightly modified a version of this for my son’s third birthday, the Henry cake (because it’s the no.3 engine), but I used the recipe and template but elongated it and made a tender (the coal was dark chocolate covered popping candy). Worked brilliantly – thanks a lot!
Hi John, Great work. Henry looks perfect and we love your idea for the coals.
Hi
I want to make the 3D Thomas cake for my sons 3rd birthday this week – please can you provide a link to an alternative cake rather than chocolate which will be suitable?
Thanks so much!
Heather
Hi Heather, Ann recommends the chocolate cake as it is firm enough to take the carving and shaping. Some of our followers have tried it with the sponge recipe (https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/sponge-cake-recipe/) using a simple syrup to ensure it doesn’t dry out too much. Ann also has a red velvet recipe (https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/red-velvet-cake-recipe/) that would be suitable.
Hi, Thank you very much for the recipe and Thomas cake idea. I did it for my son’s birthday. It was a challenge and new experience for me. How long does it usually take Ann to make this cake ?
Hi Vilma, Ann is very experienced and tends to make these very quickly. Usually she would suggest making the fondant pieces and baking the cake on one day and assemble it the next.
Hi Ann, I want to bake the cake at half the size for 20 people. I have purchased the template, but how to I proportion the size of the fondant decoration? Many thanks Donna
Hi Donna, Some subscribers have tried printing the template at 75% scale and find it works well. The downside is that the small details can be a bit fiddly.