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 there! I am making a cake for 20ppl and sized the template to 50% it looks rather small, is this correct? Many thanks! 🙂
Hi Joanna, If you halve the size of the template you don’t get a cake that is half the size. Try 75%.
Where can I find gray fondant at?
Hi Evelyn, Just add a very small amount of black gel food colouring to white fondant till you get the colour you are wanting. This link might help http://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/sugar-paste-fondant-cake-decorations/
You mention something called “spray oil” what is this? I live in Zimbabwe so probably can’t get it but can try and source from South Africa. I have used fontant icing before but used icing sugar to stop it from sticking the only problem was it ended up all over the cake and it lost the vivid colour. I also had to dust down the cake with a paint brush to get rid of the excess, I found it also dried out the icing which caused it to crack.
Hi Laura, Spray Oil is cooking oil in a pressurized spray can. In the USA this is called PAM. If you can’t find it, you can just lightly brush on some oil. I usually use spray oil when I only want a tiny bit or very thin coating.
Thanks Ann!
Great work Yuul. The cake looks fabulous!
I would like to order this template using Paypal I have order using Paypal before is it up and running now?
Yes Venise. Paypal is working fine now.
Hi Anne.
Another question please.
I have baked the cakes yesterday and did all the fondant cut out details. I was planning on assembling the cake today with the fondant and wanted to refrigerate it as my sons birthday is only on Sunday. Will it be ok in the fridge? I live in very warm humid South Africa!!
Much thanks
Hi Christina, My apologies that I couldn’t reply till now. Hope that it went well. Post a photo if you can.
Of the side
great job Erin!!
I made this for my sons 3rd birthday and he loved it. The tutorial was so helpful and the chocolate cake recipie was amazing…..thank you one very happy and proud mummy xx
I’m sure he loved it Erin 🙂
Fantastic cake! With great step by step instructions! Only question i have, which most others have too is how to scale down the cake to say 15-20 people? Cant wait to give it a crack! Thanks 🙂
Hi Amy, Try scaling the template to 75% of the original size.
I downloaded the template, thanks. Is there a way to downsize the cake, to serve 10 ppl?
sure Joanne, just scale down the % on your printer to approximately the size you want it. Then reduced your ingredients in line with that.
Where do you get The Gray fondant??
Hi Evelyn, You can make grey fondant by colouring white fondant with a small quantity of Black gel food colouring.
Also, how do i downsize the cake to around 10 people?
I there.
I am in South Africa. Will I still be able to purchase the template? My sons birthday is this weekend and I’m trying to make a Thomas Cake. Will be a lot easier with the template.many thanks. Christina
yes you can still purchase Christina.
My question is about servings. How many people does this cake feed? Is there a way to request a larger template if you need a bigger cake to feed more people? Thank you for creating the wonderful video and template!
Hi Juli, This recipe serves about 40 people.
Hi!
Would like to purchase for the templates please.
My little concern is that many people had problem with downloading.
Also can you send the templates within 24 hours of the purchase please?
thanks , Agnes
hi agnes, for 90% of people the templates are automatically sent through to their email address to download. But there are a small number of people who are having difficulties. If you hit any problem, just email tech support at [email protected] and we’ll sort it out straight away
Haven’t purchased the template yet, but how do I scale the template down to let’s say 25 people?
Hi Anja, You could try scaling the template to 75% of the original.
Please send me instructions and template for Thomas cake. thanks
I received the template without any issues. Instructions were straight forward, it was worth making the cake. I had a very happy baby boy and all his little cousins (including adults) loved the cake! My baby boy’s 1st bday party was a success. Thank you!
sorry about that Jerry, the company that runs the shop is driving us crazy at the moment. I will send it to your directly via your email address.
I am interested in Thomas the Train template but noticed that a few people have had issues receiving the pdf. This has me a little concerned about spending the money if i do not receive the template.
hi, the company that runs the shop has had some troubles with paypal and also with people wanting to download using Dropbox. If you’re happy to use a credit card and download onto your computer directly then it will work fine.
Hey I was wondering what the price would be cause I am in Canada
Hi Ann! First let me say, I purchased this tutorial a few days ago and did not have any problems paying for or downloading it… and I’m in the U.S. Hopefully it will start working for everyone else. 🙂 Now- a suggestion & question… Having the video is wonderful!!… but is it possible to include a short written tutorial with the templates? With the video showing a carved caked being made in 11 min, I would have to replay it over & over to see what came next in real time. AND how thick are your layers? Mine were 1″ and did not match up to the cutting points. Also, did you put a cake board between some layers to create several cutting levels? Thanks for your time!!!
Hey I was wondering if I gave you 4.99 if you could send me the thomas the train template I can Send it in a money order
Hi Ann. Can you tell me if it would be ok to replace the margarine with butter in the cake recipe. I have sometimes made cakes with margarine that taste a little odd, and was hoping to use butter. What do you think?
Thanks, Nikki