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.
Hi Ann… great tutorial..thanks a bunch 🙂
for some reason i am not able to see the link where i can get the paper templates for cake and fondant
if possible can you please send me link for templates..
Hi Sindhurl, Oh dear the link was broken. It is now fixed, so click on the Button and it should take you to the template purchase page.
Hi Ann I am trying to find cake tins the size you have stated. I was looking through comments to find out the depth of the cake tins as I was sure someone would have already asked this question. When looking I found different responses to this question from 1.8cm to 4cm deep. Which is the correct depth or can you tell me how high to fill cake tins when putting in the cake mixture. Also does the dark chocolate for the recipe have to be 70% or can you use any dark chocolate even cooking chocolate for this recipe. Thanks in advance
Hi Rebecca, Cake tins vary a bit in depth, but the ones Ann is using at the moment are around 2. cm or 1 inch deep and she would usually fill the tray with mixture to about 1.8cm but that is just an approximation. For the ganache, Ann prefers to use real chocolate just because it tastes better. You can use the type of chocolate you prefer. If you use compond chcoclate you may need a little more milk as it tends to set more firmly.
Thanks you so much for your response that will help when looking for the tin size. I’m a novice to this so trying to get organised early so I dont get stuck last minute. Regarding the chocolate I was meaning for the rich chocolate cake recipe it self does it matter which chocolate you use as I am wanting the same consistency in the cake so it holds but was Thinking the dark chocolate 70% cocoa may be very rich for some people. Tha is again for your response really appreciate it.
Hi rebecca, You can adjust the type of chocolate as you prefer.
Hi Ann, I have also been searching for the template for the Thomas tutorial – it doesn’t appear on the tutorial like the others have. Thanks for all the fantastic tutorials you have taken the time to produce to help us poor Mum’s trying our best to make awesome cakes for our kids!!
Hi Carmen, The link had broken but it is all fixed and ready to go now.
Where do l have to click to see the link to buy the templates?plz
Hi Aaliya, click on the Buy it Now button.
Hi. Thanks for the great tutorial. My friend wanted a Thomas and percy cake so I made the Thomas then adapted the pattern slightly to make percy. Was really easy to follow and my friend was very pleased with the cake so thank you.
Ruth.
They look fabulous Ruth. You did an awesome job. Well done!
Hi, I want to bake this cake for my son, do you maybe have template for me please.
Thank you
Julie
Hi Julie, Click on the Buy it now button above.
hi can you send me the templates
Hi Harry, You can you purchase the templates via the Buy it Now button or on the Shop page.
Hi Ann this cake looks amazing I am going to attempt making for my son. Just wanted to known is the ganache mixed in with the buttercream for the frosting as couldn’t see it used in the video but is in the instructions above. Sorry I’m a novice at this might be a silly question. Cheers
Yes Rebecca, Ann whips the ganache and buttercream together and then frosts the whole cake befor adding the fondant. She finds this gives a good finish and tastes great.
Hi Ann… I think your thomas cake is so lovely.. would you show me how I can print out the cake and fondant template to make this cake? Thank you
Hi Ika, the template can be purchased via the buy it now button or on the shop page. Once purchased you will receive a download link to the PDF. Print this out at 100%. Don’t scale it to fit the page.
Thank you for your tutorial. I have a question. I’m a little confused with the template. I cut everything out where it says attached part a to b do you fold both pieces of the template on the line and connect or take one end of the template and line it up on the line that says attach here? Might seem like a silly question but I just want to make sure that I am using the templates right.
Thanks
And AWESOME Tutorial
Hi Kendra, Just cut one of the pieces on the line and tape it to the join line on the other. Hope that makes sense.
Hi there, awesome tutorial. i would like to make this cake for a friend, but only need to feed 15. if i buy the template, are there instructions included on how to resize the template? Thank you 🙂
Hi Sibylle, to resize the template you print it at a reduced percentage. The detail on this cake will be easier to work with at full size. You might find it easier to make the cake as is and freeze the left overs.
Hi Ann,
I would will be making this for my nephew’s first birthday and am wanting to make a smaller version for a smashcake. Can you please suggest how much I should shrink the template.
Hi Tammy, This will be tricky to make at a small size with all the Thomas detail. But you could try printing the template at around 35-40% and see if that is manageable for you.
Thanks for the advice and the great tutorial. The cake was a hit!
Hi there, I will be assembling the cake and details later today ahead of my son’s 4th birthday partytomorrow. The cakes and details have turned out well but I’m very nervous about putting it all together! My question is about how i stick the details to the cake – is that what the sugar syrup is for? If so, how much do you need to use. If not, what do you use and what then is the sugar syrup for? Also, is the frosting inside the cake layers just buttercream with the ganache (and left over buttercream) used for the outside? Thanks in advance for your help!
Hi Ann
Just looked at your video and would like to try the Thomas The Tank Engine cake for my Grandsons birthday. Can you please tell me where I can find the templates for it
Thank you
Jillian
Hi Jillian, the templates can be purchased using the Buy it Now button or on the shop page: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/shop-cook/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Well here my Thoms cake thank you Ann for the templates I don’t think I could get this cake done otherwise xx
Hi Netty, Your cake looks amazing. Well done!
Hi Ann and team, I just made this for my son’s 3rd birthday and it was a big hit! It was my first 3D cake and first fondant covered cake (I’d only done accents before). Thank you so much for your blog and instructions – the template and instructions were great and I would never have thought to do it if I hadn’t seen this.
For any other novices, here are some tips from my experience:
– when pre-making the bumpers, the black bits leaned and fell off. I needed to let the small red circles set before attaching the black (or use larger, short circles to hold the black bits on).
– I needed to make an extra quantity of buttercream when I was stacking the cakes, even though my cake layers were thick – it would depend on how thick your cake and buttercream layers are.
– You can see on the video that there is extra red fondant between the red strip and blue (behind the wheel) – I tried to measure and account for this, but still had to take off the side rails and add and extra red strip on both sides. It wouldn’t matter if you don’t mind the blue showing through.
– I did a crumb coat and then final layer of ganache (not whipped) and the template decorations still fit well.
– my large piece of blue fondant measured approx 38cm X 42cm. I suggest measuring your cake really well and roll the fondant just to size. When I rolled it too large, the extra weight pulled it down before I could secure it and there were holes in the corners.
– it really helps to have a second person for that large piece – my husband held and (very) slowly unrolled the fondant while I secured and shaped it.
– unless you’re confident, maybe have some extra fondant on hand. It took 3 goes to get the large piece on it fondant dried out from re-kneading and rolling it (ofcourse it was Saturday night so I couldn’t get more …).
– the bumpers starting sliding down, so it helped to hold them on for a bit to make sure they really stuck (I used piping gel to stick on the decorations, though I guess royal icing would work).
– the face part started to lean forward, so I used skewers from below and melted chocolate at the back to secure it to the main ‘body’ of the cake.
Also, don’t cover the board until you’ve finished the cake – you can see how damaged mine got in the process!
Sorry for such a long comment! I couldn’t edit it once it was already posted.
Hi Julia, Great job on the cake and really helpful tips too. Well done!
Hi Ann. I’ll be using another cake recipe that I’ve made before and is dense. But some other people dowel the Thomas the train cakes. I will need to be transporting the cake about 6 miles in a cooler to keep it cold. Do I need to dowel the cake?
Hi Gayle, Given you are transporting the cake a distance, it is always good to provide some support to prevent slippages etc. As you are using a different cake mix, we can’t really comment on it’s stability. With the Thomas cake, it may be more of an issue to thnk about how the fondant decorations will cope with bumping about. If they are attached securely and set, they should cope with the movemnt well. Some people like to provide support for the Thomas face. See some of the comments from other people who have made this cake.
Made this last year for my son’s 2nd birthday.. Lightning McQueen this year.. Wish me luck!! 🙂
Well done Sarah. All the best with your upcoming project!
Hi Ann,
I’m making this Thomas the Tank Engine 3D cake. In Australia, would you use a circle cake tin or rectangle? And could I please have the measurements you would recommend for the cake tin size?
Thanks,
Hayley.
Hi Hayley, You can see by checking the recipe above that Ann used rectangular cake pans 11″ x 15″ .
Hi, Please can you advise what the Frosting mixture is that Ann uses in the video to cover the cake before applying the fondant.
Thanks, Sarah
Hi Sarah, from what I can gather from the instructions and some of the previous comments, it’s the whipped ganache with extra buttercream mixed in (though Ann calls it frosting in the video). Cheers, Julia
Hi Sarah, Ann likes to use a mix the buttercream and ganache together to frost the cake.
Hi Ann & team, I’m looking forward to make this cake soon. I am a bit nervous about covering it with fondant (i.e. the large blue piece). I noticed that you don’t crumb coat the cake and that the ganache is whipped – can I use regular ganache at a spreadable consistency, let it firm up and then use simple syrup; or buttercream instead? Also, do you have any rough dimensions for how large I should roll out the large blue piece for before covering? (I was going to measure the templates to get an idea. Many thanks in advance.
Hi Julia, Ann likes to mix the buttercream and ganache together for frosting. She crumb coats the cake (about 7:00 on the video) and lets it firm up a little in the fridge before adding the fondant pieces. I can’t give you an exact measuremnt for the large fondant. Once you have assembled your cake, you can get a good estimate of how wide and long it will need to be. The trick is to roll our more than you think you will need and ease it into position. Excess can be trimmed away.
Many thanks for the response. Yes, I noted there is only one coat (i.e. not a separate crumb coat and then a final coat of frosting/ganache under the fondant). Can’t wait to finish and send a photo of the cake.