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.
Hello, just wondering what the overall dimension of the cake is? thanks 🙂
Hi Annie, I have forwarded you comment to tech support to see if they can assist.
Hi Ann,
Thanks for an awesome tutorial and template. I’ve made the decals with no issue. Just before a get into the cake – please can you confirm what I should do with the ganache. It’s mentioned in the written directions that I need ganache but in the video only the buttercream is applied. Please confirm.
Thanks,
Lee
Hi Lee, Ann combines the buttercream and ganache to make the frosting.
You mentioned scaling down the cake size if I don’t have many guest…how do I translate a scaled down cake onto the template? Would I just make half the amount of cake and then print the template at 50% size? This seems like such a silly question; but I want to make sure I do it right!
Hi Leslie, Because it is not a regular shaped cake, you need to look at the volume of cake rather than size. It is not simply an exercise in scaling. What quantity of serves are you aiming for and we can approximate it for you if needed. It is worth noting that making this cake much smaller makes the decorations tricky too. If you are not constained by a size or budget limitation, it will probably be easier to just make it as is and freeze left over cake.
I think I will just follow the recipe as is- I thought about trying to make even smaller details on the decorations and it seems like it would be more difficult than just making a big cake! Thanks! I will post a picture in a couple of weeks.
hello, i couldnt open your email and i really want the thomas the tank template please
Hi Lindsey, I have passed your email onto tech support for assistance.
Hola cuanto cuesta la plantilla en pesos. El costo es en dólares?
I purchased the template and am looking forward to making this for my grandson’s birthday. Can you tell me what the dimensions are of the finished cake?
Hi Barb, The dimensions are the same as the template printed at 100%.
I purchased the template last year but it didn’t save, will I have to purchase it again?
Hi Tieara, I have forwarded your comment to tech support.
Managed to finish the cake in one peace my son absolutely loves his he said its so sweet! Thank you for all your tutorials one thing I found was when the detailed bits dried out some of them broke when I put the cake together, good job I had some extra icing 🙂
Great effort Bethan. Fondant will dry out and some brands more quickly than others. Your cake looks great though and you can’t tell that there were any issues!
Most stacked cake tutorials I’ve seen say to put cake boards and supports between layers if the cake if any taller than 4-6 inches so the weight of the cake doesn’t smash the lower layers. Do you have any problems with that happening on this cake? Do you ever use supports inside your carved cakes or is your recipe sturdy enough to hold up the weight without extra support? Thanks!
Hi Michelle, Ann didn’t need to use supports in this cake. It held its shape and weight very well. Most subscribers making it have found the same. In some cases Ann will use supports & boards and you can see this from her video demonstrations. It depends on the weight and structure of the cake. A few subscribers have made this Thomas cake and intended to place it on top of a large rectangular cake in order to server a larger number. In those cases Ann has recommended supports and a board.
Hi Ann, the link to purchase the template doesn’t appear to be working. Are you able to email the link as I’d love to make this cake for a Friends nephew. Many thanks, Diane
Hi Diane, sorry to hear you are having difficulties, please try the link again as it seems to be working now. If you are still having issues please contact tech support at howtocookthat [at] iinet.net.au 😀
Thanks Ann, I’ve managed to download the template and can’t wait to get started :-), Diane
Hi Ann. Is it possible to make and decorate the Thomas Tank Engine 3D cake 3 days before the party. Just we are going away and wondered if it could be stored in the fridge??? Will it dry out?
Many thanks
Lauren Age 15 from the UK
Hi Lauren, cakes are always best fresh. It can be stored in the fridge but not the freezer.
Love your Thomas cake my little boy is crazy over Thomas, so I’m giving it a go at making this cake for his birthday next week I have made all the details just got to wait and see how it all comes together on the day ha! Here’s an image of Thomas’ face will let you know how I get on and a picture if I accomplish the cake 🙂
It’s looking good Bethan!
Hi Ann, thanks a lot for the video. Even I did not purchase the templates but the video helped a lot especially for making Thomas’ face. I made 2 cakes for my son’s birthday, and everybody was very happy:)
What a brilliant job! Awesome effort Inuk.
thanks a lot, your opinion is very important!!!
Hi, I have just purchased the Thomas cake template in the hope that I can make this fabulous looking cake for my son’s 2nd birthday. I just have a question – when making the frosting do you combine the buttercream and the ganache together to make the frosting?
Thanks in advance.
Nicola
Hi Nicola, You are correct. Ann combines the buttercream and ganache to make the frosting.
Hi Kylie, I just clicked the link and appears to be working fine on my end, if you continue to have issues with it please contact tech support howtocookthat [at] iinet.net.au
Thanks Ann, it is still doing it. Maybe it’s because I’m on an iPhone I will try the computer.
Kylie
Hi Ann, no it is still doing it on my computer as well.
I even got my husband to try his computer and it doesn’t work on his either.
I will send an email to your support email but in the mean time can you get the templates to me some other way.
Thanks.
Thanks for letting us know Kylie.
Hi want to purchase the Thomas template. Do you email the template or do you courier it? Need it quite urgent!
Hi Adel,
When you purchase these online, you are sent an email. When the email address is confirmed you are sent a link in an email, by which you can download the template.
Hi Ann,
please can you send me template for Thomas cake. Thank you!!
Kind regards from Croatia,
Anita
Hi Anita, The template is purchasable via the link on the blog page or on the shop page: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/shop-cook/%3C/a%3E .
Thanks for the template. I was happy with the result even though I ran out of time and its missing some details. Give yourself 3-4 days to get it completed.. Thanks again.
Regards,
Steve
Great job Steven!
I tried your Thomas cake for my nephews 3rd birthday last month, he loved it! It looks a bit rough compared to yours, but it turned out alright for my first shaped cake.
Hi Dave, If this is your first shaped and fondant cake, you did brilliantly. Well done!