How to Make a Dinosaur Cake

Reviewed by Maria Short

Last Updated: April 5, 2024

Both kids and adults are fascinated by dinosaurs, and a dinosaur cake is a great way to celebrate a birthday or special occasion for the dino buff in your life! A stegosaurus cake is a great dinosaur cake to make, because the shape is recognizable and it’s fairly easy to decorate. The keys to a stegosaurus cake are the shape of the cake itself, and finding the right decorations to make the plates and barbs. This particular dinosaur cake isn't a 3D cake, but a flat cake shaped like a stegosaurus.

Ingredients

Yellow Cake

2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
1¼ (281 g) cups sugar
1 tablespoon (12 g) baking powder
1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
½ cup (114 g) butter, softened
1 cup (237 ml) milk
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
2 eggs

Frosting

½ cup (114 g) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) milk
Yellow food coloring
Green food coloring

Decorations

15 Oreo thin crisps
1 black jelly bean
3 Chocolate-coated biscuit sticks

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Making the Yellow Cake and Frosting

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1
Assemble your supplies. To make a stegosaurus cake, you'll need two round cakes, frosting in two colors, and the decorations for the added touches. Along with your ingredients, you'll also need:
- Large mixing bowl, medium bowl, and a small bowl
- Sifter
- Hand or stand mixer
- Two round eight-inch cake pans, greased
- An oven preheated to 350ºF (177ºC)
- Two wire cooling racks
- Whisk
- Frosting knife
- Spatula
- Round two-inch cookie cutter
- Cake plate
- Piping bag with round tip
2
Combine the dry ingredients. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together into a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. If you don’t have a sifter, whisk the dry ingredients together in the bowl to remove lumps, mix the ingredients together, and add air.^{[1]
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- Adding air to the dry ingredients will ensure the cake is light and fluffy.
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3
Add the wet ingredients and eggs. Pour the butter, milk, and vanilla right into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Use a hand mixer or the whisk attachment on a stand mixer to beat the batter on medium speed for about four minutes. Then add the eggs and beat on medium speed for another three minutes, until all the ingredients are fully incorporated into the batter.
- If necessary, stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure all the ingredients get mixed in.
4
Bake the cakes. Divide the batter evenly between the two greased cake pans. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes. You know the cakes are ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or the cakes spring back when you press them gently.
- Allow the cakes to cool in their pans on the wire racks for 10 minutes.
When the cakes have cooled in their pans for a few minutes, turn them out onto the wire cooling racks. Set them aside to cool completely, to room temperature, for about an hour or hour and a half.
6
Make the frosting. Place the butter into a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream the butter on medium-high speed for one to two minutes with a hand mixer or a stand mixer’s paddle attachment. Beat in the sugar 1 cup (125 g) at a time, until all the sugar has been incorporated and the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla and 2 tablespoons (15 ml) of milk and beat for another minute.^{[2]
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- If the frosting is too thick to spread properly, beat in another tablespoon of milk.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Assembling the Cake

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Spread an even layer of frosting over the top of one of the cakes. Use a spatula to pick up the second cake and carefully place it on top of the frosted cake.
2
Cut the cake. With your eyes, draw an imaginary line down the center of the cake. Then move the line over by an inch and cut the cake in half at that spot. This way, you'll end up with one half larger than the other.
- The larger half will be the body, and you'll use the smaller portion to create the head and tail.
3
Punch out the leg shapes. With the larger cake portion, take the round cookie cutter and position it in the middle bottom of the cake, where you just cut the cake in two. Punch out an upside-down U-shaped piece from the cake to form the legs.
- The cake should now be shaped like a top-heavy upside-down U.
- Transfer the body to the cake plate and lay it down with the U-shaped cut-out (the legs) facing you.
- The scrap cake you punched out can be set aside or frozen for another cake or to make cake pops.
4
Make the head. Take the smaller portion of cake and divide it down the middle to create two smaller wedges. Set one aside for the tail. Cut off an elongated S-shaped slice from the curved side of the wedge to create a head shape.
- At the right angle corner of the wedge, cut off the bottom inch of the corner at a 45-degree angle to create a neck shape.
- With a knife, carefully round off all the sharp edges and corners to create the head and neck shapes of the dinosaur. Set all the scraps aside for another recipe.
- Cover the uncut straight edge of the wedge with a layer of frosting. Position the head on the right side of the dinosaur body, half way between the bottom of the foot and the center of the back.
- You can leave the head as is and attach it to the body facing down, or you can flip the wedge over so the head is facing up. Gently press the frosted side of the wedge into the body of the dinosaur to secure it in place.
5
Make the tail. Orient the second wedge so that the right angle corner is the bottom right of the wedge, facing you. To make the tail, you're going to cut off the bottom inch of the long flat edge and taper it to a point.
- From the corner of the wedge, measure up one inch (2.5 cm) and make a two-inch (5-cm) horizontal cut into the length of the cake. Then follow the outer curve of the wedge and cut to taper the inside edge the same way as the outside, bringing the tail to a point.
- Frost the straight end of the tail and lay it down on the left side of the cake, about 1.5 inches (3.75 cm) from the bottom of the foot.
- Attach it to the back of the body by gently pressing the frosted side into the body.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Decorations

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1
Divide and color the frosting. Remove about one-quarter of the frosting and set it aside in a small bowl. To create the yellow-green frosting for the body of the stegosaurus, add 10 drops of yellow and five drops of green food coloring to the large portion of frosting. Whisk in the color until it’s completely incorporated, and then add more food coloring as needed until you achieve the desired color for the body.
- For the green accents, add five drops of green food coloring to the smaller portion of frosting and whisk it to combine. Add another five drops if necessary to achieve the desired color.
2
Apply the crumb coat. With the frosting knife, frost the entire dinosaur with a layer of yellow-green icing. This will trap any fallen crumbs and help make the final layer smooth and even.
- Place the cake in the fridge and let the frosting set for 20 to 30 minutes.
After about 30 minutes, remove the cake from the fridge and apply a second layer of yellow-green frosting. Use the knife to spread the frosting evenly over the body, head, and tail.
4
Add the green accents. Transfer the green frosting to the piping bag and fit it with the round tip. Use the bag to pipe two rows of pea-sized green dots across the top of the body, head, and neck of the dinosaur.^{[3]
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- You can also pipe one line of green dots down the front of each leg.
5
Add the plates. To do this, you'll use the Oreo thin crisps to replicate the plates that stick out of the stegosaurus’ tail, back, and head. Spread the cookies out over the tail (close to where the tail and body meet), body, and head, concentrating the most cookies at the center of the back.
- Press the cookies into the cake at a 45-degree angle. Push them in halfway, so only the top half of the cookies are showing.
6
Add the tail barbs before serving. Take the three chocolate-covered biscuit sticks and press them into the end of the tail so they stick out of the tail toward the sky like protective barbs.
- You can use either Pocky sticks or chocolate-covered pretzel sticks for the barbs.^{[4]
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Question

Do you have any tips on how to get their shape correct?

Maria Short
Baker
Maria Short is a Baker and the Owner of Short N Sweet Bakery & Cafe in Hilo, Hawaii. With over 24 years of experience, she specializes in specialty desserts and wedding cakes. She graduated from L’Academie de Cuisine’s Pastry Arts Program with honors and studied at Baltimore International Culinary College. In 2019, Maria competed in the 6th season of the Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship. In 2010, she had a cake named one of “America’s Most Beautiful Cakes” by Brides magazine.

Maria Short

Baker

Expert Answer

The most important part is to have a picture of the dinosaur that you intend to bake. Having a picture as guidance does help in capturing the proportions well. Look closely at the proportions of the dinosaur because they have different shapes that should be portrayed correctly. For instance, the neck-to-body ratio. Sketch the basic shapes and sizes of the parts of the dinosaur before you start cutting your cake in order to help you see more effectively and work out your plan of assembly. Printing of templates for various parts of the dinosaur ensures uniformity and accuracy when cutting pieces of cake. For achieving depth, stack the cake in layers and carefully carve it to achieve the body, neck, and other features. Details such as scales, claws, and face can be added last with fondant or icing. It's these small touches that really finish off the appearance and make the dinosaur more recognizable.

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