Homemade Train Cakes

Young children love homemade train cakes because of TV shows like Thomas Tank or Bob the Builder. Favorite toys are sometimes trains or other things related to trains. Baking a train cake for your child's birthday will delight him, especially if it's made using his favorite colors and flavors.

Homemade Train Decorating Ideas

Many cake-decorating businesses have train cake toppers or edible train images you can purchase to use on homemade train cakes. You can find entire train scenes for sale, which include things like train tracks, little green bushes, railroad signs and even tiny people like conductors or engineers.

You might also want to use a Wilton Train Pan, which makes it easier to create a decorated train cake.

Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Train Pan

Puzzle cakes are a lot of fun to decorate and serve at children's parties. Here is a nifty train puzzle cake kit you might try at your next birthday party. Train Pull-A-Part Cupcake Mold by Create n Celebrate
Do you want ideas for a Thomas the train birthday cake?

Making A Train Cake Image

Try painting a cake on a frosted 13x9 pan or make a buttercream transfer.

train on rectangle cake

Photo courtesy of megpi
To make homemade train cake images:

Using our train cake decorating pattern or draw an outline of a train.
Enlarge the image if needed or use an image from a coloring book page.

You will need:

paintbrushes
frosting
black icing (homemade one already in a frosting tube)
toothpicks

Begin by drawing the outline of your design into the frosting on the cake using a toothpick. If you don't have much confidence in your drawing skills, you can always place the picture on the layer of frosting (use wax paper underneath to keep the icing from sticking) and trace the outline of the train with a toothpick.

For homemade train cakes, use a black frosting tip which has a #1 or #2 tip. This tip is considered fine enough for writing so you can fill in the fine toothpick lines with black frosting. Black isn't your only choice; however, you can use whatever color you like.

For the other colors of icing, make a basic buttercream frosting to use as details for the train.

To finish, use a #2 or #3 icing tip and begin filling in each section, then using a paintbrush, smooth out your frosting.

Train Theme Party Ideas

Create invitations that resemble train tickets (boarding time is the time the party begins and debarking time is when it ends).
Give guests a train hat, whistle (if you are brave enough) and bandanna as they arrive. Then have them go through a train "obstacle course"--toss charcoal into buckets, pass by "water towers" or sprinklers if you can have a party outside, and make a tunnel out of appliance size boxes.
Play train songs and let them dance and move as a "train".
Play a train "lost cargo" treasure hunt by hiding clues that lead to the lost cargo.
Cut train tracks from newspaper or butcher paper and place them for guests to follow to the main entrance to the party.

If you have already created one of these delightful train cakes and want to share it with us, don't hesitate to add your picture our gallery of cakes and include directions regarding how you made your masterpiece.

Learn Cake Decorating Ebook

Would you like an ebook to help you with your cake decorating? See more details on our Learn Cake Decorating Ebook.

Need supplies for a Train Party?

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Reader's Submitted Cakes

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Toot Toot Train Cakes
This is the cake I made for my son b'day. Two loaves of chocolate cake, cut into 4 to make the carriages and the locomotive. I use Licorices and Oreos ...

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Learn Cake Decorating Ebook

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70 cake and frosting cake decorator tested recipes
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