easy cakes Archives - In The Playroom

This is a train cake I made a while back, but as a couple of people have asked me for the instructions for this, I thought I would post it. This train cake is really simple to do, and involves no baking at all (unless you wanted to make the swiss rolls yourself) – you can just assemble it from shop bought ingredients. I originally got the idea from Annabel Karmel’s Family Meal Planner but have adapted the design a little, and the recipe below will be my own explanation. I do recommend the book though for some great easy party food ideas as well as handy family meals.

What do you need to make a train cake?

A cake board of a decent size, either square or a large rectangle depending on the design you want. Square is shown above, the Annabel Karmel book will show you a long rectangle design – (Buy a cake board on Amazon UK / US)
Desiccated coconut (Amazon UK / US)
Green food colouring (to make the grass) (Amazon UK / US)
Apricot Jam (Amazon UK / US)
Swiss Rolls – How may depends how big you want the cake. The one above was made with two large sized rolls. (Amazon UK / US)
Cadburys Chocolate fingers to make the tracks (Amazon UK / US)
You can also use Mikado, shown above is a combination of both (Chocolate fingers across, Mikado on the sides) (Amazon UK / US)
Cadburys Mini roll (Amazon UK / US) or a marshmallow teacake for the funnel (Amazon UK / US)
Jammy dodgers for the wheels (Amazon UK / US)
Buttercream (to use for sticking things together) – you can just buy ready made, any brand such as Betty Crocker from the baking aisle of the supermarket (Amazon UK / US)
Any sweets / candy you would like to use to decorate

In many cases, you can buy these ingredients cheaper at your local supermarket but links are included in case it’s more convenient, or you want to take a look to make sure that you are getting the correct items.

How do you make a no bake train cake?

Mix the dessicated coconut with the food colouring and a little bit of water. Brush the cake boards with the apricot jam and then sprinkle over the green coconut mixture to give a grass effect and make a good background for your cake.

Prepare the track by placing down your chocolate fingers (or Mikado, or any stick shaped chocolate or biscuits you fancy into the “grass”- that’s the good thing about this cake it is very adaptable!)

As I had a square board, I made some turns in the track, if you are working with a rectangle you will just make a long straight track. You could also bend the track to form a number or letter if you have a bigger space.

Cut the swiss roll to make the front part of the train, and some carriages behind. Chop the end of one of the swiss rolls and place it on top of the main engine to create a cab. This will be stuck on with your buttercream. Use a mini roll towards the front to create a funnel.

Add your jammy dodgers for wheels and any sweets as decorations to make buffers or any other bits you want on your engine.

Take your remaining swiss roll and make slices wide enough to be train carriages. Cut them in half so that you have a flat top to them. Then place on the tracks, and stick on sweets to decorate them and to be cargo for each of the carriages or trucks.

You can then add any finishing touches to your train, such as cotton wool for steam, or licorice allsorts sweets to decorate further and add more colour.

It’s really easy to make, and my boys loved this. Including both trains and chocolate, it would have been hard for them not to! In fact it is so easy that next time, I should get them to help make it.