Train Cake with Spiral Tiers! - A Cake Decorating Tutorial
Today I'm going to show you how to make an adorable train cake with spiral tiers!
I just love incorporating the train theme with spiral cut tiers. The look of the winding train tracks and train is so unique! This design would make a wonderful young birthday cake!
Table of Contents
More Spiral Tier Cake Tutorials
There are so many different styles of cakes that work well with spiral tiers-- We have a sweet Sledding Snowman Cake with a spiral tier design which also demonstrates covering the tiers in fondant.
We also have a Snake Cake with a fondant snake that winds around a spiral cut tree stump!
Notes on the Spiral Tiers
There are a couple of points that I wanted to emphasize for our train cake.
In the video, I am using 9" and 6" stacked tiers. The 3" size difference works well for me because it allows me a difference of 1 ½" to work with all the way around, and therefore I am able to make a ledge that is 1 ½" wide.
If there is a 4" difference between your tiers, you could even bump up the width of your ledge to 2", if you would like to have room next to the track for more grass, flowers, etc., or you stick to the 1 ½" ledge if you would like to have a little more cake :0) ---
A 2" difference between your tiers would be more difficult to work with, because you would only have 1" of space around the base of the top tier to work with in order to create your track.
A track this narrow would of course require a train that is smaller and more narrow than the one in my video. For this reason, I recommend a difference of at least 3" between tiers.
Enjoy the Video!
Thanks so much for stopping by! If you give this train cake a try, we would love for you to leave a comment and photo below!
I don't have a 9 inch pan. Would I be able to use a 10 inch and 6 inch pan?
Hi there--yes, that would be fine! You just don't want to go to less than a 3 inch difference between pans. More than 3" is fine :0)
how many would the 6 & 9 serve? What size would be best for about 40 people? Thanks :) Can't wait to try it out!
Theresa, I was wondering the same thing. I also have 40 guest.
Hi there- These carved cakes can be a little tricky as far as serving estimates ;0) - What I like to do is to determine how many servings a tier combination would feed, and then estimate based on how many cake servings were removed. Keep in mind that you'll want at least a 3" difference between your tiers if your design is like mine, so that you will have plenty of space for your ledge.
Based on Wilton's Party Serving Chart (which is more generous), two 10"/6" rounds would serve 40. Based on their Wedding Chart, the same two tiers would serve 50. So, if a good number of your servings will be for children....or if your cake will be served after a meal, etc. , then you should be fine with 10"/6" tiers (because servings will be smaller).
Alternatives: If by chance you have 7" pans, 10"/7" tiers would give you a boost. If you are expecting that everyone will want a large piece of cake, you could even bump to a 12"/6", which by Wilton's Party Serving Chart would give you approx 52 servings (prior to carving) ---
One final option that I wanted to mention is that if you are doing a train theme, and want to avoid carving the top tier (for the sake a few extra servings), you could create the look of a tunnel (by using a black piece of fondant in an arched shape with maybe a fondant stone border around it) on the front of the top tier, and then you could create tracks emerging from the tunnel which would then spiral down the bottom tier. Just a thought :0)
Thank you!!! I am making a sprial cake this week. Wish me luck!!! Ohhhh... the request is lemon and strawberry cake. Any recipe sugesstions for a firm enough cake to carve.
I love this idea! I saw on another website a cake with just one single path going up that connected the two cakes: http://www.thecakeblog.com/page/2. How do you think they cut the cake so the spiral connected? Would they stack it, then cut it. And then take the top tier off to cover it?
I'm so excited, I get to make one of these this week--wish me luck! Any tips on covering the carved tiers in fondant?? Cover each tier like a regular cake all at once (blue fondant) and then cut away the top and road and cover those with the green colored fondant? Or cover tops and road first in green fondant, and then wrap the blue fondant around the sides? Or...any other suggestions?
Thanks for your help!
Alex
hi melissa i was just wondering what cake recipe did you use to make this cake
Hi Trina, we used the White Almond Sour Cream recipe
thank you BeBe i just love this site i took the wilton courses at my local hobby lobby and i have learned more on here than in the classes my teacher even said that i dont need the classes lol thank yall for the site i love it and thanks for getting answering my question so quick have a blessed day
Can I frost with ganache?