I rarely ever take cake orders in the summer, not since the cake fiasco of 2015. On a hot summer day, I made a two-tiered cake with an assortment of fondant animals that took hours to create. It was too large to refrigerate so we had it sitting at room temperature until it was ready to be delivered. Right when we were about to move it, there was a strange buckling around the edge of the cake. We kept calm and moved it to the car, which even after having the AC on for 30 minutes was not cool, but warm. During the 30-minute ride to our destination, the buckling worsened and the fondant pieces started to warp with the frosting. By the time we got there, the cake looked like the Michelin Man’s arm. It sucked that all my hours of work went down the drain, but it was even worse that I ruined someone’s event. That’s the thing about cakes; they are usually the centerpieces of celebrations and can make or break a party. Since then, I’ve turned down any requests for a cake in the summer. Not because I didn’t want to do it, but more so because I was worried about ruining someone else’s big day.
When my sister approached me about making a cake, my gut reaction was, “No.” After hearing my reasons, she said that it didn’t matter if the cake was perfect and that her friends were just grateful that I would do it. Knowing that perfection wasn’t what they were after took a load off my back, but that didn’t mean that I would try any less.
There is a very popular Pinterest picture of a dog bone shaped Paw Patrol cake (this was the photo I was asked to recreate), but it has no information on the dimensions and how to put it together. And after scouring the internet for information, I decided to make a guide on how to put a cake like this together. Like many of my projects, it is not very difficult, but it is time consuming. I think the overall effect is worth it and even more worth it to see the smiles on kids’ faces.
Instead of using fondant for all of the Paw Patrol logo, I used Wilton’s sugar sheets. It is much more stable for hot and humid weather and it’s great for crisp edges. It is important to have a fresh Xacto knife blade. You want the edges to be super crisp. Almost like you printed the logo onto the cake. I did make a fondant base for the logo so that the logo would not be flat against the cake like paper. Other than that, it’s making a lot of paw prints, which looks simple but it ends up taking more time than anticipated because for every paw print there are 4 parts to be made. This cake has approximately 50 paw prints.
The most difficult part about the cake part is covering the cake with frosting. There are many circles and lines and it took a while to get the crisp edges. But then again, it might be because I’m a novice at frosting untraditional cake shapes. I’m not complaining, it’s always fun to stretch beyond my comfort zone and try new things.
Paw Patrol Cake
For the Paw Patrol Logo:
You will need:
white fondant
wilton’s sugar sheets in white, red, blue, yellow and silver
silver pearl dust
xacto knife
scissors
water
vodka
small paintbrush (food use only)
paw patrol logo, cut out of paper
paw patrol outer stencil, cut out of paper
paw patrol inner stencil, cut out of paper
Instructions,
- Roll out the fondant to ¼ inch thickness and place the paw patrol outer stencil on top of it. Using the xacto knife, cut out the fondant to the shape of the shield. (As shown in picture #1)
- Place the outer stencil on top of a silver sugar sheet and cut out a piece of the sugar sheet large enough for the stencil. Peel off the plastic backing. Cut out the shape of the outer stencil with the xacto knife. (As shown in picture #2)
- Using the paintbrush, paint a small amount of water on top of the white fondant and stick the silver sugar sheet cutout on top of it. (As shown in picture #3)
- Place the inner stencil on top of a red sugar sheet and cut out a piece of the sugar sheet large enough for the stencil. Peel off the plastic backing, Cut out the shape of the inner stencil with the xacto knife. (As shown in picture #4)
- Using the paintbrush, paint a small amount of water on top of the silver sugar sheet and stick the red sugar sheet cutout on top of it. (As shown in picture #5)
- Cut out the “PAW” from the paw patrol logo, remembering to keep the yellow border. (As shown in picture #6)
- Place the “PAW” letters on top of a yellow sugar sheet and cut out a piece of the sugar sheet large enough for the letters. Peel off the plastic backing. Cut out the “PAW” with the xacto knife. (As shown in picture #7)
- Cut out the yellow border of the “PAW” from the paw patrol logo.
- Place the “PAW” letters on top of a blue sugar sheet and cut out a piece of the sugar sheet large enough for the letters. Peel off the plastic backing. Cut out the “PAW” with the xacto knife.
- Using the paintbrush, paint a small amount of water on the back of the blue “PAW” and stick it onto the yellow “PAW”. (As shown in picture #8)
- Cut out the white paw in the middle of the “A” from the paw patrol logo.
- Place the paw print on top of a white sugar sheet and cut out a piece of the sugar sheet large enough for the paw print. Peel off the plastic backing. Cut out the paw print with the xacto knife.
- Using the paintbrush, paint a small amount of water on the back of the paw print and stick it onto the middle of the “A”. (As shown in picture #8)
- Cut out the white bone from the paw patrol logo.
- Place the bone on top of a white sugar sheet and cut out a piece of the sugar sheet large enough for the bone. Peel off the plastic backing. Cut out the bone with the xacto knife.
- Place the bone on top of a blue sugar sheet and cut out a piece of the sugar sheet large enough for the bone. Peel off the plastic backing. Cut out the “PATROL” letters with the xacto knife.
- Using the paintbrush, paint a small amount of water on the back of the blue letters and stick it onto the white bone. (As shown in picture #9)
- Center the “PAW” onto the shield and make sure you know where you want to place it before painting a small amount of water on the back of the letters to place it onto the shield. (As shown in picture #10)
- Center the white patrol bone under the “PAW” and make sure you know where you want to place it before painting a small amount of water on the back of the bone to place it onto the shield. (As shown in picture #10)
- Mix a small amount of vodka with the silver dust to create a thick silver paint. Brush the silver on the silver shield border to give it a metallic look. Let dry. (As shown in picture #11)
For the Bone Shaped Cake
You will need:
2 batches of vanilla buttermilk cake (recipe below)
1 batch of chocolate frosting (recipe below)
1 batch of vanilla swiss meringue frosting (recipe below)
fondant paw prints (optional)
Instructions:
- Cut all the 6-inch cake layers in half. Cut one of the halves into quarters.
- Cut a 2 inch strip from both of the 9×13 cake layers. You want to cut the width side of the cake (the long side, not the short side). You will be left with two 7×13 cake layers.
- Center one 7×13 cake layer on top of a sheet cake sized cake board. (As shown in picture #1)
- Use ¾ of each 6-inch cake layer on three corners to form the circular part of the dog bone. Use three ¼ sections left from the 6-inch cake layer to form the fourth corner of the dogbone. (As shown in picture #1)
- Spread a generous layer of the chocolate frosting.
- Repeat the same method to the second layer of the cake. (As shown in picture #2)
- Crumb coat with the remaining chocolate frosting, remembering to fill in any gaps between the 7×13 cake layer and the 6-inch cake layers. (As shown in picture #3)
- Let the cake set in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the freezer and spread one layer of the vanilla frosting. Trying to cover up the chocolate as well as you can.
- Let the cake set in freezer for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the freezer and smooth on the second layer of vanilla frosting. Try to make it as smooth as you possibly can. This will be your final layer. (As shown in picture #4)
- Place the Paw Patrol logo in the center. If you made fondant paw prints, now is the time to place it on the cake. (As shown in picture #5)
Vanilla Buttermilk Cake
(This will make three 6-inch round layers and one 9×13 layer. You will need two batches of this.)
Ingredients:
450 g. cake flour
500 g. sugar
1 tbsp + 1 tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. kosher salt
5 whole eggs, room temperature
3 egg yolks, room temperature
1 ¼ + ⅓ c. buttermilk, room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ c. (two and a half sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare one 9×13 baking pan and three 6-inch round cake pans for baking by spraying them with nonstick spray and lining the bottom with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and kosher salt on low speed.
- Add in the butter and 1 ¼ c. buttermilk into the flour mixture on low speed. Scrape down the side of the bowl.
- In a large cup with a spout, mix the eggs, egg yolks, ⅓ buttermilk and vanilla extract with a whisk. Slowly add the egg mixture into the flour mixture.
- Scrape down the side of the bowl and mix on low speed again until well combined.
- Divide the batter evenly amongst the four pans, making sure that the three 6-in pans are even.
- Bake about 15-20 minutes until cake is golden brown or a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The 6-inch cake pans and the 9×13 pan will have different cook times. Make sure you check both to make sure one doesn’t overbake.
Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients:
9 oz. good quality dark chocolate, melted and cooled (The darker the better. Emphasis on good quality.)
400 g. confectioner’s sugar
2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp. kosher salt
½ c. heavy cream
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Place all the ingredients in the food processor and pulse a few times before processing it until the frosting is smooth.
- Put the whole bowl in the freezer until the frosting sets. Similar to a ganache, the frosting will become more firm and easier to handle after about 10-15 minutes in the freezer.
Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients:
400 g. sugar
8 large egg whites
3 ¼ c. (6 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. kosher salt
Instructions:
- Bring a small pot filled with about an inch of water to a simmer.
- In a bowl of a standing mixer, whisk the egg whites, sugar, and salt together.
- Place the bowl on top of the pot and whisk continuously until the mixture becomes slightly foamy and you cannot feel the grittiness of the sugar, about 5-8 minutes. The mixture will be hot. Be careful.
- Move the bowl to the standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip the egg mixture until the bowl feels cool to the touch.
- Add in the butter, and continue to whip until a smooth buttercream forms.
- Add in the vanilla extract and continue to whip until incorporated.
Cake and chocolate frosting adapted from sweetapolita.
Swiss meringue frosting adapted from the smitten kitchen.
thebusyspatula.com 
how wonderful for you to post all of this info. thank you so much as my son wants a paw patrol cake and i’d like to keep it as simple as possible (not that this is simple…but the step by step instead of figuring it out on my own makes it more simple!)
You’re welcome, Jo! I hope the cake turns out great. Let me know how it goes ❤
Cake looks great! I am also an amateur cake baker who is asked to make cake for people. I mostly just do it for my family. Someone has asked me to make this cake and wanted to know what I would charge. How do you go about charging for a cake?
Leigh, that is a question I constantly ask myself whenever I bake cakes for people. First, you need to think about how much the materials and supplies cost for baking the cake itself and then think about the hours that you are putting into the project. I think the biggest issue I struggle with is lowering the pricing because they are my friends/family. But you must remember that you are spending a lot of time and effort into creating a cake and you should be fairly compensated for your work. I hope this helps! 🙂
Can you make a smaller version of this cake??
And approx how much did it cost you to make?
Hi, Carmen. I think a smaller cake can be made by using 4″ cake pans for the corners and just one 9×13″ rectangle cut in half and stacked. As for the cost of the cake, I did it as a gift so I didn’t keep track. But if I had to approximate the size of the cake and the hours of work it took, I would probably charge around $150. I hope this was helpful!
Can you use buttercream icing instead of the vanilla swiss merinque?
Hi, Lori. Yes, you can use buttercream. I think a crusting buttercream would work particularly well here since you can smooth it down with a viva paper towel. 😊
What are the conversions from grams to cups for the cake flour and sugar?
Nicole, it would be 3 3/4 c. flour and 2 1/2 c. sugar. I hope this helps!
I had that same question too… but just to clarify 450 g = 3 3/4 c flour
and 500 g = 2 1/2 c sugar…… if 450 g is 3 3/4 c flour, shouldn’t 500 g be more than 2 1/2 cups sugar?, …since 500 is a higher measurement than 450? Not trying to be smart-like, just want to make sure i get it right! Excited to try this!
No, because a cup of flour weighs 120 g and a cup of sugar weighs 200 g. Hope this clarifies your confusion.
what temperature do you bake the cake?
Hi, Sandra. Thank you for pointing that out. You can bake the cakes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 🙂
Do you know approximately how many servings the cake was?
Thanks!
I would say it would feed at least 30 adults easily, and if the cake was cut into “wedding cake” slices, it could stretch to feed 50, that is if everyone had just a sliver.
I need one for 50 servings….
What are the dimensions of the full cake?! We are wanting to do this for Saturday! 🙂
Torilynn, the cake fit a 14 in. x 20 in. cake board perfectly. I would say the cake was about 5-6 inches tall. Hope this helps!
Help! I did the conversion for sugar which was shown as 500 grams….that is almost 4 cups! Hi hen I read in your response to conversion from gr to cups that it was 2.5 cups I just baked the second layer. Please tell me it will be ok.
Hi, Elke. 500 g of granulated sugar is 2.5 cups. I am sure of it. I’m sorry that your source said it was 4 cups. I’m not sure how the cake will come out, but I will guess that it will be very sweet and quite dry. 😦
Thanks for getting back to me.i threw it out and am about to start again with the right info. I looked up conversion from gram to ounces, rather than to cups. My bad..expensive lesson.
Hello,
What kind of paper did you print the logo on and how large did you print it?
Hi, Rosa. I didn’t print the logo at all, I cut out each piece with Wilton’s sugar sheets. The details on how I put it together is written above.
I plan to make this cake on Saturday night to serve on Sunday afternoon, do you have any storage suggestions?
Hi, Rosa. I would suggest refrigerating the already frosted cake on Saturday and putting the fondant decorations on it on Sunday. Do NOT refrigerate any fondant decorations because they will get sticky and condensation will form and possibly melt. I would suggest making the fondant decorations on Saturday, but not placing it onto the cake until Sunday. It is time consuming to make the decorations and I figure you would be short on time on Sunday. Hope this helps! Feel free to tag me on instagram @thebusyspatula and share your project with me. 🙂 I’d love to see the end product!
Thanks! I will definitely share. I’m excited to make this.
How did you get the rounded center? Did you cut an extra piece that you didn’t mention in your instructions? Thanks!
I’m not sure what you mean by the rounded center. Can you clarify?
if i were to make this with box cake mixes, how many would you say i would need
Just made this for my granddaughter’s birthday. It was a BIG hit! Couple of thoughts/questions:
# I never did figure out why the instructions say to cut one of the 6-inch layer halves in half?
# Also, I never figured out why the cake was originally frosted w/ a (seemingly — from the photos — very) thin layer of chocolate frosting?
# I doubled the cake batter recipe, but then wasn’t sure how much cake batter to put in each pan. I ended up putting 2 cups in each 6-inch round pan, and the rest in the 9×13, and that worked out great (in case that’s of any help to any future bakers ‘-)
# I also lined each pan with parchment paper to make them easy to release from the pans.
# It sounds like from your response to some of the questions that maybe you used 6 – 6” rounds, total, and 2 – 9×13 cakes? If so, I didn’t have anywhere near enough batter to do that (with a double batch of the batter)
# I made buttercream frosting – 1.5 batch (3 sticks of butter; 6 cups p. Sugar; 2 TS vanilla) , and that was enough (in case that’s of any help to future bakers ‘-)
# My source for converting grams to cups said 450 grams of flour/sugar is 2.25 cups, and 500 grams of sugar is 2.5 cups, so that’s what I used in the cake batter. My cake was very dense — kind of like a sponge/pound cake. Was easy to work with, but am wondering if that’s the texture your recipe intends or if my “grams to cups” conversion maybe gave me a different result?
# I made the entire recipe “dairy-free” as my granddaughter is allergic to dairy. I used almond milk instead of buttermilk and “Melt” as a butter substitute.
# I ordered an edible, pre-made Paw Patrol decal for the top of the cake. Worked great.
Thanks for sharing this!
Molly, I’m so glad the cake turned out well!
You are correct that 500 g. of sugar is 2.5 cups. I would say that the texture of your cake was more dense because of the dairy substitutions. The cake, when baked with diary, is slightly dense but also moist and not pound cake like.
There was a thick amount of frosting. 🙂
I used two batches of the recipe that I put. “This will make three 6-inch round layers and one 9×13 layer. You will need TWO batches of this.” In total, you would have six 6″ rounds and four 9×13 cakes.
The instructions say to cut the 6″ rounds in half because it makes it easier to make even quarter cuts for the corners of the dog bone. You can certainly just cut a quarter out of each 6″ circle without cutting it in half. It just makes it more even overall.
Can you make this cake larger like using a half sheet pan? If so what size round would you use?
Hi, Tammy! I think so, but I would see what cake pan looks best with that dimension of cake. Mathematically, since it is 2x as large, I would suggest a 12” but that is a giant pan hahaha 😂
These instructions were amazing – thank you! I used boxed cake mix (1 box for the 9×13 and 1 box for the 3 6 inch rounds). Instead of the fondant, I cut out sugar cookies for the logo and iced them. It turned out amazing and my daughter loved it!
I’m so glad that my instructions were helpful, Jessica! ❤️❤️ If you have Instagram please tag me @thebusyspatula. I’d love to see your work 😊
Thanks so much for these directions! I wanted to make my son’s cake this year and found these directions while I was searching online for ideas. I made it for my son’s 4th birthday and everyone raved how good the cake was— I was also pleasantly surprised how “forgiving” the cake batter was meaning I over cooked the first 13×9 cake but it tasted amazing and wasn’t dry at all.
I got another mama to make the fondant cake toppers for me but it all came together beautifully and my son was so excited for his “bone” cake and it certainly was the center piece of the party.
I’m so glad the guide was helpful to you, Elizabeth! The cake recipe is my go-to for vanilla cakes. I love the taste and the buttermilk keeps it from going dry. If you’re ever on IG please feel free to tag me on your creation. I’d love to see it! My handle is @thebusyspatula 🙂
i really like paw patrol cake but my one question what is the dimension of best cupcakes in sydney i have bought from this site https://zucchero.com.au/baptism-cupcakes/ for my son birthday can this is best for birthday or not. please check the dimension of this cake thank you.
Hi! Planning to make this cake for my daughters birthday party this weekend. Couple of questions about the merengue frosting. Can it be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge overnight before being put on the cake? Does the butter for it need to be melted? And does the heat ‘cook’ the eggs enough for it to be safe for children under 5/ an immune compromised person to eat?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Ashley, first happy birthday to your daughter! Here are the answers to your questions:
1. Yes, swiss meringue frosting can be made a day before. Remember that frosting will absorb whatever smell the container is in, so make sure the container is clean and has no lingering smells. The buttercream will have to come to a cool room temperature to be able to be whipped again (it will be quite hard when it’s cold), so make sure you give yourself ample time.
2. No, the butter should be at room temperature or cooler. If for some reason the buttercream curdles because it’s so cold, give it some time and once it warms up, it’ll whip into a smooth consistency. If your egg white and sugar mixture is too warm and the buttercream melts instead of whipping up into a buttercream, place the buttercream in the refrigerator until the mixture is cool and try whipping again. The buttercream should fluff up once it’s cool.
3. If you are worried about immunocompromised / young children and serving raw eggs you can either purchase pasteurized eggs or make sure that you heat your egg white mixture to a temperature of 160-165 degree F. (Do make sure you are constantly whisking to so the egg whites do not congeal.) An instant thermometer would be the best way to check the temperature of your meringue (the mixture of egg whites and sugar).
Hope this helps! Please feel free to tag me with your creation on instagram @thebusyspatula 🙂 Have a great weekend