Go Diego Go Cake

by Megan Maryk
(Bowen Island, BC, Canada)

I made this Go Diego Go cake for my son's second birthday. The best part about it is that after the kid's were finished eating the cake, there were a bunch of toys to play with too!

To make this cake I used two different cake batters and two different cake pans. For the bottom cake or the base cake I used two boxes of cherry bit cake mix. I put this double batch of batter into a 16 x 16 inch square cake pan and baked it for about 40 mins. (this time is approx.). I then let the cake cool.

The second cake which forms the grassy hill and waterfall area of the cake is made using large and medium size cupcake pans. I used 4 large cupcakes and 11 medium cupcakes to create the hill. I used a chocolate cake mix for the two pans and baked them according to the package directions. I then let these cool and began working on the other cooled cake.

For the bottom cake I used light green traditional buttercream icing. I covered the cake top and sides with this light green colour and then smoothed it out.

Then I got to work stacking the cupcakes. I placed the four large cupcakes in a circle towards the top right corner of the bottom cake. On top of these four cupcakes I placed six medium cupcakes in a circle with one of them in the center. On top of those I placed four medium cupcakes in a circle and finally I placed one medium cupcake in the center of the top.

Next came icing. To ice the hill I again used homemade buttercream icing which I coloured a grassy bright green. I used a basketweave tip and piped icing starting from the bottom of the hill up to the top. To make it seem more like real grass I left some strands longer than others and I overlapped the piping so that some areas looked really lush. I also used a leaf tip and threw leaves in randomly around the hill. I left the front of the hill bare in a strip down the centre. This area will become the waterfall.

To create the waterfall I used blue shimmering icing gel and piped a generous amount of it all over the top of the top cupcake and then down the strip of the front of the hill I had left bare. Once at the bottom of the hill cake I made a pond shape with the blue gel. I then placed rock shaped candies I had purchased previously along the blue gel creating a rock edge to the pond and the waterfall. Lastly, I took a large ruffle tip and billowed up some grey buttercream icing rocks around the very top of the waterfall (the one cupcake).

Next I placed the trees on the Go Diego Go cake. I made these using a flower shaped pretzel candy mold and green melting chocolate wafers. I made the candy trees according to the package directions but without any contrasting colours for the centres of the flowers. To place the trees I simply put them where I thought they looked good and then stuck the pretzel part way down into the cake to hold them upright. I then took my leaf tip and put some leaves around the bottoms of the trees.

Then I made the flower for the front corner of the bottom cake. I took my leaf tip and created a type of bush that hung down over the side of the cake. I then placed a single large flower shaped red jelly on top.

Next, I took my ruffle tip and went around the bottom edge of the square cake piping grey icing.

Lastly, I placed the dinosaurs, which I purchased at the dollar store on the cake wherever they looked best and put baby jaguar at the top of the waterfall.


I also made a small house out of rice krispies, which was Diego's rescue centre. To make the house I made up a batch of rice krispies and then flattened them out into a thin sheet. I cut out 6 rectangles (two for the floor and roof) and four rectangles (in two matching pairs - short and long) for the walls. I took one of the long side wall rectangles and cut a rectangle shaped door out of it.

Next I rolled out some white fondant which I then added yellow and brownish yellow colour to. I mixed in the colour, however I left it a bit streaky with the colours to give it a natural look. I rolled out the fondant and then cut out rectangles that were a bit larger than the rice krispy rectangles. Then I wrapped each rectangle with the fondant and smoothed it out. I wanted it to look kind of bumpy to again give it a rustic or natural appearance. Then I put the pieces together to form the rescue centre gluing the fondant together with a small bead of icing along each edge. I held the pieces in the shape I wanted for a few minutes before they held together well.

To complete the rescue centre, I then took my leaf tip and piped leaves up the sides and along the top. This is also a great way to cover up any spots that don't match up very well. I placed the Diego figurine outside of the door and that is complete.

All in all this was a fun and simple Go Diego Go cake to put together and the kids absolutely loved it!