Easy erupting volcano cake recipe, homemade with simple ingredients. Make it erupt with dry ice to create smoke and add dinosaurs for a fun birthday cake.
When it comes to birthday parties, this Best Birthday Cake is still my family's favorite for kids. However, here are many other Birthday Cake Ideas to inspire you and today’s cake will be added to that list too.
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How to make erupting volcano cake with dry ice?
- Bake cake- And allow it to cool completely.
- Make chocolate frosting- Or buy it.
- Assemble cake- Ice the cake completely.
- Decorate- With Oreos, candy bars and dinosaur toys.
- Keep cake aside- While you work on the next steps.
- Make rice krispie treats-And add some cocoa powder and brown food coloring.
- Make rice krispie treat volcano- Oil your hands. Arrange the mixture in a volcano shape around a narrow plastic cup. Pour melted red and orange chocolate around the top edges and let it pour down along the sides.
- Do final assembly- By placing the volcano on top of the prepared dessert and adding some more Oreos, candy bars and dinosaurs around it.
- Create smoke effect- Place a few cubes of dry ice carefully in the plastic cup of the volcano followed by a small amount of hot water.
Variations for volcano birthday cake
Volcano topper- Mine was made out of rice krispies but this can also be made out of Marshmallow Fondant or Modeling Chocolate. It can also be carved completely out of cake.
Rainforest cake- Add some fondant trees or even toy trees randomly around the cake. You can also pipe some grass with green icing. You can even pipe a blue waterfall. Consider adding some rainforest animals like snakes and birds.
Make mini cakes- Use mini bundt cakes and carve them in the proper shape. Decorate them to look like a volcano. Place a small narrow plastic container in the center and use dry ice and hot water to create smoky effect.
Try other cake flavors– Such as this Easy Chocolate Oreo Cake or Chocolate Brownie Cake.
Try other frosting flavors- Such as Peanut Butter Frosting or Chocolate Ganache Frosting.
Add cake fillings- Such as fresh fruits, roughly chopped candies, Homemade Vanilla Pudding or Homemade Dulce De Leche or even Homemade Strawberry Jam.
Use gum paste or fondant figures instead of plastic toys- Dinosaur toys are obviously more convenient and kids can play with them afterwards but if you have time, make them with fondant. This way, they would be completely edible. Check out these Easy Dinosaur Cookies and these Easy Dinosaur Cupcakes for inspiration.
Tips and techniques for dinosaur volcano cake
Don’t decorate a warm cake- It must completely cool first because the warmth will cause the icing to melt and lead to a sticky mess.
Wash the toys- Use soap and water and pat them dry.
Dry ice cannot be added to the volcano directly- You must place a plastic container inside to prevent contamination with all the edible ingredients.
Be careful when working with dry ice- Use gloves and tongs when handling it or else you will end up with serious freezer burns. Make sure to do the smoke demonstration away from kids reach. Make sure your space is well-ventilated.
Storage for chocolate volcano cake
Room temperature- Once the cake is ready, store it at room temperature away from humidity, moisture, sunlight for up to 24 hours until you are ready to serve. These would also be my “make ahead” instructions.
Refrigerate– Decorated cake can be stored in a cake box for up to 2 days.
Freeze– Unfrosted cakes and frostings can be stored in sealed containers or bags for up to 1 month. When you are ready to make this dessert, thaw everything in fridge overnight and then, decorate as per instructions below.
More decorated cake (Birthday cakes)
- Easy Pokemon Cake (Pokeball Cake)
- Star Wars Cake (Death Star Cake)
- Easy Monster Cake
- Peacock Cake
- Butterfly Cake
- Galaxy Cake
- Tie Dye Shirt Cake
- Crying Baby Cake
Recipe
Erupting Volcano Cake
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Ingredients
- 1 Chocolate cake Make in rectangle pan. Dimensions: 9x13
- 3-4 cups Chocolate frosting
- 2 cups Roughly chopped Oreos
- ½ cup Oreo crumbs
- 3 Snickers candy bars Roughly chopped
- 1 batch Rice krispie treats Follow the recipe but also mix in 2-3 tablespoon cocoa powder and some brown food coloring
- ½ cup Red chocolate Melted, I recommend using Candy Melts
- ½ cup Orange chocolate Melted, I recommend using Candy Melts
Instructions
- Bake cake and allow it to cool completely.
- While the cake is cooling, make chocolate frosting.
- Once the cakes cool, fill and frost the entire cake. Use a spatula to create a rustic design. It does not have to be smooth.
- Decorate the sides of the cake with roughly chopped Oreos, Oreo crumbs, Snickers candies. Don't use them all up. Save some for a later step.
- Keep cake aside while you work on the volcano.
- Make a batch of rice krispie treats. Be sure to mix in some cocoa powder and brown food coloring.
- Before the mixture starts to set, quickly dump the mixture onto a sheet of wax paper.
- Place a narrow plastic cup in the center.
- Oil your hands and mold the mixture into a volcano shape around the plastic cup.
- Pour melted red and orange chocolate around the top edges and let it pour down along the sides. Try not to have any chocolate go inside the cup.
- Let this volcano set and firm up for about 1 hour at room temperature.
- Remove it from the wax paper gently and place it on the prepared cake.
- Decorate with remaining Oreos, candy bars and dinosaur toys around it.
- To create smoke effect with dry ice, place a few small cubes or 1-2 tablespoons of dry ice carefully into the plastic cup of the volcano followed by a small amount of hot water. That should result in smoke for a few minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- Read all my tips above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Emi
I made this cake for a boy's birthday party. It was a huge hit!! The rice crispy volcano was easy to make and worked perfectly with the dry ice. Highly recommend following directions exactly for a super fun, exciting birthday cake!
Abeer Rizvi
Yay! That's awesome!
Mrs Sarah sherman
I made this cake for my son's birthday. It was fun and easy to follow.. I got a lot of compliments for how it looked thank you for sharing your creation.