If you've ever been to a dog birthday party, you understand the true joy when the dog mom or dog dad brings the dog cake to the table! It is adorable and celebratory and dare-I-say-it, the best thing ever. We've used the dog cake recipe below to make a dog birthday cupcake and a dog cake. It is versatile and comes together quickly especially if you use a dog cupcake mix!
Why Make Your Pup a Special Dog Birthday Cake?
So besides getting super cute pics from their dog's birthday party, making a dog cake is a fun reason to bond with your pup and celebrate with them. Pics are probably the cutest reason for making them a dog birthday cake, but we firmly believe that your dog knows you're making the most special dog birthday cupcake or dog cake in the land!
Dog-Safe Ingredients
It's important to know what ingredients are okay to use when making anything for your dog. Most people know that chocolate is toxic and can kill them if they digest it, but did you know that xylitol is also harmful for dogs, and it's found in peanut butter? It also goes by many other names, such as birch sugar or xylite.
The Bear & The Rat Dog Cake Mix to the Rescue
Okay, so you know how you usually don't have ALL of the ingredients when you want to bake any kind of cake? That's the #1 reason why we love using the Barley's Bakes dog cupcake mix by The Bear & The Rat because then I know that it will be gluten-free, wheat-free and overall better for them than if I threw it together with the all-purpose flour or whatever we've got going on in the pantry. Plus, I don't have to worry about whether there are ingredients that aren't good for dogs. I also love the savory, Bone Broth dog cake flavor because my dog loves all things meat! Plus, it's such a fun idea to make a meat birthday cake for my dog! And I definitely don't have bone broth in my pantry. Bone Broth is also a tremendous functional ingredient for them, and I love that my pup will get proper nutrition from the dog cake and not just empty calories.
We're going to show you how to make a dog cake today but the process is the same as making a dog cupcake, if that's what you'd instead do for your pup! Just use a cupcake pan instead of a cake pan. To make a tall and dramatic dog cake, we're using two 6" cake pans and two dog cake mixes because we're making a statement! If you'd instead just use one flavor, cut the recipe in half below (or just follow the directions on the bake of the dog cupcake mix).
Here's How To Make the Ultimate Layered Dog Birthday Cake
Dog Cake Ingredients
2 pouches of Barley's Bakes Dog Cupcake Mix - Peanut Butter + Bone Broth
2 eggs - you can substitute apple sauce for the egg, if your dog has allergies or if you'd prefer
4 tablespoons vegetable oil or coconut oil
1 ½ cup water
Dog Frosting Ingredients
2 cups plain yogurt - you can use greek yogurt if you'd like but try and find zero or low sugar
½ cup peanut butter if you'd like to amp up the flavor - make sure there is no xylitol in the peanut butter as it is not safe for dogs and some brands of peanut butter do have xylitol in them
Instructions
Heat oven to 350℉. Prepare the bottom and sides of the cake pans by spraying non-stick cooking spray and putting parchment paper down to ensure that the cake won’t stick when it comes out of the oven. Set aside.
Put the dog cupcake mix, water, egg and oil into a large bowl and stir by hand for 1 minute until the batter is smooth. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for 20-24 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center. Your dog cakes are done when the toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Repeat steps 1-3 with the other cake mix so that ultimately, you have four cakes ready to decorate.
Mix yogurt and peanut butter (if using) together. Spread a thin layer of frosting on top of one of the cakes and put the second layer on top. Repeat until all of the cakes have a layer of frosting in between them and you've got one tall, dog cake in front of you.
Frost a thin layer around the entire cake. If you're going to add more decorations, stick the cake in the refrigerator for 20 minutes so that it can set up.
Decorating Your Dog Birthday Cake is the Super Fun Part
Add touches that you know your pup will enjoy, such as adding dog treats on as decorations. Sprinkles are a great way to add color and fun to a cake. If you or your dog has a particular hobby like dog training, bring elements of training into your cake. Truly, the possibilities are endless when it comes to decorating a dog cake. And before you know it, it will be time to bring out your dog cake and make a wish! Your friends are going to be delighted when you cut into your layered dog birthday cake, and reveal two flavors of cake!
Our friend Candi made the dog cake that's pictured and she doesn't even bake! Isn't it gorgeous? She mixed freeze-dried strawberries into the yogurt to make the frosting pink and spirulina powder for the blue tint!
You can even use mashed potatoes to decorate your dog birthday cake with super fluffy frosting. Our dogs go wild for a bone broth birthday cake with mashed potato frosting! We will share this recipe in another blog post, soon.
Tips for Celebrating Your Dog's Birthday
There are no hard and fast rules for celebrating your dog's birthday. The only rule is to have fun! Use bright, fun colors or a theme that you think your dog would really like and make it festive with balloons and dog costumes. Put up streamers and create a background for people to sit and take pictures with their dogs. Anything goes, really! If you want to see really cool dog birthday parties for inspiration, our friend Amanda is a dog birthday party planner and has planned some fantastic events. Like this Mean Girl's Birthday Party for a Pup!
Buy the Dog Cupcake Mix HERE!
We'd love to see the dog birthday cakes you make! Please tag us on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook so that we can share your creativity!
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