If you’re looking for a dinosaur cake that’s impressive, dinosaur shaped and has a surprise inside, this is the perfect cake roll recipe to make.
How to Make a Dinosaur Cake Roll
- Mix the flour: Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- Beat the eggs: Beat the egg whites and a quarter cup of sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Cream the egg yokes with the remaining sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Use a stand mixer to make things easier. Add the vanilla and oil together and beat to combine.
- Make the batter: Add the flour to the egg yoke mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Gently fold the sugary egg whites into the batter, working in batches, until no white streaks remain. Do not overmix. Spread the mix evenly across the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake the cake roll for 12 to 15 minutes or until completely set. Remove the cake from the oven. Prepare a smooth, clean kitchen towel by dusting it generously with cocoa powder or flour. Transfer the cake to the kitchen towel. Using the kitchen towel, roll it into a roll. Keep it rolled until it cools to room temperature.
- Create the filling: Cream the butter and powder sugar. Add the vanilla and milk and beat into the buttercream. Spread a third of the buttercream filling evenly over the cake roll, then roll it back up without a kitchen towel. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
- Make the rest of the dinosaur: To make the head, back, and tail, cut the cake as shown in the photos. Add green food coloring to the remaining filling and beat to combine. Transfer the frosting to a decorating bag fitted with a small star tip.
- Decorate: Pipe the frosting over the cake to look like triceratops. Using a white fondant, make one large nose horn and two smaller horns. Insert a toothpick into each horn and set aside. Using white, blue, and brown fondant, make the eyes. Plant the nose horn, horns, and eyes on the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions
To Make Ahead: Care rolls are best when consumed within 72 hours of making one. If you used whipped cream as a filling instead of buttercream frosting, make sure to enjoy your cake roll within a day of making it.
To Freeze: Unfilled cake rolls can be frozen for up to three months. Just wrap them in two layers of plastic and one layer of foil and freeze them. Once ready, whip up the filling, defrost the cake, fill it, and enjoy.
Recipe Variations for Dinosaur Cake Rolls
Lemon zest twist: Add one tablespoon of lemon zest to the cake batter. Simply mix it in with the dry ingredients before combining.
Chocolate hazelnut filling: For a rich chocolate hazelnut flavor, replace one cup of powdered sugar in the filling with one cup of Nutella. Blend it in with the butter and remaining powdered sugar.
Vanilla bean frosting: In the filling, substitute one tablespoon of vanilla extract for the seeds scraped from half a vanilla bean pod. Mix the seeds with the buttercream and beat until combined.
Coconut cream filling: Replace one cup of powdered sugar in the filling with one cup of coconut cream. Beat the coconut cream with the butter and remaining powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
Matcha green tea flavor: Replace one tablespoon of cocoa powder with the same amount of matcha green tea powder in the cake batter. Whisk the powder into the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients.
Raspberry jam swirl: Spoon dollops of raspberry jam onto the cake before rolling. Simply spread the jam evenly over the cake before rolling it into a roll.
Espresso frosting: Mix one tablespoon of instant espresso powder into the filling for a coffee-infused frosting. Use one tablespoon of milk to dissolve the powder before adding it to the butter and powdered sugar.
Almond extract enhancement: Add half a teaspoon of almond extract. Combine it with the vanilla extract and oil in the cake batter when mixing the wet ingredients.
Orange cream filling: Replace one tablespoon of vanilla extract in the filling with one tablespoon of orange extract. Blend it in with the butter and remaining powdered sugar until smooth.
Caramel drizzle: For added sweetness, drizzle caramel sauce over the assembled cake roll. Simply warm store-bought caramel sauce and drizzle it over the rolled cake before serving.
Dinosaur Cake Roll
Equipment
- Gel food coloring green
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature and separated
- ¾ cup granulated sugar, divided
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
For the filling:
- 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 7 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp milk
For the decoration:
- white store bough fondant
- blue store bought fondant
- brown store bought fondant
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Line a 12×17 baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Set aside.
- In a bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl beat the eggs whites and ¼ cup sugar until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks with remaining sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the oil and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture, working in batches, until no white streaks remain. Do not overmix.
- Spread the batter evenly across the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven.
- Lay out a clean smooth kitchen towel on the counter and dust generously with cocoa powder or flour.
- Transfer the cake on the kitchen towel.
- Using the kitchen towel, roll it into a roll.
- Keep it rolled until it cools to a room temperature.
- To make the filling, in a bowl, cream the butter and powder sugar.
- Add the vanilla extract and milk and beat to combine.
- Spread 1/3 filling evenly over the cake and then roll it back up without kitchen towel.
- Refrigerate for minimum 2 hours.
- To make the head, back and tail, cut the cake as shown on the photos.
- Add green food coloring to the remaining filling and beat to combine.
- Transfer the frosting to a decorating bag fitted with a small star tip.
- Pipe the frosting over the cake to look like triceratops.
- Using a white fondant, make one large nose horn and 2 smaller horns.
- Insert a toothpick into each horn and set aside.
- Using white, blue and brown fondant, make the eyes.
- Plant the nose horn, horns and eyes on the cake.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- Rolling tip: Roll the cake immediately after it comes out of the oven while it’s still warm to prevent cracking and breaking. If you don’t have a smooth paper towel, use a clean dishcloth to help with rolling the cake without burning your fingers.
- Fondant shaping tip: Knead the fondant well before shaping to make it pliable and easy to work with. Doing this will help warm it up, making it easy to shape and smooth without any cracks forming.
- Color tip: Add green food coloring to the frosting one drop at a time and mix until the desired shade is achieved for the dinosaur features.
- Perfect dinosaur shapes: Use a sharp knife to cut the cake into the desired dinosaur shapes for neat edges. Wipe the knife after every cut to keep the blade from getting sticky and tearing the cake.
- Room-temperature ingredients: All ingredients must be at room temperature to ensure smooth blending and proper rising of the cake batter.
- Cocoa dusting: Generously dust the kitchen towel with cocoa powder or flour to prevent the cake from sticking during rolling.
