Cake of the Day: Dinosaur Fossil Cake from ‘Nerdy Nummies’

Every day, Yahoo Food features delectable cakes. They taste good, they look good, and they’re made by good people — talented bakers from around the world. This week we’ll be sharing adorable creations from Rosanna Pansino of the popular YouTube baking channel, Nerdy Nummies and her new cookbook The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook: Sweet Treats for the Geek in All of Us. Check back to Cake of the Day for more geeky desserts!

Dinosaur Fossil Cake. (Photograph by Michael Schmidt)

Dinosaur Fossil Cake

Why didn’t anyone warn him?! At least he makes a handsome fossil. The preserved remains of prehistoric plants and animals, fossils occur when an organism is covered by rock and left undisturbed for millions of years, leaving an intact skeleton or imprint for paleontologists to study. That’s how we know about dinosaurs like our friend here, whose bones just happened to have been made of white chocolate. May he be as delicious as he was in life. Rest in cake.

Butter, for greasing the pans
Rich Chocolate Cake batter (see recipe below)
1 tub (16 ounces) chocolate frosting
1 package (about 14 ounces) chocolate sandwich cookies (Oreos)
1 box (about 14 ounces) graham crackers (Honey Maid)
2 bags (12 ounces each) white Candy Melts (Wilton) or white chocolate
Two 8-inch round cake pans
Cake leveler
Decorating bag
#2 decorating tip
Silicone dinosaur skeleton ice cube mold (Fred & Friends)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans.

Prepare the Rich Chocolate Cake batter.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. When the cakes are warm but not hot, remove them from the pans and place the cakes on a wire rack to cool completely.

Level off the tops with a cake leveler or large knife [Image A].

Top one layer with chocolate frosting and set the second layer on top of it [Image B] .

Frost the entire cake with chocolate frosting [Image C].

Time to decorate!:
Twist the Oreos apart and scrape off the filling. Using a blender or your hands, finely crush the chocolate cookies and graham crackers. Mix the crumbs together to look like dirt [Image D].

In the microwave or a double boiler, melt the white Candy Melts or white chocolate. Using a decorating bag fitted with a #2 tip, pipe the melted candy into the dinosaur skeleton mold [Image E].

Let the mold set for 20 minutes, and then pop the pieces out and place them on the top and sides of the cake. The frosting will act as an adhesive and keep the bones in place.

Sprinkle the cookie crumb dirt mixture between the bones to cover the entire cake [Image F].

Rich Chocolate Cake
Makes one 9 x 13-inch sheet cake

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for
dusting the pan
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 4 large eggs
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
¼ cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch metal baking pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper, grease the paper, and dust the pan with cocoa powder.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk in both sugars until evenly combined. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, and vanilla. Whisk in the sour cream and oil.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the sour cream mixture. Stir until no dry streaks of flour remain (do not overmix).

Reprinted with permission from Nerdy Nummies by Rosanna Pansino (Atria Books).

For more awesome cake inspiration, visit our Cake of the Day Pinterest board and get to pinning!

More delicious cakes that will bring out your inner geek:

Cake of the Day: Wi-Fi Cheesecake from ‘Nerdy Nummies’

Cake of the Day: UFO Cake Pops from ‘Nerdy Nummies’

Geode Candy Cupcakes from ‘Nerdy Nummies’