Grill Cake & Vanilla Cake Recipe

I have the best cake for your next BBQ!!

Isn’t this grill cake adorable?  I made the cake for my dad’s birthday.  My parents happened to be in town to see the boys’ last piano recital (their teacher is moving and now they’re done - bittersweet to be sure) which happened to be on his birthday.

So obviously, like any good daughter who likes to decorate cakes, I needed to make him a cake!  He requested vanilla cake with chocolate frosting and then it was up to me to come up with a theme, because obviously I was doing a theme.  Since we were moving into BBQ season, I decided to make a grill cake, complete with fondant hot dogs!

To make the cake, I caked my vanilla cake (recipe below) into 2 layers.  I cut one of the layers in half, then stacked and frosted the full layer and one of the halves.   Then I  cut a large circle into the center of the last half layer and stacked and frosted the ring (I kept the inside circle for snacking!)

From there, I made “flames” from candy melts and the grates of the “grill” from bamboo skewers and finally, fondant hot dogs with grill marks painted on with food dye.

Need more BBQ inspiration?

• A Crostini Array by Culinary Cam
• Bacon & Chive Deviled Eggs with Hot Honey by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Chocolate Truffle Cookies by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Eggless Brookies /Brownie Cookies by Sneha's Recipe
• Grill Cake (and Vanilla Cake Recipe) by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Lentil Mushroom Feta Calzones by Food Lust People Love
• Lobster Roll Pasta Salad by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Mayo-less Tuna Salad by Our Good Life

Vanilla Cake

1 (15 oz) box white cake mix

1 (3.9 oz) vanilla instant pudding

4 eggs

8 oz sour cream

¾ cup canola oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

¾ cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line cake pans with parchment and nonstick spray.  I used two 8-inch pans in this recipe.

Mix all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth.  Divide the batter evenly between the pans and bake for 28-32 minutes.  Cool completely before frosting.

Makes 1 layer cake