Cut-up cakes were a huge part of my childhood. We had a beat-up photocopied copy of the Baker’s Coconut Cut-Up Cake booklet — and I swear we made half the cakes in there. They were never perfect, but that was part of the charm of those cake designs. We’d bake, cut, decorate, and probably eat too many jelly beans in the process.

This dog cake recipe keeps that spirit alive! It’s made from one simple sheet cake, cut into basic shapes, and decorated with piped stars using a Wilton #18 tip. It’s perfect for birthday cakes, puppy parties, or just a any time you want a special day!

For the cake

You can use any cake recipe you’d like, but this is my favorite of all the cake recipes out there. It’s a simple doctored cake mix that’s practically foolproof and yields a delicious cake!

• Boxed Cake Mix: You can choose any flavor you’d like! For brand, I prefer either Duncan Hines or Pillsbury cake mixes. Betty Crocker recently downsized their cake mix from 15.25 oz to 13.25 (hello shrinkflation!), and it does make a difference in how much cake you’re working with.
• Pudding Mix: You need the 3.4 oz box of pudding. I don’t think brand matters at all here as long as you have 3.4 oz of mix. Choose a flavor that complements your cake flavor!
• Eggs: Look on the back of your cake mix box and see how many eggs they say to put in, then add one more. For instance, if your box says three eggs, you want four.
• Butter: However much oil your box of mix says to use, replace that with an equal amount of melted butter. You can use either unsalted or salted butter, or even margarine!
• Milk: This subs for the water in the cake mix in a 1:1 ratio and makes your cake much more structured and moist!

For the frosting

I use a simple Wilton vanilla buttercream for the decorating. This is what you’ll need for that:

• Butter or Margarine: You can use either salted or unsalted butter in this recipe. Margarine also works!
• Shortening: This is one place where I think it matter that you buy brand name. Crisco makes a more creamy and less melty buttercream than than any store brand I’ve ever bought!
• Powdered Sugar: Do not sub this — you need plenty of powdered sugar for the frosting to hold up.
• Vanilla Extract: You can sub this with other flavorings or extracts as desired. 
• Milk or Water: This helps you control the consistency of the buttercream. 
• Food Coloring: I prefer using gel colors in my frosting because they don’t change the consistency. 

Step-by-Step: Cutting and Assembling the Cake

Step 1 | Bake Your Cake

Line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper. 

In a large mixing bowl, mix all the cake ingredients until you get a smooth cake batter. 

Pour the batter into the lined pan, then bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Let your cake cool completely before moving on to the next steps. I usually throw mine in the freezer for about 30 minutes. 

Step 2 | Prepare Your Work Surface

Cover a large board or piece of cardboard with foil or parchment. You’ll want at least a 16”x18” space to work with.

I cut an Amazon box down to size, then covered it with foil. 

Step 3 | Cut Out the Dog Pieces

Once your cake is completely cooled, remove it from the pan. 

Place the cake on a cutting board, then lay the printable template over the top of the whole cake. Cakes are usually slightly smaller than the template, so just center the template as much as possible. It’s okay if the ends hang off a bit — I promise the dog will come out cute all the same!

Cut along the lines of the template. I usually just cut through the paper and cake using a serrated knife. 

Step 4 | Assemble the Dog

Now, move your cake pieces from the cutting board to your foil covered board. You can follow this image to see where each piece goes: 

Decorating Ideas

There are so many ways to decorate this dog cake. The traditional way is with shredded coconut, but you can feel free to use any method you’d like. I’ll touch on some ideas, then show you how I did mine step-by-step.

Shredded Coconut

This is the way the original recipe handled it. To decorate with shredded coconut, you’ll put a thin layer of white frosting over the entire cake (may I suggest white chocolate frosting? This recipe is divine!). Then, you can sprinkle shredded coconut over the entire thing. You’ll need about 4 cups of coconut to cover the entire cake.

If you’d like to dye the coconut for the spots and color, you can use this tutorial from Lady Behind the Curtain.

Candy

You can use candy to create details on your fun cake. Here’s some ideas:

• Use Twizzlers to create the mouth and collar.
• Use M&Ms to create eyes or spots on the dog.
• Use Hershey’s Kisses or mini Reese’s cups for the eyes. 
• Use an Oreo for the nose!

Piped Frosting

This is the method I used. Basically, I stick a bunch of frosting in a decorators bag, screw on a Wilton 18 tip, and make little stars all over the cake (the detail piping was done with a Wilton 4 for the face and outlines of the collar and spots). I did all the piping and detail work first, then filled in with the stars. It’s not hard at all – but I won’t lie, it’s pretty time consuming. It definitely packs a visual punch, though!

How to Decorate the Dog Cake Using Piped Frosting

Step 1 | Face Details

We’re going to start by piping in all of the details on top of the cake.

I used this template to get the eyes, nose, and ears the right shape. I am a terrible freehander, so I printed this, cut out the eyes, then laid them on the cake and piped around them using the Wilton 4 tip.

Then, I used a toothpick to get the paper back off the cake after I pipe, doing the same for the nose and ears. 

I did freehand the collar, since it’s just two straight lines. 

It can be hard to get into all the corners, so turn your cake board around to get the best angle. I also just… don’t worry about how perfect those corners are. In other words, don’t look too closely at the pictures. You will find imperfection!