I just have to share the great big hamburger I made shortly after Christmas for my son Jack’s birthday party.  A few years ago, Grandma gave us a great birthday cake book.  My two little guys LOVE pouring through this regularly, finding which cake they have had for each of their birthdays and picking out what they each want to make in the future.  The cakes have run the gamut from a fire truck to a school bus, to a tiger, a caterpillar, a monster, even a gameboy.  Well, this year Jack selected the hamburger cake for his December 27th birthday.  Now, I must admit, while I love to cook, I am no great baker…so I spent much of Christmas Day begrudgingly thinking …. “tomorrow I have to figure out how to bake a hamburger”  (kind of like the old Dunkin’ Donuts commercial “it’s time to make the donuts!”).

Anyhow, this cake ended up being rather simple to create, and just so great looking, if I do say so myself. It would be a fun cake to make and bring to a summer cook-out – I’ll have to post next summer. So here’s the recipe, just in case any of you are so inspired:

9.5 cups cake batter, divided (I used two cake mixes)
1 (10-inch) round cake board, covered or large plate
1 can white frosting (I bought two of these and dipped into the second can a bit)
1 can chocolate frosting 
12 green gum drops
1-2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 2-quart ovenproof bowl and 2 8-inch round cake pans.  Pour 4 cups cake batter into prepared bowl; pour 2-3/4 cups cake batter into each cake pan.  Bake cake in bowl 60-70 minutes and cakes in pans about 35 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted into centers comes out clean.  Cool 15 minutes in pans.  Loosen edges; invert onto wire racks and cool completely.

2.  Trim flat side of bowl cake and tops of round cakes.

3.  Reserve 1/2 cup white frosting; set aside.  Blend 1/4 cup chocolate frosting with remaining white frosting to create tan color.

4.  Place one round cake layer on prepared cake board.  Frost with tan frosting.  Top with second round cake layer; frost with chocolate frosting.  Place bowl cake, flat side down, on top of chocolate frosted layer; frost with tan frosting.

5.  Flatten gumdrops with rolling pin on smooth, flat surface or sheet of waxed paper sprinkled with sugar.  Roll until very thin (about 1/16th inch), turning frequently to coat with sugar.  Cut ruffled edge on gumdrops with sharp kife or scissors; tuck underneath chocolate frosted layer to resemble pickles.

6.  Divide reserved white frosting in half; tint half red and half yellow.  Using medium writing tip, pipe frosting around edges of bowl cake to resemble ketchup and mustard.  Sprinkle sunflower seeds on top of cake.  

If you cut it in two layers – you can get 34-38 servings out of it.  Give it a try!