It’s not what you think! Try to get that song out of your head. This was my 5-year-old nephew’s request for his birthday cake this year, or more specifically “a wrecking ball wrecking a building”. It has nothing to do with you-know-who, and everything to do with his love of trucks, construction sites and dirt (see: Dumptruck, Front-End Loader).

I wasn’t quite sure how to tackle this, but eventually settled on a small cake, baked in a small pyrex bowl, and a building made out of Smitten Kitchen’s Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Squares. My Dad picked up a plastic chain from Home Depot, and I was all set. Here’s how I did it:

• I made a half recipe of my go-to vanilla cake, Smitten Kitchen’s 1-2-3-4 cake recipe. I sprayed the heck out of my smallest pyrex bowl (about 6″ in diameter) and filled it about an inch from the top. I used the remaining cake batter to make cupcakes. I baked the cake for about 30 minutes to start, then covered it with foil (it was getting really brown on the top) and kept poking it with a skewer every 5 minutes or so until it was cooked all the way through. I let it cool in the bowl for about 10 minutes and then flipped it out, using an offset spatula to loosen it a bit.
• Once the cake was cooled completely, I placed it on my cake carrier, and crumb-coated it with a thin layer of My Favourite Buttercream tinted grey with black Americolor gel, and let it chill for about 20 minutes, before adding a thicker layer of icing.
• I made a full recipe of Smitten’s Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Squares, and added them to a loaf pan that I lined with plastic wrap and sprayed with non-stick spray. Once cool, I popped it out and placed it next to the wrecking ball, carving out a little piece to make it look like that’s where the building was hit.
• I tinted about 1/3 cup icing black, and added the window detail on the building and the little lines to make it look like the ball was in motion.
• At the party I added the chain and sprinkled a few Rice Krispies on the cake carrier to make it look like the building was exploding.

He loved it! I was so happy. The rice krispie squares were the surprise hit of the afternoon, and everyone was freaking out over them. Success! My niece has now requested a penguin cake for her birthday in August, so we’ll see how that goes!

Matthew’s previous birthday cakes:

4th (Front-End Loader Cake)

3rd (Dumptruck Cake)

2nd (School Bus Cake…this is like the #1 most popular recipe on Planet Byn…who knew?)