When I asked Owen what he wanted on his cake for his third birthday, he answered "backhoe." So, a google search of 'backhoe cake' got me started. The end result was not only a backhoe, but a dumptruck as well. Crazy, yes. Fun, yes! 
As you can see the dirt is crushed Oreo cookies and chopped chocolate bars.
Mini-donuts, white chocolate, colored licorice and M&M's, for decorations.
For this cake I used a store-bought pound cake cut. To hold up the licorice "arms" there are bamboo skewers cut to length. (I think next time I will also use a tiny piece of licorice to join the arms.)
For the dump truck, I made my own pound cake and cut it per specs found online. Not bad for the first time out, but the proportion of grill to windows is off somewhat...
I made cream cheese frosting to cover and "glue" pieces together.
You can see I put each cake on it's own foil-covered cardboard for storage in the refrigerator (a side-by-side), and then onto a larger one for display (which would have fit in a full-size refrigerator).
The birthday boy reaching for his favorite part, the chocolate!
Also in the works for the infamous "next time" are working parts, construction signs, rock piles, and even construction workers. We'll see.
