Winner winner, chicken dinner! Dig into our doggone delish chicken dinner dog birthday cake recipe. Humphrey’s 10th birthday cake was a tasty chicken meatloaf mini layer cake, topped with mashed potato frosting and a bone broth gravy mirror glaze. Sniff your way into our kitchen for the full recipe and cake decorating details in the post below. Or just drool over the photos. Unfortunately, you can’t sniff or lick the screen, but Humphrey and his taste-testing playdate furfriends all fully approved of their extra special chicken dog birthday cake slices.
Lip Lickin' Chicken
This year, Humphrey’s birthday cake was a classic roast chicken dinner inspired layer cake. Yes, I’m that kind of crazy. But really, people love the classics for a reason and these ingredients, scents, and flavours all go great together. And they’re also some of the dog’s favourites, too. The cake combines layered mini chicken meatloaf cakes, topped with mashed potato frosting, and finished with a bone broth jelly gravy.
As I mentioned in his birthday post, Humphrey’s been having lots of turkey foods and treats recently. So, I thought I’d change it up for cake day and bake with chicken instead. Chicken breast mince is low-fat, commonly available, and is usually relatively affordable. Plus, it’s a low purine meat for moderating purines in Dalmatian diets or other special needs. But you can easily swap the mince in this recipe for a different dog-friendly favourite for a different roast dinner theme. Turkey dinner cake would be a winner with Humphrey for sure! Roast beef? Lamb?
Meat-based birthday cakes for dogs can be as simple as a prepared piece of meat (like our steak cake) or baking ground meat into a cake-like shape. But my go-to for making meat cakes is a dog-friendly meatloaf mixture. The extra ingredients soak up all those tasty meaty juices and help bake everything into a nice firm cake that handles well after baking. You can experiment with anything that suits your pup and preferences, but remember to keep the cake-smashes to moderated serving sizes. Meatloaf cakes refrigerate and freeze well for storage, too
Goodness Gravy!
Gosh golly, it’s a gravy glaze! It’s not really a classic chicken dinner without gravy, is it? And it’s not really a Dalmatian DIY celebration if we’re not a little over the top, is it? Literally over the top in this case! Haha! Although a meatloaf birthday cake is always a special treat, I wanted to do a little something extra for this double digit celebration. So, I decided to go all-in on the chicken dinner inspiration and add gravy.
Actual gravy made for serving with our human-style roast dinners isn’t a dog-friendly option, either for sharing or for use in treats. Traditional gravies are usually high in fat, since they’re made with drippings. They’re often salted (another doggy no-no) and can include other ingredients that aren’t dog-friendly, either as add-ins or from what’s been transferred to the juices in the roasting pan, like onion or garlic.
We’re not using actual gravy for our cake glaze. Instead, we’re using homemade bone broth. And instead of a runny broth gravy (which would be better added when plating to serve if you’d prefer), we’re doing a little something clever and creative. I’m using a dogified version of a firm setting mirror glaze for my gravy. Love those drizzle droplets in our photos? And that shine? Yes, the gravy topping looks like a poure on liquid gravy in the pictures (and in real life), but it’s actually fully firmly set. Just like in a gelatin gummy treat!
Chicken Dinner Dog Birthday Cake Recipe
Chicken Layer Cake with Mashed Potato Frosting and Bone Broth Gravy Glaze
Layering and/or frosting a cake is optional. But if you’re keen to layer up, you’ll probably want to include some sort of frosting to hold between the layers. We’re using mashed potato for this chicken cake. It’s perfect for the chicken dinner theme, and it’s also one of my favourite options for frosting savoury meatloaf-style cakes for dogs. The glaze is also an optional extra, with or without the potato frosting.
The dog-friendly chicken meatloaf recipe below fits two mini springform pans (affiliate link) for baking a mini double layer cake. Extra meatloaf mixture can be used to make meatballs, if you find yourself short on space or would like to split the recipe into a single layer cake and a batch of meatball treats. Or the whole mixture could be made into meatballs, if you prefer individual nibbles instead of a full cake.
Cake Ingredients:
Chicken Meatloaf Cake:
- Approximately 300-400g chicken mince (or other meat of your preference)
- 1 cup wholegrain oats
- 1 egg
- 1 carrot
- Handful of fresh spinach (optional)
- Dog-friendly herbs or seasonings (optional)
The chicken mince packet was 400g, and I used that full amount in my cake mixture. Humphrey loves carrots and they’re perfect for the chicken dinner theme, but you can leave the carrot out or switch it for another dog-friendly veggie. The spinach gives the cake mixtures some speckles of extra colour (and nutrients). I also added some dried rosemary (another Humphrey favourite) for extra scent, as if the cake wouldn’t already smell tempting enough. Mmm… chicken. And the there’s the gravy glaze, too! Oh, so very tempting.
Optional Mashed Potato Frosting:
- Cooled cooked plain mashed potato or plain dehydrated mashed potato flakes (instant mashed potato)
- Water to adjust the consistency of the potato if/as needed
Optional Gravy Glaze:
- Dog-friendly bone broth or stock
- Gelatin powder
I used the darkest bone broth that I had in the freezer for my gravy. If you think you might want to make your gravy look a bit darker than your broth, you can use a dog-friendly add-in, like pureed cooked meat, ground biscuits, or some “bickie dust” from the bag/jar as a browning. A teeny weenie bit of blackstrap molasses is probably the closest dog-friendly variation to the ingredients in a traditional gravy browning.
Making the Cake:
- Preheat your oven to 180C (or local equivalent). Gather together your baking ingredients and materials. Lightly oil your pan(s).
- Wash your carrot, spinach, and any other fresh veggies or herbs. Chop finely or process them in a food processor (affiliate link) into a coarsely pureed mixture. For small batch baking, I like to use a mini food processor (affiliate link) for convenience and minimal clean-up rather than set up my full-sized processor. If you don’t have a suitable kitchen appliance, you can hand shred/chop instead.
- Combine the prepared carrot and spinach with the other meatloaf cake ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
- Spoon and then press the mixture firmly into your prepared cake pans. There’s no need to leave expansion room since these meatloaf cakes don’t rise during baking. As noted above, I’m using mini springform pans (affiliate link) to make two mini cakes for layering.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes (time will depend on size), until cooked thoroughly.
- Remove from the oven, cool slightly, loosen your pans if needed.
- Refrigerate to cool completely and for storage until you’re ready to decorate (optional) or serve.
For meatloaf cakes, I like to bake the day before celebrating, if I can swing the schedule. Then I refrigerate my meatloaf cakes in their pans for finishing up and decorating fresh before we celebrate. If you’re going to use the mirror glaze decorating method, early prep is extra important because we have some sneaky cooling tricks to help the gelatin mixture quickly set on the cake rather than running off. See below.
Layering and Frosting the Cake (Optional):
- Once thoroughly cooled, remove the cakes from the pans.
- Construct your layer cake, applying mashed potato frosting between each layer.
We left the rest of this cake natural, but you could frost the exterior with additional mashed potato if you’d like. But that’s a lot of potato on a mini cake. We’re balancing our treat intake and watching our waistlines, so we’ll save the extra treat budget for the gravy glaze.
Adding a Bone Broth Gravy Mirror Glaze (Optional):
Getting the cake extra cold before you apply the gravy mirror glaze will help it set really quickly. This is key to getting layer of thin set gravy on the cake and having those juicy droplets of gravy drizzling over the edges and partly down of the cake instead of just running right off. You’ll need time to chill, apply the glaze, and then allow the cake to defrost/warm before you serve it to your pawty guests. The cake doesn’t need to be fully frozen, but you do want it nice and chilled. Allow yourself extra time on both sides of the glazing step in your cake plans.
- Place your prepared cake into the freezer to chill. Once it’s had enough chill time, start your bone broth gravy glaze prep. Keep the cake in the freezer until you’re ready to apply the glaze so that the surface stays nice and cold.
- The gravy glaze is prepared in the same way as making a simple broth/stock gummy dog treat, except we’re drizzling it onto the cold cake for a rapid set instead of pouring it into moulds (affiliate link) for individual treats. In fact, I made a full-sized batch of gelatin mixture when mixing up this gravy and used the extra to make gummies.
- Measure your liquid into a small pan.
- Sprinkle over gelatin powder over the liquid to hydrate and bloom. We use a ratio of 3 tbsp powder to 1 cup liquid for making gummies, and this can be adjusted down for smaller batches. Like if you just want to make enough to drizzle over your cake.
- Once fully bloomed, gently stir the mixture over low heat until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
- Once dissolved, remove from heat.
- Transfer the mixture into your pouring jug or an alternative container to cool down and start to thicken before glazing the cake. I popped mine into the fridge to cool quicker. Remember to stir often so it doesn’t cool unevenly. You want the mixture to be thick-ish, but still liquid so it will pour and drizzle, not glob. Lumpy gravy? Shock horror, haha!
All prepped and ready to apply your gravy glaze? Remove your cake from the freezer and place it on a wire rack over a catch plate. This will keep your cake from gathering any unwanted globs at the base. You can let the dog lick the plate (literally), keep drizzle droplets that slide off onto the plate for treats, or scrape the plate and melt them into your leftover gelatine mixture for making gummies after the cake is glazed.
Caution, canine cake chefs…
Unlike your demo dogs here at Dalmatian DIY, don’t pause your gravy drizzle steps for pictures or you might end up a bit frustrated. Speed is the name of the mirror glaze game. And to make it even more important, we’re not thin pouring an all-over gelatin icing onto a cold cake for peeps. We’re adding a thickened gravy drizzle. We want to see those drips, but we don’t want to blob it up on the top. Be brave, be speedy…
- Pour, spoon, or drizzle the gelatin mixture onto the cake. It will set quickly when it hits the cold cake, which is what we want to catch those gravy drops. But, note the cautions above. If you’d like some texture, like the top of our cake, pour to set in passes. If you’d like it smooth, go bravely for a one and done. If you’d like just a drizzle without a solid set top, go for that straight away with a flicky drizzle.
- The glaze will set very quickly on the cold cake. Once set, you can carefully transfer the cake off the rack. Depending on how frozen your cake is and the timeframe between decorating and party serving, you can put it in the fridge or allow it to warm at room temperature. Food safety first though, of course! And, again, don’t be tempted to shortcut things or you might accidently melt your carefully applied glaze. You can always heat the pieces before serving after the oohh ahhh of the full cake has done its showy birthday duty.
Additional Decorations or Garnishes
If you’re adding extra decorations or garnishes to your cake, the best time to do this is usually as your plating and preparing to serve. That way, everything is as fresh as possible. And pretty for pictures, too, of course. An exception for this particular cake would be anything that you’d like to set into the gelatin itself, since that will be set firm after applied, as above. I put a few sprigs from the veggie garden on the plate for photos, but just for looks. This special gravy glazed chicken layer cake looks, smells, and tastes great without needing any extra extras.
Candles can be scary and/or dangerous around pets, so don’t light if you’re unsure and never leave lit candles unsupervised. I lit Humphrey’s candle very briefly for a few quick pictures and then blew it out for him before prepping the cake for his birthday slice and storage. He’s a birthday party posing pro after so many patient years of sous-chef supervision and cake enjoyment. Hehehe.
Just a Slice is Nice
Before anyone is tempted to dive in for a full cake smash, remember this is a special treat and moderation is always important. No one wants a sore tummy, especially not on their birthday! As noted in his birthday post, we were celebrating solo this year. Humphrey had a slice and we refrigerated/froze the rest of the cake slices for special snacks and sharing with his friends later.
And, on the subject of sharing, the party atmosphere and/or high-value treats like cake, might get some pups a little overexcited. If you aren’t sure or have any concerns about manners, resource guarding, etc. be extra careful with how you display and serve any celebratory snacks, especially if it’s in a group or party environment. Safety always comes first, including with celebrations and snacks.
Cutting Mini Cakes
On the Subject of Slicing…
I took a few extra photos while slicing this year so you can see how cut up a mini layer dog birthday cake. Or what’s left of the mini cake after the initial pretty party cuts. It’s fairly easy to slice a single party wedge or a few pretty party wedges out of a mini cake. But later on in the slicing process, things can start to get a little bit trickier or messy, depending on the cake and the cuts. And the cutter. No? Just me?
If you’re having trouble keeping what’s left of your cake upright, together, and/or stable for safe slicing, don’t stress! The dogs won’t mind at all if their cake slices aren’t picture perfect. They’ll still taste great! But we do have a few options that might help make slicing simpler and, importantly, safer for their human helpers. These are also handy for quickly cutting up leftovers for storage after the main event.
Options for Simpler Slicing
An alternative to keeping the cake (or what’s left of your cake) stable for cutting upright is to slice it in half, place the halves cut side down, and then slice those up. You can make straight or wedged cuts. Either way, it’s easy cutting, less squeezy on fillings or frostings, and you don’t have to steady up the last of the cake for any wobbly final slices. Those are the trickiest upright, at least for me.
Another alternative cutting option is taking the two layers apart. I often do this after the initial pretty party photos and any full wedges as a quick and easy way to slice up leftovers. The cakes will usually twist or pull apart easily at the middle, separating the frosted lower cake layer from the upper cake layer. These single layers are more stable and easily cut for serving or storage. Note that if you have something really holding the cake together firm, like a hard outer icing or firm gelatin glaze, you might need to cut the middle to separate the layers.
Dog-Friendly Cake Making Tips and Tricks
- See our pet chef help post on homemade dog cakes for additional info on types of cakes, decorating ideas, storage, and more.
- Cakes can be baked into other shapes and sizes. Remember to adjust your cooking times and/or temperatures accordingly.
- Meatloaf cakes can be made in advance and stored (refrigerated short term, frozen longer term), and then decorated for the party.
- Dehydrated potato flakes (plain instant mashed potato) are an easy shortcut for frosting dog-friendly cakes. They mix to a smooth and uniform consistency that can be adjusted with additional liquid or additional flakes. We used them when decorating this cake.
- Snacks like cake are treats, and should be enjoyed in moderation. No one wants a sad sore birthday belly or to be a literal party pooper.
- Leftovers can be cut into bite-sized pieces to store and enjoy later (refrigerated short term, frozen longer term). For easy use from frozen, cut the cake into small pieces (see above), place on a lined plate or tray, and freeze before transfering them to a container. That way the pieces won’t be stuck together when frozen. Pawfect for easy single snack defrosting later!
- Whether fresh, from the fridge, or defrosted, pampered pooches might enjoy their slice of cake even more if it’s been warmed slightly for extra smell and flavour. Remember that the gravy glaze on this cake will melt if it’s warmed above the gelatin setting point. Although licking melted gravy glaze off the plate is still a tasty extra if you accidently warm your slice up a little bit too much…
Hungry for more tasty treats? There are all sorts of homemade dog treat ideas in our blog archives. You can use the categories and tags to find recipes that might be of interest, or use our internal search tools to sniff out something specific. Remember, treats (bought or homemade) are for spoiling your pup in moderation. We share ideas from treats that we’ve made ourselves for our pets, but different animals have different preferences (likes/dislikes), just like people. Some pets may have special dietary requirements and/or food allergies/intolerances. If you are ever in doubt or have questions about what’s suitable for your pet, have a chat with your trusted vet.
