Dog Friendly Taco Cake

Today I’m showing you how to make a Dog Friendly Taco Cake in preparation for Cinco de Mayo or a fun birthday fiesta!

* This post was originally published in May of 2015. I’ve updated the cake photos and we have since lost our sweet Stella since that time but we continue to celebrate Murphy’s birthday with a taco cake and I’ve decided to keep her photo in the post. 

You guys know how much I love my dogs. Like, borderline, crazy dog lady love my dogs. I would like to think that when (and “if”) my husband and I have a child that I will stop with the monogrammed bandanas and over the top parties, and that I might even stop heating Stella’s food because she prefers it warm rather than cold, but let’s face it, none of those things are likely to happen regardless if we have 10 kids.

If you are new here, we have had Stella & Milo since they were puppies and both are about to turn 3. They are no strangers to my crazy dog lady partying ways and their party was featured all over the Internet and even used as a nationwide Angie’s list campaign mailer. That’s right, they ended up in mailboxes as far as NYC!

Murphy is our newest addition, however, joining our family last November and my initiation into the foster fail club. We weren’t really looking to own 3 dogs but one week with him is all it took for me to know I wouldn’t be able to let him go. He’s as sweet as he is beautiful and he has filled our home with lots of laughter.

We celebrated his 2nd birthday in true fiesta style (his birthday was the week of Cinco de Mayo) complete with sombrero, dog friendly taco cake, margaritas (for the humans), a macho nacho station……and 9 (yes, NINE) of his favorite Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pals.

Update: Murphy just celebrated his 8th birthday. 

I wanted to show you how easy his taco cake was to make so that you can make one yourself. 

To make the cake, you simply bake your favorite dog cake recipe in a small round pan. I used a 6 inch round and it was plenty big for my 4 dogs to share.

To decorate your taco, you’ll need:

a 6 inch round cake 

shredded coconut (plus a drop or two of green food coloring) for the lettuce

crumbled ground turkey 

shredded cheese

peanut butter to serve as your icing

Slice the cake in a diagonal.

Frost the top with peanut butter. 

Place together, peanut butter side to peanut butter side and add more peanut butter along the top to seal the slices together.

*I did not frost my sides with peanut butter (less messy and less calories) but you could if you wanted. 

Add the turkey crumbles to the top of the cake. 

Sprinkle on the lettuce (coconut) and cheese. Use sparingly.

Voila!

Caught Stella after her taste testing approval. 

She apparently thought it was her birthday and wore the sombrero around when Murphy yanked it off.

Stella joined my Lucy at the rainbow bridge in 2018. We added Bea to our cavalier crew in the Fall of 2019. Like Stella, she’s down for fiesta.