Stacy the icing for this cake is great. It is in the dessert chapter I sent you. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Sour Cream Chocolate Layer Cake =============================== Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts 3 squares (s ounces) unsweetened chocolate 1/2 cup boiling water 2 cups sifted flour 1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cups butter 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup granulated sugar 2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed 3 eggs 1 cup sour cream . Adjust rack to center of oven andpreheat oven to 375°F. Butter two 9 inch round layer cake pans and dust both lightly with fine,dry bread crumbs. In a small heavy saucepan over low heat melt the chocolate with the boiling water. Stir occasionally with a small wire whisk until smooth. Set aside. NOTE: I just poured boiling water over the chocolate and zapped it for 30 seconds in the Microwave. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In large bowl of electric mixer, cream the butter. Add vanilla, granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat well, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary to keep mixture smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time beating well after each. Stir sour cream and cooled chocolate together until smooth and add to batter, beating only until mixed. On lowest speed, add the sifted ingredients continuing to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat only until smooth. Turn into prepared pans. With rubber spatula spread tops smooth and then run the batter up on the sides a bit, leaving the batter slightly lower in the centers. Bake 35 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched and layers come away from sides of pans Cool in pans for about 5 minutes. Place rackes over the cakes and invert. Remove pans. Cover with racks and invert again to cool right side up. Icing/frosting 3 squares (3 ounces) unsweetened chocolate) 2 TAblespoons butter 3/4 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 pound unsifted confectioners sugar. In top of small double boiler over hot water on low heat, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until smooth and let cool completely. NOTE: I place the butter and chocolate in a small bowl and microwave on medium for one minute. In small bowl of electric mixer at low speed, beat sour cream, vanilla and salt just to mix. Gradually beat in the sugar, scaping the blowl with a rubber spatula. When smooth, add cooled melted chocolate and beat at high speed for 1/2 a minute or until very smooth. Place four strips of wax paper around the edges of a cake plate to protect it while icing cake. Place one layer upside down. Spread with filling. Cover with second layer, right side up so that both bottom sides meet in the middle. Cover the sides and then the top with remaining filling and icing, smoothing it with a long, narrow, metal spatula; then if you wish use the pack of a teaspoon to form swirls and peaks all over the sides and the top. Remove wax paper by pulling each strip by a narrow end.

I agree, check with him on the frosting, although to me German Chocolate isn't German Chocolate without that frosting, and the frosting was always the favorite part for my kids. If you do two icings, I'd do the buttercream first, make a wal/dam of the buttercream where you want it to end and the coconut begin. You can do that with a ziplock bag with the corner cut off, use that to make a line across the cake. I've also seen little candy rocks that you could use as edging for the water. The cupcake volcano is a good idea, I like that, and i also think that the traditional frosting could look a lot like dirt and rocks, so it could make a suitable "ground" for your dinos. I do some cake decorating, very amateur, but my favorties were always the kid's cakes, they don't care how messy and the more frosting the better. Demolition sites with bulldozers and race tracks with monster trucks and pastures with horses, we've done them all, LOL. happy birthday to the birthday boy, he's gonna love it anyway you do it! Annie

All of the above recipes are very similar, but I am adding mine to the mix as another choice with slightly different ratios. I always use it for decorating sugar cookies, and both the plain and chocolate versions get rave reviews. BUTTERCREAM FROSTING (Double these quantities for a two-layer cake) 1/4 pound butter or margarine 1/4 cup milk 1/8 teaspoon salt (which cuts the sweetness a bit) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 pound confectioner's sugar, sifted Cream butter thoroughly. Gradually add milk, salt, and vanilla alternately with confectioner's sugar until all is well mixed. CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM: For each pound of confectioner's sugar in the above recipe, add: 6-8 Tablespoons sifted cocoa powder (not instant) 2 Tablespoons softened butter or margarine dash of salt milk, a teaspoon at a time until right consistency

There are may versions of the Better Than Sex Cake.This recipe was given to me by an aunt. I made it once many years ago to take to work. It was a hit. 1 (18.5 oz) yellow cake mix 1 (1 lb 4 oz) can crushed pineapple 1 C sugar 1 ( oz) pkg vanilla pudding mix (not instant) 1 C whipping cream, whipped & sweetened flake coconut, lightly toasted Prepare cake mix according to directions on pkg. Pour into 13 x 9 pan and bake as directed. Cool. Combine pineapple & sugar & bring to a boil. Cool slightly. Poke holes into cooled cake with a fork. Pour pineapple mixture over the cake. Prepare pudding mix according to directions. Cool. Spread over pineapple & chill. Just before serving, cover with whipped cream & sprinkle with coconut.