Her son wanted a birthday cake of a cow giving birth. So Jamie Packard made it.

Four-year-old Benz is mad for farm animals. He loves helping out on his aunt and uncle’s ranch. His favourite TV show is a National Geographic series about a rural vet, The Incredible Dr Pol. His favourite bedtime reading is the Canadian Angus 2016 Bull Buyer’s Guide, which he fished out of a bin at a post office.

So it wasn’t surprising when Benz asked his mum, Jamie Packard, for a farm-animal-themed birthday cake. Specifically, he wanted a cake that showed a cow giving birth to a calf.

Mum-of-two Packard, who lives in Saskatchewan, Canada, says Benz put in the request a couple of months before his birthday.

“We tried our best to persuade him,” she explained on Facebook. “In fact, I overheard [husband] Tyler say to Benz, ‘A Thomas the Train cake would be cool. Would you like Mum to make one for your birthday?’ to which he replied, ‘I don’t even watch Thomas the Train.’ We tried.”

“So there I sat, Google imaging ‘cow having a calf cake’ and guess what, there were zero results, surprise, surprise! So as I’m moulding Rice Krispy squares into little hooves, I’m thinking to myself, ‘No mother is ever really prepared for this kind of stuff’. And as I’m applying cherry pie filling as afterbirth, I found myself thinking, ‘Thank goodness it’s only family coming to this party!'”

Benz’s birthday party was on August 17. He wanted to have it at his aunt and uncle’s ranch, where he could help them out with chores. He spent the day feeding cows, stacking hay bales and rescuing kittens.

“Pretty easy birthday request, and the cake fit right in,” Packard told TODAY Parents.

She admits the cherry pie filling was “hilarious”.

“I used it generously in between the cake layers for some added drama when it was cut into.”

Packard posted a photo of the cake on Facebook, and it went viral. Before long, it had thousands of shares, and some high-profile admirers.

“Got a private message from The Food Network’s Ree Drummond (yes, THE Pioneer Woman) saying she loved Benz’s cake!” she reported. “Cool man!”

Packard admits she finds it “all too bizarre” that her cow cake has gone viral.

“We are completely humbled by the interest people have taken in our family, and happy to have given the world a giggle.”

Have you made an unusual birthday cake for your child?