Saturday, November 26, 2011

Bear Cake


Vondelicious has moved to BerryNutritious.com.au
You can find this post (and more!) over at my new home: 
http://berrynutritious.com.au/2011/11/bear-cake/



Sometimes I'm just too good at putting things off.....

....and completely forgetting about them.

Replying texts, facebook messages or emails is the first thing which comes to mind, closely followed by  chores which I promise my mum I'd do (sorry mum!). And it's not just things I don't particularly like doing- this bear cake is a rather embarrassing example of this, as I'd promised my sister I'd make this cake for birthday..............2 birthdays ago!

Woops?


I've been thinking of the reasons why it's taken me so long to finally get around to making this cake and I still can't completely explain why. It's not because I didn't want to make this cake, or that I had better things to make.............. it just never ended up happening



I'm thinking that it may have partly been because of the effort I know it would require- though the design is quite simple, it's still more complex than just baking a cake and eating it as is (hence the lack of iced and decorated cakes on this blog). I've been quite lazy this year, and have often found myself ambitiously planning to bake some time consuming things over the weekend, only to give up from lack of motivation when the weekend comes rolling around.


I guess it's sort of like the reason I don't blog that often- though I love it, it takes a lot of effort for me  to write up a post. I was never any good at writing anything, and it takes a lot of deleting, writing and deleting before I can come up with something I wouldn't mind sharing with others.

Sometimes I think of how much easier it would be if I just posted pictures and a recipe. I'd certainly have a lot more posts on my blog right now.

But that wouldn't' be as fun, would it?


Despite my slow progress, I have finally reached the milestone of 100 posts today. Ok, so maybe I may have cheated a little bit and also included my first ever 'hello' post (which consists of 3 sentences) in the count. And, it may come after 2 years and 3 months of blogging (yes, I'm well aware that most people reach this milestone before, or within close proximity of their 1st blogiversary). But hey, I got there ;)

And like my second blogiversary, I'm celebrating with chocolate cake. From the exact same recipe, to be exact. This delicious beetroot chocolate cake has become my go-to recipe for chocolate cake- it's moist and chocolatey like mudcake, but with the subtle, underlying natural sweetness of beetroot. I know everyone already has their favourite chocolate cake recipe, but if you're ever looking for a new one to try, I'd strongly recommend this one.


The design for this cake is taken from the 'naughty bear' cake at 85 degrees cake shop. It caught my attention, not because I thought it was particularly interesting design (when compared to the other beautiful cakes the bakery produces), but because of its simplicity- I was pretty sure I could pull off something like this at home.And so I showed it to my sister, who liked it as well and promised her I'd make it for her birthday.........

The original cake was sponge cake and was covered in chocolate shavings but I thought my sister would like this cake better. I couldn't be bothered making chocolate shavings to cover this cake, so I covered it with cake crumbs instead- an idea I got from  Zoe's blog (my cake looks quite similar to hers....don't you think?). I personally think it looks better than the chocolate shavings because it makes the bear look more 'furry'.....or is that just my imagination?


Well, it's still months from my sister's next birthday (I guess I'll have to try harder to be on time next time!!), but I think all was forgiven once this cake was made- my family thought it looked and tasted great! I immediately received requests to make it again, since the 15cm cake was quickly devoured, and my sister even wanted me to teach her how to make it :)

And in case you were wondering, we couldn't bear to cut its face into pieces.....


So we took its facial features off first!!  ;)

Find the recipe on my new site here:
http://berrynutritious.com.au/2011/11/bear-cake/

38 Comments:

E. said...

Wow Von! That looks amazing! No wonder you couldn't ...bear... to cut it. lol. Happy Blogoversary! Congrats about reaching the 100 posts! How are you doing these days? Tell your sister happy birthday for me. :)

Joanne said...

First of all, MEGA congrats on 100 posts! That's awesome!

Second of all, this cake is amazing! That is one of the cutest bears I've ever seen!

Rita said...

Congratulation on your Blogoversary!
I made some chocolate beet cupcakes a few ago; they were a huge hit. I will have to try this lovable cake; thank you.
Rita

DV said...

Awesome!! 100 posts - thats a milestone! Its quality that matters, dear :)

Beet cake is something I haven't tried...I would love to try this soon :) Your creativity is lovely :)

WendyinKK said...

So cute!
This will be another idea for my kids' future cakes.

Cooking Gallery said...

What should I say about the cake?? It looks super cute and super moist, I'd have such rich chocolate cake any day :D)!!

grace said...

this is definitely a prime example of better late than never! too cute, von. :)

Paula Yang said...

Woww! The cake looks delicious! You are amazing D: It looks so easy but the recipe is so longgg *.* I admire you! -applause-

It looks good to eaet & cuteee.

Mmm... is for Mommy said...

So cute! I pinned this too so I remember to make it!

Jen @ Savory Simple said...

This is so adorable! And it looks delicious!

Kristy Sayer-Jones @ Southern In Law said...

This cake is adorable, Von! I love the idea of using cake crumbs to decorate the cake and I agree, it does make the bear look furry!

Kelvin Wu said...

Too cute!

chocolatesuze said...

naww that cake is so cute!

Adriana said...

Congratulations on your 100h post!
Your cake may be the most adorable cake I've ever seen! I don't know how I could bear eating it, but it looks delicious as well.

Nic@diningwithastud said...

Congrats on your 100th post :) its such a milestone! Love this bear and its def better late than never!

Rita (mademoiselle délicieuse) said...

Definitely too cute to cut into the face! And I love the furry look of the breadcrumbs on the surface too.

Dumpling Girl said...

Your cake is adorable Von :) Congratulations for making it to your 100th post.

Melanie @ Melanie Cooks said...

What a delicious looking chocolate cake! I love this unique bear design!

Jaclyn said...

Such a cute idea! I will have to make this sometime.

Anonymous said...

So cute! Congrats on the milestone!

Vivian - vxdollface said...

Hhaha I was going to say this cake reminded me of the 85 degrees one! Yummo David Lebovitz recently blogged about his beet and choc cake too, must be a good combo. Congrats on your 100th post!

Sophie said...

Oh my gosh - it's super cute. My BFs nickname is Grizzly so he'll definitely be needing a bear birthday cake :)

Viv said...

hahah furry bear indeed!!! :) i saw this recipe with the outer crumb on the donna hay magazine too and really wanted to make it (but like you, im a professional when it comes to putting things off!)

you know, so many times as i read your, i find myself thinking..."yeah, me too!" haha. esp the part about a blog with just pictures and recipes ;)

happy 100th btw! yay!

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Blogging does take alot of work and congratulation on your 100th post. I am already passed the age for cutey grizzly bear... but I totally adore that fine crumbed chocolate cake!

tori said...

Just gorgeous. Love the combination of beetroot and chocolate (it's also pretty great as a savoury side- just grate really bitter dark chocolate over roast beetroots)

Elizabeth said...

Too cute!

Zoe said...

I can recognize this cake!

I love the way that you made this cake into a cute bear cake!

Congratulation for 100th post! Hurray!

Vianney Rodriguez said...

congrats on your 100 post!! I know I would have a ton more post also, the writing is the difficult part for me. Oh my goodness naughty bear, love it!! hubby loves this game...

Reem | Simply Reem said...

Congrats Von!!!!
Reaching 100th post , well done....
This is the cutest bear I have seen....
I can understand how hard it must be to cut it... awwwww

נєαи said...

Lols I like your pun :) It looks very yummy ^.^ Enjoy your break! First-year uni was such a btch tbh =.=

Unknown said...

omg omg omg omgggg too cute!!!!!

Jennifer (Delicieux) said...

100 posts, congratulations that is a milestone!!! Your bear cake is just SO adorable!!! He's so cute and looks like he's up to mischief :D

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

wow..sooooooooo cute..you are amazingly talented dear..:)
Tasty Appetite

Andrea said...

what I love is that not only does it look cute it looks like it taste REAL good.

JasmyneTea said...

Wooo! Happy Blogaversary! I actually don't have a go-to chocolate cake recipe, I shall definitely get around to trying yours, because it looks great!

camgirls said...

Cake associates a bankrupt. Bear unloads the exercise. Bear censors cake into the frank lawn. Cake pencils another shell ruler. Cake prosecutes. Cake persists on top of a youth.

Spencer said...

How cute! My son would love that!

Shoutforfood said...

gosh i want that cake.

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