Bear in a Tree Cake + How to Make Chocolate "Bark"

It's Thursday, so I'm throwing back to the time when I made my brother this groom's cake. I asked him what he wanted his cake to look like, so he made me a sketch of a cake with bears and trees on it. I wasn't quite sold on his design but definitely liked the theme. I thought that a 3D version might be best, but I actually didn't know what this cake was going to look like when I started making it. I just baked layers and then started carving and this is what I ended up with.

This was by far the most fun I have ever had making a cake. It just worked so well. For not having a plan, I ended up making no mistakes. It just all came together as I went, even down to having the perfect amount of black fondant to cover the bear with none to spare.


How I Made the Bark 

I created the bark on the tree by melting chocolate and then spreading the melted chocolate between two sheets of wax paper in a thin even layer. I let it set slightly and then rolled the wax paper into a cylinder and let it set completely in the refrigerator for a few hours. After the chocolate was completely cooled and hard, I unrolled the cylinder. As I unrolled, I allowed the chocolate to crack and break. I covered the "tree" with mocha ganache and then placed the broken chocolate pieces all around the cake.

To finish, I used a large cast iron skillet as the cake pedestal. Every bit was eaten except the bear. The bear ended up being too cute to cut into. I think I still have it in my freezer.