Celebrate winter by throwing a penguin-themed party and serving some adorable Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake Roll Penguins alongside cute Coke Bottle Penguins.
This post is sponsored by Collective Bias, Inc. and Coca-Cola. #ShareHolidayJoy #CollectiveBias
The holiday season is such a special time of year and although I am usually crazy busy, like many of you, I do my best to carve out time to spend with friends and family. It's funny how blogging about holiday treats has actually made that easier than ever.
For almost 30 years I spent the months of November and December working from morning till night making chocolate for customers. I fell onto the couch on Christmas Eve exhausted and barely awake enough to enjoy our celebration.
Now that I'm blogging full-time and have really cut back on the chocolate orders I take, I have a little more time. I'm still frantically working in my kitchen to create fun treats to share with you and to develop recipes for sponsors, but now those treats don't have homes. No one has ordered them. So, I get to share them with family and friends.
Over the weekend, I invited some guests to stop over to enjoy some of my homemade holiday treats. When the guests walked in the door they were greeted by the cutest colony of Coca-Cola penguins.
My snowy popcorn-covered table was filled with little penguin cakes and adorably decorated Coke bottle penguins.
It was by far the cutest tablescape I've ever created and my guests agreed.
They almost didn't want to disturb the colony so they could enjoy their treats.
Almost!
In the end, they couldn't resist.
I had spent the day before baking Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake Rolls and decorating them with modeling chocolate to look like penguins. I also created a fun printable so that I could dress up bottles of Coca-Cola too.
My guests thought the penguins were unbelievably adorable, really enjoyed the unique flavor of the Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake Rolls.
They thought the penguin decorations on the bottles were just adorable and had fun drinking with their flightless friends.
I know you want to do this to your Coke bottles too.
It's hard to resist the penguins' adorable eyes. Am I right?
They are easy to make using my printable. Simply print out as many pages as you'd like, cut out the pieces, and attach them to the bottles using double stick tape or glue.
If you want your decorations to be more durable you can dress up your entire case of Coca-Cola to give as gifts along with some other penguin treats, print them on glossy card stock or photo paper.
Click this link to get the free printable → printable-penguin-coke-bottle-craft
And, I am positive you won't be able to resist these penguin cakes.
I spent an entire day, making four different recipes before I finally created a chocolate cake roll with hints of Coca-Cola Flavor in the cake and filling. Each chocolate cake is made with a Coke syrup that is made by boiling Coca-Cola until it thickens enough to become a syrup. To really ramp up the flavor I added a bit of the syrup to the fluffy marshmallow filling too.
So these cakes are sweet inside and out.
I'm not going to say they are easy to make. The recipe does require quite a few steps, but it's totally worth the effort. My guests really fell in love with their penguins.
You'll need some tools in order to make these, so pull these together before you get started.
SUPPLIES:
2 9x13 inch pans non-stick tin foil and/or parchment paper
baking spray
2 inch oval cookie cutter
2 inch tear drop cookie cutter
½ inch round plunger cutter or metal cutter
¼ inch round plunger cutter or metal cutter
¾ inch triangle cutter
- 1 12 ounce bottle Coca-Cola de Mexico
- 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 6 large eggs separated and at room temperature
- ⅓ cup sugar divided
- ¼ cup flour
- ¼ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder plus more for dusting
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cream of tarter
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 7 ounce tub marshmallow fluff
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon Coca-Cola syrup reserved from cake recipe
- 3 ounces white modeling chocolate*
- orange food coloring
- 3 ounces dark modeling chocolate*
- 1 ounce melted dark cocoa candy melts
- *Find the Modeling Chocolate Recipes on my Chocolate Making Tips page.
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Line two 9x13 baking pans with non-stick foil and spray with baking spray, or spray the pans, line with parchment paper, spray again, and dust with flour.
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Heat over medium heat, stirring often, until thickened and reduced to about 2 ½ tablespoons, about 30 minutes. Watch it near the end so it doesn't burn.
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Pour the remaining syrup in a microwave safe bowl along with the chocolate and butter.
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Heat on high in the microwave for 30 seconds.
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Stir then let rest for 5 minutes.
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Stir again until smooth.
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If needed, heat for 10 second increments, stirring after each until melted.
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Beat egg yolks using an electric mixer set on medium high speed until blended.
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With the beaters running, sprinkle in about 3 tablespoons of the sugar and continue to beat until the eggs become pale yellow and thick enough that it falls in a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted out of the bowl.
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Fold the egg yolks into the melted chocolate mixture.
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In a clean bowl with clean beaters whip the egg whites and cream of tarter until foamy. Add 1 teaspoon of the sugar and continue to beat to soft peaks.
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Continue beating and sprinkle in the remaining sugar until the whites become glossy and hold stiff peaks.
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Don't over beat until dry.
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Fold ⅓rd of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
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Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.
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Fold in the dry ingredients.
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Bake for about 8 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back when touched.
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While the cakes are baking cut 8 strips of parchment paper that are at least 4 ½ inches wide by 8 inches long.
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Set them out on your counter and dust them with cocoa powder.
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Remove the cakes from the oven.
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Let them sit for 3 minutes, then remove one from the pan. Cut into 4 equal rectangles.
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Roll up the cakes and parchment paper.
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Repeat with second cake.
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Meanwhile make your filling.
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Combine the shortening, powdered sugar, marshmallow fluff, and whipping cream in a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
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Stir in the reserved Coca-Cola syrup.
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When cakes are ready, carefully unroll them and remove the parchment paper.
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Pipe or spread filling on each cake leaving a border around the edge.
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Roll up cake and repeat.
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Color a small amount of the white modeling chocolate orange.
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Roll out the white, orange and dark modeling chocolate to about 1/16-⅛th inch thickness.
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Cut oval bellies, two white eyes, two small dark pupils, two tear drop shaped wings, and 3 triangles for the beak and feet.
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Lightly brush water on the back side of the pupils and attach to the whites of the eyes.
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Attach the eyes, along with a beak, two wings and a white belly using the candy melts.
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Cut two small slits along one edge of the remaining triangles, creating feet and attach them to the cakes.
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You can serve these standing up if you trim the bottoms as needed so they stand upright.
If you’d like to have the ultimate guide to working with Candy Clay (modeling chocolate) be sure to get your printed or e-book copy of Candy Clay Creations. This 102 page book is filled with tips and tricks for making and working with candy clay along with 17 step-by-step tutorials for decorating cupcakes, cookies, and more using candy clay. It’s a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to make festively decorated treats.
When I put my table together, I felt the penguins needed to be nested in some snow, so I made a few batches of white chocolate popcorn and sprinkled on some snowflake sprinkles.
It looked really fun and my guests enjoyed the extra sweet snack.
If you plan to do this, be sure to cover your table with parchment or wax paper before you begin adding the Coke bottle and cake roll penguins then add popcorn in between.
This post has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.
Be sure to check out all my fun Christmas Recipes!
If you really want to go all out, you can make more of these cute penguin treats for your holiday party.
Snack Cake Penguins • Chocolate Pretzel Penguins
Chocolate Penguin Box filled with White Chocolate Snowflakes • Nutter Butter Penguins
Chocolate Penguin Truffles • Chocolate Rice Krispies Treat Penguin Pops
Chocolate Penguin Rice Krispies Treat Pops • Coca-Cola Chocolate Cake Roll Penguins
- Irresistible Sweets with Dixie Crystals® - July 13, 2024
- How to make peanut butter? - February 15, 2024
- OREO Penguins - December 20, 2023
Elise
These penguins are so cute, I can't stand it!!! I wish it was Christmas again so I could use them for my work party!
Beth
Thanks, Elise. I guess you'll have to make them next Christmas. I can't even believe the big day will be here so soon. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
Susan
These cakes are so adorable (and delicious, I'm sure)! Can I just say, I want to be your neighbor and "help you out" eating your creations.
Beth
Thanks, Susan. I do share much of what I make with my neighbors, and I'd be happy to share with you too!
the partiologist
The little penguins are so adorable and I just love how you used the snow (popcorn) they were displayed on!
Beth
I originally planned to use fabric snow, but forgot to get a roll while at the store, so I went with the popcorn. Sometimes mistakes lead to something really fun.
Marcia
Beth - you really should have done some black and gold scarves for your friend with THE Penguin sweatshirt on. These look yummy 😋. Are the cakes like upscale HoHo's?
Beth
You are so right! I know several Penguins fans and they would appreciate the black and gold scarves!
Joy
So precious and adorable! What a truly great idea!
Emma
All your recipes are just WOW! These are absolute cuties, I can imagine their taste. Nom-nom! <3
Beth
Thanks so much!
Cristi Comes
I would love to try and replicate these penguin cakes some time, they are just too cute. Thanks for the printable too. #client
Beth
I hope you do give them a try. My friends really loved them. 🙂
Cristi Comes
Both of these penguins are adorable but wow, what fantastic penguin cakes. I would love to try this some time. Your guests certainly look like they're enjoying them but I agree, I'd feel bad messing up your cute party table. #client