Monster cake is dense, flavourful, and sweet. It even contains a vegetable! Inspired by the Monster Cake of Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, this dessert is a fun, tasty baking challenge topped with edible chocolate cake pop horns.
Wow, making this cake was a journey. I feel like every step of making this cake was monstrous – the baking, the horns, the icing, even writing out this recipe feels like it’s taken a whole season! It’s not an easy cake to make, but it was definitely fun and tasted absolutely amazing.
A cake like this would do well for a birthday party or other similar celebration. Tears of the Kingdom release party, anyone?
Monster Cake in Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom: sugar, butter, wheat + monster extract
I’m not going to say too much about this cake, other than give yourself enough time to make it. From start to finish, you can make this cake in 6 hours, however you might be less exhausted if you make it over the course of 2-3 days. Don’t try to rush this process. Making this cake really has to be about the joy of baking and being creative.
I’m not expecting too many Zelda gamers to make this (although it could be a fun challenge!) so I’m not going to say too much in relation to the game itself, other than I don’t think the person who illustrated this cake in the game was a baker. More on that later…
In the Zelda Breath of the Wild image of this cake, little round pieces cover the topper part of this cake. The most akin thing to this would honestly be potato chips. I don’t think an actual baker designed the picture of this cake in the game, or they would never have drawn something like that. I’m taking the design for the cake topper as a loose interpretation, and this was my spin on it. If you’re a wiz with fondant you could also make little chips or flower petal shapes from fondant and add those here. Just decorate the topper however you like best!
I would like to mention that this Monster Cake is really sweet. Mostly it’s sweet because of the icing. The cake itself is about a midway along the sweetness scale. I served mine with some black tea and it was the perfect addition to counter some of the sweetness. Also this cake might look small, but a little goes a long way!
Monster Cake
This 6-inch three-tier cake is delicious and filled with depth and sweetness.
Time to make: 6 hours
Servings: At least 8 servings, if not more like 16
Ingredients
Cake Batter
Dry Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 1 ⅔ cups coconut sugar
- 4 tbsp chocolate hazelnut butter (e.g. Nutella, or 2 tbsp melted chocolate + 2 tbsp nut butter)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp strong brewed coffee
- ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp milk (Any type of milk is fine; I used oat milk.)
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 cups pureed beets
Texture Ingredients
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips (white or dark is fine)
- ⅓ cup desiccated coconut flakes
Blueberry Reduction
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
Buttercream Frosting
- 1 ½ cups butter
- 4 cups powdered icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp strongly brewed coffee
- 2 tbsp chocolate hazelnut spread (e.g. Nutella)
- 2-3 tbsp blueberry reduction
Cake Pops
- 1 ½ cups leftover cake (from cake recipe above)
- ¼ – ½ cup buttercream icing (from icing recipe above, any flavour is fine)
Coating for the Cake Pops
- 1 ½ cups white chocolate wafers / chips / pieces
- 1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2-3 tablespoons of blueberry reduction
Tools
- cutting board
- knife
- food processor
- sheet pan measuring approx. 10″×8″
- baking parchment
- basting brush
- assorted mixing bowls
- spatula
- measuring spoons
- measuring cup
- french press / coffee percolator + filter
- oven mitts
- cooling rack
- plastic wrap or wax paper
- toothpicks, small skewers or lollipop sticks (for the horns)
- jars, short cardboard box or piece of styrofoam for holding the cake pops while they dry
- 3 x icing storage containers
- 1-2 microwave-safe bowls
- small sieve or strainer (for blueberry reduction)
- icing knives
- icing piping bag (you can fake one with a plastic ziplock bag if needed)
- icing piping tip (eg. #61)
Instructions
Part 1: The Cake
1. Clean, cook and purée the beets.
- Remove the beets tops, peel the beets and cut them into chunks.
- Boil the beets in water for about 40-60 mins, then drain, cover in cold water. Allow to cool completely.
- Once the beets have cooled, chop into small cubes (approx. 1 inch in size).
- Blend the beets with a few teaspoons of water in a food processor until fairly smooth. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 °F.
3. Brew the coffee: Brew and filter approx. 6 tablespoons of very strong coffee, then set aside.
4. “Sour” the milk: Add the milk to a small bowl, then mix in white vinegar and set aside.
5. Mix the wet ingredients. Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs, vanilla, coffee, Nutella, and vinegar milk. Mix well.
6. Add the dry ingredients. Now add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Combine until a batter forms.
7. Add the beets, chocolate and coconut: Add the pureed beets and stir some more, until uniform in colour. Add the chocolate chips and coconut flakes. Give a final stir to spread the pieces around, but don’t over mix.
8. Prepare the cake pan. Line a 9” x 13” cake pan with baking parchment. Oil or grease the sides of the pan.
9. Bake the cake! Pour the batter into the cake pan and spread evenly. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a cake tester pulls out clean.
10. Let it cool. Once baked, remove from the oven. Allow to cool for 30 minutes in the pan, then flip the cake out of the pan and allow to finish cooling.
11. Cut the cake. Cut 2 large square pieces from the cake, each just over 6”x 6” in size. Wrap the large cake sections in plastic wrap. Freeze until you’re ready to assemble the cake.
12. Save the leftovers for the cake pops. Add the remaining bits of cake to a bowl – these are for the cake pops!
Part 2: The Decorations
1. Make the blueberry reduction:
- Microwave the blueberries in a bowl for 1 minute. Microwave for another 30-60 more seconds, if needed.
- Place a strainer over a jar, then add some of the cooked blueberries.
- Press the juice out of the blueberries through the strainer. Repeat until you’ve strained all of the blueberries and juice. This should make 4-6 tbsp blueberry reduction. Store in the fridge.
2. Make the buttercream:
- In a bowl, cream the butter, powdered icing sugar and vanilla extract together until smooth. Separate the icing into 3 separate containers with tight-fitting lids. One container should have slightly more icing than the other two.
- Flavour the largest container of buttercream with 1 tbsp strongly brewed coffee. Mix well.
- Mix the Nutella into another container of buttercream.
- Mix 2-3 tbsp of the blueberry reduction to the third remaining container.
- Press a piece of plastic wrap down inside each container directly against the icing, so no air can get in. Seal the containers with tight-fitting lids. Chill in the fridge until needed.
3. Make the cake pop “dough”: Take the leftover cake and crumble it into a bowl. Use your hands to knead a few spoonfuls of icing into the cake crumbs. Add more icing if necessary, but use less to start. Wear gloves if you prefer. Form the mixture into a “ball of dough”.
4. Make the cake topper: Cut off a portion of the cake pop “dough”. Form a dome shape with a flat base, measuring approx. 3 inches (7.5 cm) in diameter, and no taller than 2 inches (4-5 cm). Place the cake topper onto a piece of wax paper and gently press to the counter to flatten the bottom. Cover the cake topper in plastic wrap and place in the fridge or freezer.
Part 3: The Cake Pops & Assembly
1. Create the horn cake pops: Shape pieces of the cake pop dough into little pyramids. Pinch the tips to make them more pointy, and try to curve the over all shape. I suggest making several and choosing your best two for the cake.
2. Insert a toothpick into the bottom of each horn, like a lollipop.
3. Create a pincushion-like receptacle to hold the horn cake pops once they are coated. E.g., pieces of styrofoam or a short cardboard box with holes in it.
I used more leftover cake from the sheet cake, and shoved it into a few glass jars to create a sort of “edible pincushion” and then placed them on plates so that the extra chocolate drippings won’t go everywhere.
Really, anything will work for this as long as it is heavy enough to counter the weight of the cake pops, provides enough physical space to hold the cake pops, and isn’t too tall (the actual cake pops should not touch the platform that their sticks are poked into).
4. Melt the half the white chocolate and coconut oil for the cake pops. Add 3/4 cup of white chocolate and 1 tbsp coconut oil to a bowl. Microwave 30 seconds. Stir while waiting 1 minute, then microwave another 30 seconds. Stir it for another minute. Continue to “melt and rest” the chocolate until melted and smooth.
5. Coat the horns in the melted white chocolate. Use a spoon if needed. Spin the horns gently to remove excess chocolate, then set to dry in the cake pop receptacle. Allow to dry on the counter for 10-15 minutes. Do not refrigerate yet.
6. Melt the remaining white chocolate and coconut oil, then add the rest of the blueberry reduction. Same as before, add about 3/4 cup fresh white chocolate with 1 tsp coconut oil in a microwavable bowl. Microwave for short bursts of time, stirring the mixture and letting it rest for 1 minute in between each burst.
Continue until melted and smooth, then stir in the remaining blueberry reduction.
7. Coat the horns in the purple melted chocolate. Spin the horns gently to remove the excess chocolate, then set to dry in the receptacle. Allow the horns to dry on the counter for about 10-20 minutes before refrigeration. Refrigerate until needed for the cake assembly.
8. Trim the cake layers. Spread a small spoonful of frosting on the centre of the cake serving plate to stabilize the cake. Using a small plate or circle stencil as a guide, along with a sharp knife, cut your 2 large cake sections into 6” diameter circles. Level the cakes so they are flat, if necessary.
9. Assemble the cake layers. Place one of the cakes on the serving plate. Cover just the top with blueberry buttercream. Add the second cake layer on top.
10. Add a thin band of frosting around the middle of the side of the cake. This should be just enough to cover the gap between the cakes, leaving most of the cake un-frosted. Ice the top of this layer with Nutella buttercream.I suggest doing a light layer as a sort of “crumb coat” first, then go over it a second time with a bit more frosting.
11. Place the cake-pop topper on the centre of the top of the cake. Cover in the coffee buttercream.
12. Decorate with buttercream frosting. Using an icing piping bag and tip, decorate the cake topper with the coffee-flavoured buttercream. I used icing tip #61 and added the frosting in a circular motion. Use any pattern you like best.
13. Add your two best horns, one on either side of the cake. Carefully insert the stick part of each horn into the cake, on a little bit of an angle.
14. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. Cut into slices and serve.
a. Take the frozen sheet cake out of the freezer right before you will start cutting and icing. You want the cake to stay frozen as long as possible.
Ta-da! Your cake is finally finished!
Tips
- I recommend wearing an apron or a really old shirt when cooking anything with beets. They are used to make natural dyes for a good reason – they stain everything!
- When chopping and peeling the beets, rub the cutting board with some oil first. This will help to prevent staining on your cutting board, although I would still recommend washing the board and your knife immediately after use. Also if you do this be careful with the slicing, as things might be a bit more slippery from the oil.
- You might also want to wear gloves when chopping and peeling beets to avoid having stained pink fingers for a day or two.
A Monstrously Delicious Cake
This cake is so dense, rich and sweet. The slices are also just monstrously huge, it technically being something of a 3-tier cake.
The chocolate and beets flavours paired surprisingly well with the coffee and Nutella flavours, and you can’t even taste the natural blueberry “food colouring” in the icing or the horns.
If anything, the horns have a very strong flavour of coconut mixed with the white chocolate.
This is also an incredibly heavy cake (physically heavy), so keep that in mind if you’re transporting it from place to place.
Did you make some monster cake? Let me know!
