Ann Reardon

Coca-Cola Bottle Cake

coca cola cake by ann reardon howtocookthat.net

 

I can hear footsteps, the cute 5 year old kind, coming down the stairs. I love his cuddles in the morning. He is sneaking up behind me and I pretend not to notice. His breathing is loud and obvious but I do not spoil the game. He is getting closer now and I am trying not to laugh. Arms wrap around me and I am entangled in a loving cuddle and squeezed so tight. It’s time for breakfast together while the rest of the house sleeps. The video will tell you all you need know about how to make a 3D coke bottle cake.

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To make the Coke Cake you will need

Coke Jelly

5 tsp powdered gelatin
1 L (0.26 gallons) cocoa cola (I found the jelly tasted a little watery, if I was making it again I’d concentrate the coke by boiling down 2L (0.53 gallons) to make 1L (0.26 gallons))

Stir together the gelatin with approx 1/2 cup of coke.
Once it has thickened, microwave for about 30 seconds to melt the gelatin.
Add the rest of the coke, stir it well and let the bubbles subside. Pour it into a tray lined with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge to set.

coca cola cake by Ann Reardon how to cook that

Chocolate Discs
25g (0.88 ounces) or 3 Tbsp sherbet (to make your own see recipe below)
190g (6.7 ounces) milk chocolate (no need to temper)
Next take some chocolate and some sherbet.

Melt the chocolate and stir in the sherbet.
Squash it flat between two sheets of baking paper so that it is really thin. Once it is setting cut circles a bit smaller than your coke bottle.

If you can’t get sherbet you can make your own by mixing together:
2 tsp citric acid
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (or baking soda)
2 Tablespoons of icing sugar

Coke Cream
cocacola cake ann reardon
500millilitres (16.91 fluid ounces) coca cola
600millilitres (20.29 fluid ounces) cream (what type of cream should I use?)

Pour the coke into a pan. Heat it over high heat until the water evaporates off and you’ve got 50millilitres (1.69 fluid ounces) of coke flavored sugar syrup left. Caution it is very hot, keep an eye on it because you don’t want it to burn. Leave that to cool.
Add the coke syrup to the cream and whip them together until you get soft peaks.

Cake
One 8inch (20.32 centimetres) round chocolate cake made using half of my chocolate cake recipe
One 8inch (20.32 centimetres) round sponge cake made using half of my sponge cake recipe

Cut each cake into two even layers then use a circle cutter to cut two circles from each layer. So you end up with 4 circles of sponge and 4 circles of chocolate cake.

Chocolate Bottle
2L (0.53 gallons) coke bottle washed a dried, make sure there is no water in it
160g (5.64 ounces) White chocolate
490g (17.28 ounces) Dark chocolate

Carefully remove the label from the coke bottle and keep it to one side. Draw a line where the coke comes to at the top.

Take a knife and cut the bottle in half at the level that the label covers.

If you are using real chocolate make sure you temper it, if you are not sure of the difference between real and compound chocolate and how to temper please watch the chocolate secrets video first.

Turn the top upside down and fill with tempered white chocolate up to the line.

Leave it for a minute then tip out the un-set chocolate, straighten up the edge using a spatula then let it set.

Pour some tempered dark chocolate into the base of the coke bottle and spin and turn it until it covers all of the sides. Tip the extra into the top and do the same with that one turning it until it is completely covered.

Then place them upside down to set.

Assembly of the Coca-Cola Cake
red fondant (optional)

To the base add some coke cream, a layer of sponge cake, coke jelly, more cream, chocolate cake and then a layer of fizzy chocolate.
Continue to layer it in this way right up to the top.

coca cola bottle cake ann reardon how to cook that

Place the top half in a glass to help it balance and layer it up in the same way as we did for the base.

coke bottle cake ann reardon

Remove the plastic from the cake.

Stand the base upright and add chocolate around the cut, then place the top half onto it.

Use a knife to smooth out the chocolate at the join and fill in any gaps.

Add the label back around the centre.

Either add the lid back into place or make one out of red fondant as shown in the video.

coca cola bottle cake ann reardon

To serve:
Use a hot knife to cut through the chocolate and take a slice of layered coke cake.

credit to Marghi for using a coke bottle as a mold back in Sept 2015.
Copyright 2016How To Cook That

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

134 Comments View Comments

  1. Rating: 3

    I did the microwave version of tempering chocolate, and it didn’t work =(

    • Hi Kristine, It’s a bit hard to tell from eh pic, do you have white chocolate mixed through the base too? Or is that fat bloom on the chocolate? The inside of the bottle looks like an incomplete temper – needed more stirring to make it even, but the outside looks really unusual.

  2. Jpeg Dear Ann, thank you for the detailed video and recipe. I tried to do the coca cola bottle cake for my husband’s birthday.

    • Awesome job Jennifer, looks great ??

  3. Hi Ann, I had so much fun making this cake for my husband’s birthday. This was my first time tempering chocolate and all your recommendations and your videos were so helpful. I did try reducing 2 liters of Coke down to 1 liter for the jelly, but for whatever reason my jelly was still on the watery side. I ended up just scooping it as it wouldn’t stay in a disc shape but it worked out just fine. Thanks for the great idea and recipe!

  4. Hi Ann. Thank you for all your wonderful tutorials. They are great. I just tired the coke bottle cake but it was a fail. The chocolate stuck to the bottle. On reading the comments I think I know what went wrong. I’m going to try again now. Hoping 2’s attempt is successful. I have a question for you. This coke bottle cake needs to be transported to my office as it’s for a colleague. My office is a 20 minute drive away from home. I’m going to make the cake now and store it in the fridge. How do you suggest I transport the cake? I’m really worried about it breaking. I live in Hong Kong, so it’s humid here. Though the humidity is better this time of year (76%). Do you think the cake will be ruined if I take it out of the fridge? Sorry for the long post, but I’d really appreciate any tips you may have. Thanks!! Anita.

    • Hi Anita, Transporting any cake can give us nightmares can’t it. 20 mins sounds okay. You do want to minimize any extreme temp changes, so keeping the temperature cool and stable will help. I would put the aircon on in the car. The cake will need to be transported in a box or container with some support around the base to minimise movement. I would also make a ‘hat’ for the top of the cake to fit the container. For example if it is a square box. I would cut a square out of cardboard to fit in the top of the box, then cut out a circle in the middle, that would fit loosely over the top of the bottle. This would just prevent it from swinging around too uch. Lastly, I would have a friend come with you and support the box in the car, so it doesn’t slide around.

  5. Hi Ann, thanks for the inspiration. My sons 12 year old cake turned out better than I thought. And the taste don’t like coke but it all works yum.

    • Awesome work Tehani!

  6. one of the comments was about the plastic not coming off and the answer given was, ‘did you remember to spray the bottle?’… There is Nothing in your video or instructions saying to spray the bottle with anything, just a clean dry bottle.
    If we spray it with a nonstick and wipe it out (so not too much), would that work? Or would the chocolate not stay on the plastic to coat it?
    Another post asked about making it two coats thick to hold together? I would think that necessary as well? Please answer and thank you for the good info! Going to make this tomorrow for some coca cola aficionados (including myself:)!
    Pleasure checking out your website!

    • Hi Cake Lady, The coke bottle needs to be clean and totally dry. It is best to leave the bottle overnight to fully dry. If you find moisture is hanging around inside. Use the nozzle of a spray bottle to blast air into the crevices. You don’t want condensation inside. It is moisture that will cause the chocolate to stick. I wouldn’t use a non-stick spray though I have had some people comment that it worked for them. You risk greasy marks on your chocolate.
      You would be better to have a couple of thin coats of chcolate inside to build up to the thickness you want rather than going for one thick layer. A lot of people find that you get thin spots in your chcolate which can crack when removing them from the mold.

  7. i tried to do this and it was a fail. mu plastic did NOT peel like yours…i dont know if american coke bottles are tougher plastic 🙁 any idea how to remedy this? all the components are tasty so i’m really sad mine failed so bad.

    • Hi Sara, did you remember to spray inside the bottle? Bottles do vary from place to place but as long as it was a thin plastic you should have been able to peel it iff.

  8. Hi how many servings can you get with the coca-cola cake cutting the way you did in your video?

    • Hi Wanda Williams, Depending on the size of your serves, you should get 8-1o pieces that way.

  9. PANIC!!!! I’ve now done 2 bottles and both times the chocolate turned white!!!! What am I doing wrong??? Fast running out of time to make a third! Heeeeeelp!!! Inge xx

    • Hi INge, It sounds as if your chcolate is blooming. That means either the fat or the sugar is crystallizing and coming to the surface. THis is usually caused by the way the chcolate is handled. Damp or condensation causes “sugar bloom” and you’ll see white grains of sugar on the surface of the chocolate. Excessive heat or cold results in “fat bloom”turning the chcolate a white or gray color. Keep you chcolate away from moisture of any kind will prevent the first and ensuring your chcolate is not over heated will minimize the other.

  10. do you need to put citric acid is that the main ingredient on the sherbet?

    • Hi RS, the citric acid provides the fruity tang that is a feature of sherbert.

  11. Rating: 5

    Hi! Ann! Thank you for your detailed instructions. I made the cake yesterday but the chocolate was too fragile to hold the cake so it fell apart. Next time I will do 2 coats. Perhaps it would be good if you can post a video troubleshooting some of the problems.
    Thanks!

  12. Hi Ms. Reardon,
    My mother’s birthday is coming up and I was wondering if you could possibly show me how to make a cinnamon coffee cake?
    Thanks,
    E

  13. Rating: 4.5

    I have made many different creative cakes and this was my all time worst experience. I have been baking for 30 years. I tried twice to get the shell to stay intact. The first time I assumed I did not use enough chocolate, so the 2nd time I used a full two pounds and it still fell apart. A total waste of time and money.

    • That is a shame CP. We have lots of subscribers who have successfully made this cake and it continues to be really popular along with the fanta version. Was it just the removing from the mold that caused the issue each time or do you feel there was another problem?

  14. I would love to make a farmers union iced coffee version (2l bottle). I can make coffee cream and a mixture of milk and white chocolate for the bottle but coffee jelly?? Also the bottle has a strange handle – can you make any suggestion? thanks Anne – btw your boys are so adorable!

    • Hi Sue, Coffee Jelly would be easy to make, using instant coffee, water, sugar and perhaps a bit of cream. You will have to experiment with the balance of flavours. The chocolate handle could still be made but it would be hard to get it out. Maybe try removing the handle first and replacing it with some clear acetate taped into the right shape. Or you could take the removed handle and cut it open along the outside edge then tape it closed and in place on the bottle. Then it will be easier to remove the plastic . However you do it, I would make the handle solid chocolate.

      • Rating: 5

        Thanks Anne. I thought I would begin by making the coke bottle cake to get braver! I should have; worn an apron (!!) and whistle while tempering chocolate much more than I did! My son loves Lift so I made all lemony cake, jelly and butter cream still keeping the sherbet in the chocolate discs – yum! I had heaps trouble cutting the bottle off though so it was a bit cracked but so delicious! Thanks for your inspiration 🙂

  15. Hi:
    I want to make this cake ahead of time, but I’m concerned about the whipped cream in it; it would need to be refrigerated but will that ruin the compound chocolate coating? Thanks.

    • Hi , i made mine and then we didnt eat it all so we put it on the freezer and then when it i took it out and it came back down to room temperature everything was fine ! Yours should be good although you might want to freeze yours if your making it way ahead of time ! ?

    • HI JR, it shouldn’t ruin the chocolate coating if it is refridgerated for a short time. Anything with fresh cream you would want to use within a day or so of making. If you are concerned you could replace the cream layer with a more stable frosting.

  16. I think i used a larger tray for the jelly and now it seems uneven when i peak in the fridge, can we add more coke on the same amount of gelatin?

  17. Rating: 5

    Hi! I am a huge fan! I was just wondering how you got to become such an amazing cook? I love baking as well (but am too young to start a business) and baking is my passion and seeing you doing what seems impossible is so inspirational. #Baking_Lover.

    • Hi Regan, Ann started baking quite young and has just kept practising. She loves experimenting too. You could do the same.

  18. my coke bottle keeps cracking in the fridge, how can i prevent that

    • Hi Elaney, Ann was surprised that this was happening. It is not something that you would expect to happen at all. But then, the cake doesn’t need to go in the fridge. If the chocolate is properly tempered it will set at room temperature. If the chocolate is too thin, you might find it cracks on removal from the plastic. Making the coating a little thicker will help with that.

  19. Hello. I’m going to make this on the weekend. Did I miss where it says how many circles of the chocolate and coke jelly to cut? Is it the same number as cake circles? Thanks

    • Hi Raelene, You will need 4 or 5 depending on the depth of your layers. The recipe should give you more than this quantity so you have an extra one if needed.

  20. Rating: 5

    Hi there, love your work. Just wondering if the fanta mouse you on the fanta bottle you do could also be used in the coke bottle cake, so if I melt the left over coke jelly from the coke bottle and add it to the cream would this work? Thanks 🙂

    • Hi Riamondja, Yes it should work. When you try it let us know how it goes.

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