The Naked Bear Cake

Our big girl Anna turned three last week (sniff sniff).  A few weeks ago, while driving her home from preschool, I asked her what kind of cake she wanted this year.  "A fire truck," she replied.  I reminded her that we did that last year, and perhaps a new type of cake would be nice.  Read: please pick something that requires less frosting, less red food coloring, and fewer toothpicks than this.



"Okay," she mused, "I want a cake of a guy."
"A guy?"
"Yeah, a guy with no shirt.  Just pants . . . and undies."

I had to do a double take to make sure I was still talking to a toddler and not a Bieber-fevered teenage girl.  A half-naked man birthday cake?  Seriously?  At this point, I did what any other mama would do: I pretended not to hear her.  I pulled a classic, "Hey, look at that airplane" maneuver and hoped she would forget by the time her birthday rolled around.  Unfortunately, no such luck.  Anna reminded me over and over that she wanted a "guy with no shirt" cake.  Try as I might, I just could not make myself create a bachelorette party-worthy cake for my daughter's 3rd birthday party.  I know, go ahead and call me chicken.  In the end, I made a likeness of her lovey, Anais bear.



I got the idea here and used a chocolate cupcake recipe sent by my friend Kristin.  Using two metal mixing bowls, I made the bear's head and torso, then used cupcakes for the ears, arms and legs.  He is decorated with coconut pecan frosting, Thin Mints, and Almond Joy candy pieces.



I know, it's no shirtless man.  But hey, at least the bear is naked, right?