For the Bake Your Favorite Book Challenge, we are baking an "olchi" zebra cake. A theme cake ideal for baking with children, because everyone loves Olchis 😉
Bake your favorite book – the baking challenge for minis
A new month means a new challenge! We're glad you're joining us again when it's time to "Bake your favorite book"!
For the 10th time we are baking together based on a special children's book! What began last year with a baking challenge for “International Children’s Book Day”, has now established itself as a monthly baking and crafting event. I am always so excited to see your works of art and it is always wonderful to see what great and creative ideas you implement with cakes, scissors and paper!
Bake your favorite book in February 2021
In January, the kids became creative together with their favorite people on the topic “Glittering crystals & noseless snowmen – everything about snow & winter” and brought the snow home with the help of cakes and craft ideas.
Since in a “normal” year there would be a colorful carnival party for the little ones in February – but unfortunately this year is hardly “normal” either – we are at least bringing a little party atmosphere home with us!
Whether it's a child's birthday, Halloween or now Carnival, the little ones have had to miss out on many children's parties and fun moments with their friends over the last year. For this reason, with your help (via Instagram), I have decided to create a little party atmosphere with small party snacks and party ideas (even if the big party still has to be postponed).
The “Bake your favorite book” theme in February
After we brought snow into our house in January – it actually worked for us and finally snowed on the last weekend of January – we're creating a little party atmosphere in February!
“The Olchis on a birthday trip –
Everything about parties & party food for the little ones"
Would you like to take part in the “Bake your favorite book” challenge with your children?
- Bake or craft with your kids on the current theme and
- post a photo of your artwork
- with the hashtag #backdeinlieblingsbuch on Instagram,
- link to @backenmitminis and your contribution will be entered into the draw for the book prize, which will be raffled off among all participants at the end of the challenge!
You don't have Instagram? No problem, send me the picture of your work of art (along with your favorite book if you like) by email (backenmitminis@web.de) and you're in!
Kid's book presentation
It is Olchi-Grandpa's birthday and a special one at that, his 2400th birthday! Because the Olchis celebrate birthdays as much and as often as they want. But for this special birthday, Olchi-Grandpa also wishes for something special: a birthday trip!
Wished for, granted! All the Olchis are now travelling through Europe on the back of their dragon Feuerstuhl. They meet a bewildered ghost in a Scottish castle, arrange a special operation by the police, fire brigade and emergency doctor in Paris and put the Leaning Tower of Pisa back in order.
In the book "The Olchis on a Birthday Trip", the whole Olchi family travels through Europe in the well-known Olchi style and lets readers, both young and old, take part in their grumpy travel adventures. In this book, too, Erhard Dietl takes the little ones in particular into the stinking-beautiful world of the Olchis with a lot of humor and inventiveness.
In addition to the fun and colorful illustrations, this birthday book contains a large selection of party ideas, games, crafting tips and puzzles for a super-Olchi birthday party! This means the next children's birthday is also guaranteed! 😉
There is only one thing left to say about this book: "Slime-mud-and-stinky-foot", what a great book!
The Olchis – Who are they actually?
The Olchis are a very special family! It consists of Olchi Papa and Olchi Mama, the two Olchi children, the Olchi baby and the Olchi grandparents. And not forgetting – the Olchis’ pet: Fire Chair, their dragon!
The Olchis love everything that we humans would describe as disgusting and dirty. For example, they live on a garbage heap and would never eat our delicious zebra cake. They eat shoelace salad, tin cans, and motor oil and find it quite delicious!
The Olchis experience many adventures, go on great trips on their dragon and regularly take us into their “stinky” everyday life in their stories!
My kids find them incredibly funny because it's just so crazy to imagine the life of this dirt-loving, friendly family! It's not uncommon to hear a loud "Ugh" followed by a giggle in the kid's room when we read about a new Olchi adventure. I can well imagine that your kids think the Olchis are great too!
Recipe for a "olchy" zebra cake
Just like our colorful confetti cake or our moist marble cake the zebra cake offers a special surprise when cut. All of the cakes mentioned above have at least one thing in common: they look pretty when cut - and if you like, colorfully patterned!
This particular feature shows your children that they can create amazing effects in the cake with little effort and a little food coloring. The color change when filling the baking pan encourages their concentration and will simply delight them when they cut the cake!
Ingredients for a Mini Zebra Cake
Dough
- 180 g margarine
- 3 eggs
- 150 g sugar
- 1 packet of vanilla sugar (15g)
- 180 g (spelled) flour
- 1/2 packet of baking powder (7 g)
- 100 g ground hazelnuts
- 30 g baking cocoa
- 125 ml milk
- green food coloring (we used the one from GoodBake)*
Discount code for your purchase at GoodBake: With the discount code “LIA12” you save 12% on your purchase from Goodbake.
(*The links marked with an asterisk (*) are affiliate links. I can recommend suitable products that do not cost you more and I receive a small commission that helps me finance my blog. Thank you!)
Decoration
- 125 g green cake melts*
- 4 Mini-Chocolate Marshmallows
- black sugar pencil*
- white sugar pencil*
Baking accessories
Kitchen scales, measuring cup, 2 mixing bowls, hand mixer, dough scraper, Mini springform pan (18-20 cm diameter), tablespoon, cooling rack, melting bowl* or a small bowl, saucepan, 2 baking papers
Preparation
Before we decorate our zebra cake as one of the Olchis, we first have to bake it. The simple sponge cake can easily be made into a fun theme cake for the next child's birthday party.
We bake a zebra cake
- Preheat the oven to 175°C top/bottom heat and place baking paper in the mini springform pan (diameter 18-20 cm)
- Beat the margarine until fluffy
- Add sugar & vanilla sugar and continue stirring
- Beat the eggs and add to the margarine-sugar mixture and mix
- Mix baking powder & flour in a separate bowl and add to the dough, stir to form a homogeneous dough
- Add ground hazelnuts to the dough and mix well
- Finally add the milk, the dough will now be nice and soft
- Then divide the dough evenly into two bowls.
- One half is colored green with the green food coloring and the other half is colored brown with baking cocoa. Briefly stir both doughs until the color is evenly distributed.
- To create the zebra pattern, place a tablespoon of green batter in the middle of the baking pan. Then place a tablespoon of brown batter on top of the green batter in the middle of the springform pan. Continue this sequence until both types of batter are used up.
- Tap the springform pan once on the worktop so that the dough spreads to the edges.
- Now bake the zebra cake for about 40-45 minutes at 175°C top/bottom heat (please use the toothpick test to check that the zebra cake is really baked through).
- After baking, carefully remove the zebra cake from the springform pan and let it cool on the cooling rack.
Unser Zebrakuchen wird zum Olchi
- While the zebra cake is cooling, place a baking paper on the work surface and heat the green cake melts in a water bath.
- When the cake melts are nice and runny, quickly dip the four mini chocolate kisses into the liquid, green cake melts and then place them on the edge of the baking paper to dry.
- Then place the cooled zebra cake with the cooling rack on the baking paper and spread the liquid cake melts on the zebra cake.
- While the cake melts are still liquid, place three of the green chocolate kisses on the top edge of the zebra cake as the Olchis' horns. The fourth chocolate kiss is placed in the middle of the cake as a knobbly nose.
- Once the green cake icing has dried, you and your mini can paint the eyes, mouth and teeth of the Olchis with the black and white sugar pens.
And the green Olchi is ready to eat! ...and I promise you that it only looks like an Olchi, it definitely doesn't taste "olchiy"! 😉
Even if it takes some courage to cut into the green fellow, your little one will be thrilled when he sees the beautiful zebra pattern inside the Olchi!
If your little ones are big fans of the little Olchis, I can also recommend our Olchi Americans, which we baked as part of our very first Bake Your Favorite Book Challenge. For these little guys, we colored our mini-American cookies recipe green and decorated them with marshmallows, sugar eyes and sugar pens!
I hope you and your minis have lots of fun baking these funny Olchis!
A little tip: The delicious Olchi baked goods are definitely a great accompaniment to an Olchi adventure! What do you think?
If you would like to take part in the Bake Your Favorite Book Challenge, I am already looking forward to seeing your work of art!
Yours, Lia
A colorful thank you
A colorful thank you goes out to der Verlagsgruppe Oetinger für das olchige Rezensionsexemplar, das ich im Rahmen der Back’ dein Lieblingsbuch – Challenge im Februar vorstellen darf. Vielen lieben Dank!
BAKING NEWS – The most delicious thing right in your inbox?
Sign up for our newsletter and be the first to hear about colorful recipe ideas, easy baking hacks and upcoming baking promotions!
Have you baked the recipe?
How exciting! We're really happy about that! We are pleased that we were able to delight you with our recipe. Feel free to share your treat with us on Instagram using the hashtag #backenmitminis.
Chocolate children's birthday invitation
With our children's birthday banderoles for Ritter Sport Minis you can create a unique invitation for your child's birthday!
A lovingly designed banderole (if necessary with a preconceived invitation text) for parents with little time!
English 
German