bake - Special Report - January 2023 - 34

WINTER BIRCH
TREE CAKE
Recipe and image courtesy of TheCakeGirls.com
This recipe comes from thecakegirls.com.The
Winter Birch Tree
Cake is centered around a really
easy chocolate bark technique
that's a huge bang for the buck.
We topped it with adorable little
deer, mushroom, and trees to create
a winter wonderland look.
Because this is a winter-themed
cake, we opted for our Moist Spice
Cake Recipe iced in Brenda's Bakery
Buttercream, but this would work
great with our Classic Chocolate
Cake filled with Peppermint Icing
or our Vanilla Cake layered with
Gingerbread Ganache.
ingredients & tools
12 oz. Creamy White Candy Coating
12 oz Dark Chocolate Candy Coating
Paintbrushes - Set of 5
4 " Pine Tree Cupcake Novelties
-Set of 12
Deer Novelties - Set of 6
Mini Red Gum Paste Mushrooms
- Set of 6
directions
Step 1: Ice Cake
Bake 3 6 " diameter cake layers.
We decided to bake up our Moist
Spice Cake Recipe, but choose
your favorite recipe. Prepare a
single batch of Brenda's Bakery
Buttercream.
34
Tint one cup of icing light brown,
leaving the rest white.
Fill and crumbcoat your triple
layer 6 " cake and place it in the
fridge for 30 minutes or so, until
firm.
Remove from the fridge and ice
just the sides of the cake in white
buttercream, leaving the top empty.
This doesn't have to be perfectly
smooth because you'll be covering
it with birch bark soon.
Ice the top of the cake with the
light brown buttercream, then take
a tapered spatula or butter knife
and create grooves in the top to
mimic tree rings.
Step 2: Create The Birch Bark
Cover a half sheet tray in parchment
paper. Melt 4 oz. of Dark Chocolate
Candy Coating on half power in
the microwave, stirring every 30
seconds until melted. (Do not overheat
the coating or it could burn.)
Using a paintbrush, paint knots
of a tree, striations, stripes and add
little dots to the paper to mimic a
birch tree. Fill the entire tray with
pattern because you'll need the
entire tray. If your brush starts to
harden, wipe the brush clean before
continuing.
Melt the 12 oz. bag of white candy
coating. Then, let the white coating
cool until it's not at all warm to the
touch, but still melted. 10 minutes
or so.
Place your painted tray in the
fridge for 2 minutes, just to chill
the chocolate pattern. Remove
and spread all the white coating
across the pan, working left to right,
filling the tray entirely. The layer
will look fairly thin, which is okay.
Place the tray back in the fridge for
10 minutes to firm up.
Remove the chilled bark. Place
the short end of the tray toward
you. Lift the parchment paper and
simultaneosly use both hands to
break the sheet into large strips
of bark. Don't fret if it breaks into
shards instead of strips. They'll still
work on the side of the cake.
Step 3: Decorate Cake
Place the strips of bark on the sides
of the cake, using some extra buttercream
to adhere them if necessary.
We overlapped them to get them
to fit, but place them on the cake
however you think looks best.
Spread a little buttercream on the
pine trees so they look snowy. Place
trees, deer and mushroom to finish.
https://thecakegirls.com/how-tomake-a-winter-birch-tree-cake.
html?mc_cid=887e56fa95&mc_
eid=fd362c9144
Bake
Magazine Digital Special Report 1 | Volume 4 | bakemag.com
bake - Special Report - January 2023

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