This Christmas Tree Cake is an easy to make special holiday cake using a short cut of starting with a cake mix.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Lisa Favre for 5 Minutes for Mom
Ingredients
Chocolate cake mix + all the ingredients to make it
1 1/2sticks buttersoftened, plus extra to coat your pans
Flour for coating your pans
3cupsconfectioners’ sugarplus extra for sprinkling
2tbspcocoa powder
3-4tbspmilk
9oz.fondant
Moss green gel food coloring
7mini pretzel sticks
2 8-inchcircle pans
Instructions
Preheat your oven according to your cake mix’s directions (normally, 350 degrees F) and coat each pan with a generous amount of butter.
Once pans are coated with butter, sprinkle flour into each pan and distribute evenly. You can do this by holding your pan on a tilt and tapping it with your free hand, which will move the flour around.
Prepare your cake batter according to your cake mix’s directions. Pour the batter into each coated pan and bake.
Once the cake is done baking, remove from the pans (you can do this by turning them upside down onto a wire rack) and allow to cool completely.
Once the cakes are cool, you can cut off the top of each one to give it a flat surface.
In a medium-sized bowl, use an electric mixer and beat butter, confectioners’ sugar, cocoa and milk on slow. Gradually increase the speed to high.
The buttercream is ready once all the ingredients are well-combined, smooth and form semi-stiff peaks.
Place one of your cakes on a stand. Scoop half your buttercream into a frosting bag and frost the top, using an offset spatula to spread the buttercream.
Stack your second cake on top of your first layer and frost the top with the remainder of your buttercream.
Separate your fondant so that you have one 4 oz. sphere and another 5 oz. sphere. Use your gel food coloring to tint each one. Add more gel food coloring to your 4 oz. sphere so that it’s slightly darker in color.
Divide your 4 oz. fondant into 4 smaller spheres. Divide your 5 oz. fondant into 3 spheres.
Once the spheres are formed, start shaping them so they are triangular in-shape. Insert a pretzel stick into each one. Using scissors, cut little pieces around each tree to give them texture.
Insert each tree into your cake and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Serve and enjoy!