Christmas Tree Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Buttercream
Gifts of time, love, and delicious homemade food are the essential of a truly Merry Christmas! On this magical night, you will find us rockin' around this Christmas Tree Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Buttercream! Let's celebrate the most wonderful night of the year with a lot of fun and colors, using Suncore Foods® Powders, to create this whimsical Christmas Tree! The first cut will be deliciously painful but it is sweetly worth it, you will find this cake is incredibly tasty, moist rich chocolate cake covered with winter classic peppermint-flavored buttercream! Have yourself a Merry little Christmas and try this delicious recipe. Tis the season! Let the overeating begin!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake Ingredients:
240g vanilla oat milk
14g corn starch
120g hot brewed coffee (preferably strong coffee)
60g cocoa powder
240g granulated sugar
80g coconut oil
290g gluten-free 1-to-1 flour
6g (1 tsp) gluten-free baking powder
2g (¼ tsp) baking soda
3g (½ tsp) salt
Buttercream Ingredients:
225g vegan butter at room temperature
6g (1 tsp) cream of tartar
485g (3½ - 4 cups) icing sugar
¼ + ¼ tsp peppermint extract/flavour
14 g (3 tsp) Suncore Foods® Emerald Pandan Leaf Powder
6 – 9g (2-3 tsp) Suncore Foods® Midori Jade Matcha Powder
1/8 tsp Suncore Foods® Red Beet Powder
1/8 tsp Suncore Foods® Aqua Blue Spirulina Powder
Directions
1. Cake — Preheat oven to 350º F and brush 9” square cake pan (or a pan of similar size) with coconut oil.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together oat milk and cornstarch until frothy. In a separate container, dissolve cocoa powder into coffee and add the mixture to the bowl of milk. Mix in sugar and coconut oil.
3. Whisk in remaining ingredients until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until the cake passes the toothpick test.
4. Allow cake to cool down completely before cutting it into circles.
5. Once ready, measure and lightly mark 4-6 circles on the surface of the cake. Each circle should be slightly smaller than the last with the largest circle being approximately 4”. In the absence of measuring tools, use glasses, ramekins or cookie cutters. Cut each circle and set aside.
6. Buttercream — Beat butter for 2-3 minutes. Add cream of tartar and beat for a few seconds. Mix in icing sugar, 100g at a time, until well combined. For a thicker buttercream add some more sugar. For a thinner buttercream add some plant-milk, 1 tsp at a time.
7. Divide buttercream into 2 portions. Remove 1/3 cup of buttercream from each portion and create a third, smaller, portion.
8. Mix in ¼ tsp of peppermint extract and Suncore Foods® Emerald Pandan Leaf Powder into one of the larger portions of buttercream. This buttercream will form the inside layer of the Christmas Tree. For a thinner buttercream, mix in 1-2 tsp of plant-milk. Add the buttercream to a piping bag and cut the tip wide or use a 1A piping tip.
9. Mix in ¼ tsp of peppermint extract and Suncore Foods® Midori Jade Matcha Powder into the other large portion of buttercream. This buttercream will form the outside, decorative, layer of the Christmas Tree. For a thinner buttercream, mix in 1-2 tsp of plant-milk. Add the buttercream to a piping bag with a 1M piping tip.
10. Divide the smaller portion of buttercream into 3 separate bowls. Mix in the remaining Suncore Foods® Powders, one into each bowl. Add all 3 buttercreams to separate piping bags with tips of choice.
11. Assemble Cake — Place a small amount of emerald pandan leaf buttercream on a cake decorating turntable. Place the largest circular cake on top of the buttercream, this will help the cake stick to the turntable. Add a small amount of the same buttercream on top of the cake, spread the buttercream around and place the next cake layer (one size smaller) on top of the buttercream. Continue this process till you have a cake tower.
12. Add the remaining emerald pandan leaf buttercream on the outside of the cake and spread it around evenly. The entire cake should be covered in buttercream.
13. Using the matcha buttercream, decorate cake to preference. You’ll be adding the matcha buttercream over the emerald pandan leaf buttercream to create a Christmas Tree.
14. Using the 3 smaller portions of buttercream, continue to decorate the Christmas Tree to preference.