ULTIMATE Christmas tree cake (VIDEO)
Learn step by step how to make this surprisingly easy, yet showstopper 3D Christmas tree cake! Beside how impressive it looks, this Christmas design cake also tastes amazing with deep and natural chocolate and pistachio notes.
Prep Time1 hour hr
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Waiting time5 hours hrs
Total Time6 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10
Calories: 743kcal
Chocolate Sponge for 4 x 15 cm ( 6 inches)
- 255 g All purpose flour any low protein content flour eg. pastry flour can work too.
- 70 g Cocoa powder unsweetened, dutch processed
- 180 g Granulated sugar
- 180 g Brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoon Baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 135 g Vegetable oil
- 3 Eggs room temperature
- 250 g Milk room temperature
- 180 g Coffee freshly brewed strong coffee, room temperature
Chocolate ganache filling
- 150 g Callebaut Dark Chocolate (callets) high quality semi-sweet chocolate
- 230 g Heavy Cream 36% fat
- 25 g Unsalted butter soft, room temperature
- Large pinch of salt
Pistachio whipped ganache
- 450 g Callebaut WhiteChocolate (callets) high quality white chocolate
- 1100 g Heavy Cream 36% fat
- 120 g Pistachio paste 100% pistachio only!
- 8 Gelatine sheet 1.7g / gelatin sheet
Start with pistachio whipped ganache
Place Callebaut WhiteChocolate (callets) into a bowl or alternatively chop your chosen high quality white chocolate into small pieces and place them into a bowl Pour 100% pistachio paste on top
Soak gelatin sheets into cold water.
Heat 500g cream (2cups) until simmering, mix gelatin sheets in, and pour it over the chocolate & pistachio paste mixture
Let the chocolate cream mixture set for a minute until chocolate gently melts then stir together or hand blend.
Once mixture slightly cools to room temperature, stir in the rest of the cream, pour the mixture into a shallow container and cover the top of the ganache with plastic wrap. Refrigerate it for minimum 4 hours.
The mixture should thicken after 4 hours and can be whipped into a pipeable, fluffy consistency in a Stand mixer , or use your electric hand mixer. The key is that once it is reached a fluffy consistency (1-2min), make sure you do not over whip the ganache as it can break. Whipped ganache should be stored in the fridge before using it or best if you use it immediately
Chocolate sponge
Heat oven to 180 C / 356°F
Prepare 4 15 cm (6 inch) round cake pan with parchment paper With an Electric hand mixer beat together the wet ingredients for 1-2 minutes: room temperature egg, oil, sugar, coffee and milk Sift dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt
Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients then fold just until combined
Divide batter equally into 4 cake pans with the help of a Digital scale Bake for 25-30 min or until skewer inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out clean
Cool the chocolate sponges on Cooling rack. Chill them in the fridge before trimming them
Chocolate ganache
Pour the cream into a small pan and place it over medium heat. As soon as it start simmering (before boiling) remove from heat
Pour warm cream over chocolate, stir until combined, then add butter and salt, and continue stirring until smooth, for a few more seconds
Pour the ganache into a shallow container and cover the top of the ganache with plastic wrap. Refrigerate it for a minimum of 1 hour, or until sets.
Assemble
Start with trimming your chilled chocolate cakes: you will need 6 layers: 1st layer: 6inches / 15cm - this will be one of the sponges as it is 2nd layer: 5 inches / 12.5cm -this will be trimmed3rd layer: 4 inches / 10cm - this will be trimmed, keep the leftover for the 6th layerNow you have 1 sponge left and you will need to cut 2 layers out of this. The 4th layer is 3inches / 7.5cm. The 5th layer 2inches / 5cm. Use a cookie cutterThe 6th layer will be a very small 1 inch / 2.5cm that you can cut out from the one that you have left from the 3rd layer Start layering the cake from bottom to top and fill each layer with chocolate ganache.
After the last layer is on top, you might want to consider inserting a long food safe skewer top to bottom that helps to stabilize the cake but it is not strictly necessary
Chill the cake either 1h in the fridge or 15min in the freezer
Divide the pistachio whipped ganache frosting into 2 - about 60%-40% so one of the batches should be a bit more than the other. The smaller batch will be used to frost around the cake as a first layer, and the larger batch will then be piped on top to make the Christmas tree design
Frost the cake with the smaller batch of cream. You can pipe the cream around the cake first, then smooth it with an offset spatula.
Chill the cake again either 1h in the fridge or 15min in the freezer before proceeding with piping
Move the remaining (larger batch) pistachio whipped ganache into a piping bag fitter with a star nozzle tip, and start piping around the cake starting from the bottom all around moving towards the top.
Chill the cake again before proceeding with decoration
INGREDIENT NOTES:
- Measure your ingredients with a Digital scale for accuracy
- All ingredients for the chocolate cake must be at room temperature to properly emulsify: eggs, milk, etc.
- Try using the best quality ingredients; 82% butter, high-quality chocolate, unsweetened dark cocoa powder, 100% pistachio taste, 36% fat content heavy cream, etc. Do not skip salt that will balance the sweetness of this cake
TECHNIQUE NOTES:
- Make sure you read my Expert tips section above to maximize your success. A short recipe alone is not able to cover all the necessary details, and science behind baking. Consider this recipe more like an in-depth tutorial, literally the only recipe you will ever need to make Christmas tree cake
- Chill the chocolate sponges before trimming. Room temperature or warm sponge cake can very crumble during trimming
- Assemble the cake on the serving tray you are planning to serve as at later stage you won´t be able to move the cake
- Let the chocolate ganache set before filling the cake. Straight when you make it, it is runny, but it will set over time in the fridge (the chocolate and butter will solidify)
- Let the pistachio ganache properly set before whipping it up. While whipping, pay very close attention to the consistency and stop whipping immediately after it gets fluffy. Overbeating would result in breaking the cream and instead of becoming stiffer, in fact, it will get runnier
- Make sure you chill the cake in between applying the different layers and frostings just as stated in the recipe. That is a standard procedure for making any layered cake, and skipping it would result in best in class baking disasters
- If you have never used a piping bag and piping nozzle before, it is worth making a cheaper buttercream and practice before
Calories: 743kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 52g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 195mg | Sodium: 392mg | Potassium: 369mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 52g | Vitamin A: 851IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 171mg | Iron: 3mg