Moist Chocolate Cake Xmas Trees

  4.1 – 17 reviews  • Baking
We’ve dressed up the Devil’s Peaks out of Just A Bite with festive red, green and silver candies — like decorating a tiny chocolate Xmas tree.
Level: Intermediate
Total: 3 hr
Prep: 30 min
Inactive: 2 hr
Cook: 30 min
Yield: 20 servings
Level: Intermediate
Total: 3 hr
Prep: 30 min
Inactive: 2 hr
Cook: 30 min
Yield: 20 servings

Ingredients

  1. 3 cups sugar
  2. 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  3. 1 1/8 cups cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
  4. 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  5. 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  6. 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  7. 3 eggs
  8. 1 1/2 cups milk
  9. 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  10. 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  11. 1 1/2 cups very hot water
  12. 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted
  13. 6 ounces white chocolate, melted
  14. Red and green mini candy covered chocolates (recommended: M & M’s)
  15. Silver dragee

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut 1-inch holes out of the bottom of a large inverted foil roasting pan in neat rows, leaving 1 to 2 inches in between the holes. Invert the pan and place paper cooler cups in the holes to hold them upright during baking.
  2. Sift together the 3 cups sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Transfer to a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer) and blend briefly. Whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for 5 minutes. Gradually add the hot water, mixing at low speed just until combined. The batter will be quite thin.
  3. Pour the batter into the cups. Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (a few crumbs are okay) and the center feels firm to the touch, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan. Chill for 2 hours then peel off the paper being careful not to tear off the tip of the peak.
  4. Place cakes on a rack over a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and with a fork drizzle both colors of chocolate then stick on M & M’s and silver dragee to look like ornaments on a little Xmas tree.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 of 20 servings
Calories 373
Total Fat 16 g
Saturated Fat 5 g
Carbohydrates 58 g
Dietary Fiber 3 g
Sugar 41 g
Protein 5 g
Cholesterol 28 mg
Sodium 283 mg
Serving Size 1 of 20 servings
Calories 373
Total Fat 16 g
Saturated Fat 5 g
Carbohydrates 58 g
Dietary Fiber 3 g
Sugar 41 g
Protein 5 g
Cholesterol 28 mg
Sodium 283 mg

Reviews

Tracy Miller
Fun, cute and kids and adults alike love them. I’m hosting cookie exchange and don’t want my friends to have to eat their exchanged cookies so I’m making these to have after our soup and tea sandwiches.

I found the conical cups at Ace Hardware or they can be ordered online at Walmart.

Thank you for the yummy recipe.

Tami Williams
I am really excited to make these tree cakes, but on the video it is stated 2 1/4 cups of flour and the printed ingredients states 2 3/4 cups of flour, which amount should I use? I apologize if I should know this but obviously I don’t. Thank so much for helping me Lea M
Tabitha Romero
First of all this is the best chocolate cake recipe ever!  I use it whenever I need a chocolate cake (but warning, it makes a lot of batter).  Hint if you can’t find the cone shapes — I used birthday party hats lined with parchment — worked great!
Eric Miller
I️ can make them 1 day.
Christina Oneill
Hi I just want to ask a question about the cup sizes for the recipe as we are in the uk, and all cups come in different sizes, we don’t want to mess up and use to much or to little from the ingredients, Many thanks
Aaron Tran
I loved this recipe. I made these for my son’s class and they all enjoyed them. My friends are now making these for school gatherings and family times. Thank you Gale for sharing this.
James Ward
These trees were great. I made them with my Grandkids. We had a great time. The cake itself was the best chocollate cake I ever ate, moist and delious. The cups were had to find but I found them at Staples. They were a hint everwhere I brought them. People were asking me for the recipe. I will try the batter in a cake form the next time I bake Choc. cake.
People should not give a rating if they can’t find cups or if it looked hard to make. If you change the recipe thern don’t rate it.
Eric Brown
The best place to find the cone shaped cups is at an office supply store, Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax.
Hayley Payne
I have made these several times as they are very cute. I was lucky enough to get the cone shaped cups from a company (jn my area) that provides water coolers to businesses and homes – such as Poland Spring. I explained what I was going to do with them and they were nice enough to give me a full sleeve of them. As far as the dragees – also had a problem with this but was told of a bakery in my area that puts them on cakes – I called the bakery to check and they also gave me a free (small) bag. You don’t need many of these anyway. Lastly, for the person below that wrote that M & M’s are too big, you are correct. You need to buy the small hard plastic cylindrical container of mini M & M’s which are a perfect size.
Felicia Gaines
Amazon.com has the paper cones. Search under “cone water cups.” Someone told me that either Costco or Sam’s Club has them, too.
Amazon also has the silver dragees.

 

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