| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 45 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr |
| Cook: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 25 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (18.25-ounce) box spice cake mix (recommended: Betty Crocker)
- 2 (19.5-ounce) boxes chocolate cake mix (recommended: Betty Crocker)
- or
- Store-bought un-iced cakes: 2 (10-inch) chocolate cakes, 2 (8-inch) spices cakes, 2 (6-inch) chocolate cakes, and 1 jumbo chocolate cupcake (top cut off)
- 4 (16-ounce) containers creamy white frosting (recommended: Betty Crocker)
- 1 (1-fluid ounce) bottle green food color (recommended: McCormick)
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 4 drops green food coloring
- 1 sugar cone
- 1 (6.4-ounce) can white decorating icing (recommended: Betty Crocker-Easy Flow)
- 1 package red licorice whips, 6 cut into 6-inch lengths, 6 cut into 8-inch lengths, and 6 cut into 10-inch lengths
- 1 (6.4-ounce) can yellow decorating icing (recommended: Betty Crocker-Easy Flow)
- 1 (6.4-ounce) can red decorating icing (recommended: Betty Crocker-Easy Flow)
- 16 birthday candles
Instructions
- Cake:
- Mix and bake 2 (8-inch) cake layers according to spice cake package directions. Cool completely. Mix the 2 boxes of chocolate cake together according to package instructions. Bake 2 (6-inch) and 2 (10-inch) cake layers and 1 (7-ounce) ramekin. Cool completely.;
- Cone Tree:
- In a medium bowl combine white chocolate and 4 drops of green food coloring. Place bowl in microwave and heat at 50 percent power in 20-second intervals until white chocolate is melted and smooth. Dip the sugar cone into the chocolate and spin it around so that it is evenly coated. Remove from bowl and let excess chocolate drip off. Place on a plate lined with waxed paper and let dry.;
- Assembly:
- In a large bowl stir together frosting and about 10 to 12 drops of green food coloring. The icing should be a pale green color. If too light in color, add a few more drops of food coloring. Transfer the icing to plastic releasable bags or a pastry bag. Cut 1/2-inch off the corner of the plastic bags and set aside. Cut off the top of each layer so that it is flat and even. To assemble cake, place 4-inch by 12-inch strips of parchment paper around the edge of the cake plate or stand. Place 1 (10-inch) cake layer on cake stand on top of the parchment paper. Spread a layer of frosting and top with remaining 10-inch layer. Frost cake with icing. Place 1 (8-inch) layer on cardboard cake round. Spread an even layer of frosting and top with remaining 8-inch layer. Frost cake with icing and place on top and in the center of the frosted 10-inch cake. Place 1 (6-inch) layer on a cardboard cake round. Spread with a layer of frosting and top with remain 6-inch layer. Frost cake with icing and place on top and in the center of the frosted 8-inch cake. Place the small cake that was baked in the 7-ounce ramekin (or the jumbo cupcake) on top of the 6-inch layer and frost with the icing. Place the cone tree on top. To decorate the cake, first carefully remove the parchment paper from underneath the bottom layer. Using the can of white decorating icing fitted with the star tip make small rosettes around the top and bottom edge of each cake tier and the bottom of the cone tree. Place a small rosette at the top of the cone tree. Drape the licorice whips like “garland” around the bottom 3 cake tiers using the 6-inch lengths for the top layer, the 8-inch lengths for the middle layer and the 10-inch length for the bottom layer. Using the yellow icing can fitted with a star tip, pipe rosettes where the garland strands meet. Place 1 small rosette on top of the cone tree. Using the red icing fitted with the round tip randomly place small red dots around the cake. Place candles in the yellow icing rosettes between licorice garlands.;
Reviews
My guests JUST LOVED this. I went to the bakery of my local grocery store and asked if I could buy uniced round cakes. They just gave them to me, so this recipe is SUPER economical. I added some root beer extract to the frosting, just to make it interesting. I happen to have an antique samuri sword that belonged to my husband’s grandfather and we just hacked through it with that. The serving’s are REALLY generous.
This is the most ridiculous “recipe” I’ve ever seen on Food Network. I’m usually a fan of Sandra, but this one doesn’t even make any sense! There is no such thing as a “store-bought unfrosted cake” like the ones she showed on this episode. Besides, how hard is it to bake up a cake mix on your own? The amount of “icing” she used on this cake was extreme and there is no way the cake didn’t slip and slide all over the plate. Big failure in my opinion.
I was wondering if there are any hints on cutting and serving the cake?
I tried to make this cake for my friend’s birthday. We love watching Semi-Homemade and when we saw the episode around Christmas she asked me to make that her birthday cake. I told her okay, but that I would make it true to the recipe- box cake, green frosting and all. My cake fell (you can see pictures of the disaster at http://semi-edible.blogspot.com/), but I imagine others’ would stand if they didn’t try to frost the cake on the same day they baked it (which I later learned was bad). Falling cake aside, the box spice cake was gross and the green frosting was kind of off putting for me.
i just love it
The most ridiculous cake I’ve ever seen.
My husband and I saw this cake on the Semi-Homemade Cooking show and thought it would be an awesome idea to do for our HUGE Christmas celebration (nearly 30 people in attendance). So we pared it down a bit: only made one type of cake, skipped the chocolate covered sugar cone and the cutting of each layer in half to fill with icing (we simply iced each section whole). We put the iced bottom two layers in a cake container, then reserved the top two iced sections on a small plate for easier transport in the car. When we got to our destination, we assembled the iced cake, then let the kids decorate it with colored sugar balls and licorice and mini-marshmallows. Then we all sang happy birtthday to Jesus and let the kids blow the candles. It made a great dessert table centerpiece and it wasn’t so sickeningly full of icing as other reviewers suggest. Also, we didn’t have any problem with the cake sliding around, even though we didn’t use cardboard cake rounds or a skewer through the center. This is such an awesome idea, I’ll definitely use it in the future! I think this was a featured recipe specifically for the creativity in the decorating, not for the culinary skills required.
As a hobbyist baker/decorate I can tell you th frosting recipe is way too soft at room temp. If you do not want your cakes sliding all over the place and the frrosting melting as you pipe all that goo on, I would refrigerate it all and take out only what you need. The frosting will heat up in your hands as ypu pipe and the icing is already very soft. Gel colors are a better way to tint and it does not add more liquid to the frosting. The cake is pretty, but it will probably taste gross due to the canned frosting. I would find a buttercream frosting recipe and substitute. If the cake is going to travel, you should also use dowels to secure the layers.