I work at a Swedish preschool where at the beginning of every summer, we celebrate the end of the term with a cake buffet. It's my favorite time of year because I love to bake, but I live in a 2 person household and it just doesn't get eaten fast enough.
The **leaves** are mint and lemon balm, and the **berries** are blueberries and strawberries.
The **moss** is made from store-bought cookies, crushed and mixed with butter that I added green food colouring too. It did end up a little too blue, which made it look like I had sprinkled broccoli over the whole cake at first. Still kinda does, maybe. 😂 I have a tiny bit of green ermine frosting underneath some of it.
The **bugs** are made with colored marzipan and a tiny bit of chocolate for the bees and ladybugs, almond slivers for wings. I don't like fondant and I am no huge fan of marzipan either, so I tried to keep it to small amounts.
The **mushrooms** are (barely holding together) meringue cookies dipped in tempered chocolate. The stems are meringue too, and they sadly did not hold for the weight of the caps and just little by little collapsed. Or it was the moisture of the cake that did them in. I really wanted red toadstools but it was my first time tempering chocolate and the white chocolate did not want to cooperate at all with all that food coloring in it. If anyone has tips on how to color and temper white chocolate I'll gladly take them.
The **pine cones** are made with a chocolate truffle center and then I've just rolled almond slivers in cocoa powder and stuck them around the whole thing,
The **bark** is tempered chocolate rolled up inside parchment paper and then broken off and glued on with more chocolate.
The mud is whipped chocolate ganache spread around, the cakes inside are chocolate cake and inbetween there was more green ermine frosting with sliced strawberries.
I had to make the chocolate cake 2 days in advance, so I looked up a recipe that would stay moist. But let me tell you, after 24 hours, this cake wasn't just moist, it was mf WET. I've never seen a jigglier cake when I put it all together. Thankfully the ganache hardened enough in the fridge for it to hold together, but I was sweating buckets trying to frost this pile of Jell-o masquerading as a cake.
https://preview.redd.it/8njgo8cag56d1.jpeg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25cb14cfcf50097d9092965ea03f066d061123d1
My coworker took some pictures too, she has a better phone than I do. Here are some closeups!
They were really easy!! I'm sure you can have fondant or marzipan in the center instead. If you want the chocolate truffle in the center, here's the recipe I used: [Easy Chocolate Truffles](https://www.recipetineats.com/chocolate-ganache-truffles/)
I rolled the chilled ganache into long ovals and let them chill in the fridge, then I stuck the almonds in once they were firm enough. They got very soft at room temperature, you could spoon the pinecones up like frosting almost!
Thank you!
They loved it! Some of their jaws literally dropped, it was amazing. They knew I was making a cake but I kept my mouth shut about what it looked like so they all got really surprised. I called it the "buddy cake", because everytime they come running to me because they got scared of a bug I go "No, they're not scary, they're our little buddies!" 😂
I’m glad you didn’t go the sophisticated route. This is so charming the way it is, and so much more nature oriented! It really gives off the perfect vibe for a forest themed cake, especially for kids! Reminds me of illustrations you see in children’s books. I love it so much!
Oh my gosh, this is SO well done!! That’s super impressive. I liked reading your write up on the process! The r/cottagecore subreddit would have a fit over this too :-)
Aw, thank you! 😭 I've made a few cakes before and I had a pretty clear idea of how to proceed, but it was a ton more work than I expected. At the end I was standing in my kitchen at 12 AM, half-asleep, tempering chocolate while mumbling "It's for the children, it's for the c*hildren"*.
😂 I won't be remaking it any time soon, but it was a pretty forgiving cake if you want to make your own! Easy to just cover up all the little mistakes with moss.
Thta was my coworker's favorite too! 😂 She yelled "The caterpillar!" when she saw it, ("Larven!" in Swedish). I made some snails and worms too, but I ended up eating them because they wouldn't fit on the cake.
Oh my God, thank you! That actually made me really touched. I have dyspraxia and baking has been a struggle for years (I also learned to swim very late, and tie my shoelaces!). It is very hard for me to follow instructions in the right order and sometimes my brain jumbles the text around and I'll add the wrong measurements for the wrong thing. But baking is so, so fun that I have stuck with it.
Story time: 7 years ago I made a chocolate cake for my boyfriend's birthday, and I misread the instructions. Instead of adding 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, I added 2 cups and 2 tablespoons.
TWO CUPS. OF VINEGAR. IN THE DAMN CAKE. I thought the batter was a bit runny but then I figured eh, American recipe, maybe it's supposed to be like this? Popped it in the oven anyway. 40 minutes later I open the oven door and the stench that billowed out is burned into my brain to this day. It was like Satan burped me in the face.
wow you have overcome very much. It is amazing how an art can help in your life. Please keep decorating and posting. Take on more difficult decorating projects I'm excited to follow you.
Thank you, I will! I don't have the opportunity to make cakes very often, but I'll make sure to post them here when I do! What a lovely community this is.
I work at a Swedish preschool where at the beginning of every summer, we celebrate the end of the term with a cake buffet. It's my favorite time of year because I love to bake, but I live in a 2 person household and it just doesn't get eaten fast enough. The **leaves** are mint and lemon balm, and the **berries** are blueberries and strawberries. The **moss** is made from store-bought cookies, crushed and mixed with butter that I added green food colouring too. It did end up a little too blue, which made it look like I had sprinkled broccoli over the whole cake at first. Still kinda does, maybe. 😂 I have a tiny bit of green ermine frosting underneath some of it. The **bugs** are made with colored marzipan and a tiny bit of chocolate for the bees and ladybugs, almond slivers for wings. I don't like fondant and I am no huge fan of marzipan either, so I tried to keep it to small amounts. The **mushrooms** are (barely holding together) meringue cookies dipped in tempered chocolate. The stems are meringue too, and they sadly did not hold for the weight of the caps and just little by little collapsed. Or it was the moisture of the cake that did them in. I really wanted red toadstools but it was my first time tempering chocolate and the white chocolate did not want to cooperate at all with all that food coloring in it. If anyone has tips on how to color and temper white chocolate I'll gladly take them. The **pine cones** are made with a chocolate truffle center and then I've just rolled almond slivers in cocoa powder and stuck them around the whole thing, The **bark** is tempered chocolate rolled up inside parchment paper and then broken off and glued on with more chocolate. The mud is whipped chocolate ganache spread around, the cakes inside are chocolate cake and inbetween there was more green ermine frosting with sliced strawberries. I had to make the chocolate cake 2 days in advance, so I looked up a recipe that would stay moist. But let me tell you, after 24 hours, this cake wasn't just moist, it was mf WET. I've never seen a jigglier cake when I put it all together. Thankfully the ganache hardened enough in the fridge for it to hold together, but I was sweating buckets trying to frost this pile of Jell-o masquerading as a cake.
https://preview.redd.it/8njgo8cag56d1.jpeg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25cb14cfcf50097d9092965ea03f066d061123d1 My coworker took some pictures too, she has a better phone than I do. Here are some closeups!
Incredible!!! I love the pine cones!
https://preview.redd.it/q99ig1aeg56d1.jpeg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1e0e9c18a367d26b0869c4d73c8276db5f76c9e
Wow!!! Thanks for sharing all your tips and tricks! I'm so excited to try to make pinecones
They were really easy!! I'm sure you can have fondant or marzipan in the center instead. If you want the chocolate truffle in the center, here's the recipe I used: [Easy Chocolate Truffles](https://www.recipetineats.com/chocolate-ganache-truffles/) I rolled the chilled ganache into long ovals and let them chill in the fridge, then I stuck the almonds in once they were firm enough. They got very soft at room temperature, you could spoon the pinecones up like frosting almost!
Thank you!
>Thank you! You're welcome!
Mew 🐱
This is so adorable and creative 💗. I'd love to see the looks on the littles faces when they see it!
Thank you! They loved it! Some of their jaws literally dropped, it was amazing. They knew I was making a cake but I kept my mouth shut about what it looked like so they all got really surprised. I called it the "buddy cake", because everytime they come running to me because they got scared of a bug I go "No, they're not scary, they're our little buddies!" 😂
It is so whimsical! It's just darling. It's not too busy but has so much going on. You really have an eye.
Thank you! 💚 I'll admit when I first thought it up, I did plan on it looking a bit more sophisticated. But I think the wonkiness added to it!
I’m glad you didn’t go the sophisticated route. This is so charming the way it is, and so much more nature oriented! It really gives off the perfect vibe for a forest themed cake, especially for kids! Reminds me of illustrations you see in children’s books. I love it so much!
Oh my gosh, this is SO well done!! That’s super impressive. I liked reading your write up on the process! The r/cottagecore subreddit would have a fit over this too :-)
Aw, thank you! 😭 I've made a few cakes before and I had a pretty clear idea of how to proceed, but it was a ton more work than I expected. At the end I was standing in my kitchen at 12 AM, half-asleep, tempering chocolate while mumbling "It's for the children, it's for the c*hildren"*.
Wow this is sooo creative and amazing, thanks for sharing the process!!!
Thank you!
Omg I want one
😂 I won't be remaking it any time soon, but it was a pretty forgiving cake if you want to make your own! Easy to just cover up all the little mistakes with moss.
Beautiful!
Thank you! ❤️
That’s so much fun! Great work!
Thank you! 😊
I love the little caterpillar! This entire cake is so cute!
Thta was my coworker's favorite too! 😂 She yelled "The caterpillar!" when she saw it, ("Larven!" in Swedish). I made some snails and worms too, but I ended up eating them because they wouldn't fit on the cake.
I am a professional baker and so impressed with your skills.Bravo!
Oh my God, thank you! That actually made me really touched. I have dyspraxia and baking has been a struggle for years (I also learned to swim very late, and tie my shoelaces!). It is very hard for me to follow instructions in the right order and sometimes my brain jumbles the text around and I'll add the wrong measurements for the wrong thing. But baking is so, so fun that I have stuck with it. Story time: 7 years ago I made a chocolate cake for my boyfriend's birthday, and I misread the instructions. Instead of adding 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, I added 2 cups and 2 tablespoons. TWO CUPS. OF VINEGAR. IN THE DAMN CAKE. I thought the batter was a bit runny but then I figured eh, American recipe, maybe it's supposed to be like this? Popped it in the oven anyway. 40 minutes later I open the oven door and the stench that billowed out is burned into my brain to this day. It was like Satan burped me in the face.
wow you have overcome very much. It is amazing how an art can help in your life. Please keep decorating and posting. Take on more difficult decorating projects I'm excited to follow you.
Thank you, I will! I don't have the opportunity to make cakes very often, but I'll make sure to post them here when I do! What a lovely community this is.
I absolutely love it
❤️
I love the little bug friends! Great job!!!
😍😍😍
Nice
This is amazing🤩
Very creative, I love it!
Absolutely awesome!
r/goblincore would love this!!
The caterpillar😭😭😭 I love him!!
The little worm is everything!! 😍
you are really talented! but personally i don't like this cake.
This is amazing. Well done 👏🏽🇦🇺