Weirwood Cake
Alright, so this cake isn’t exactly something from the books. But as soon as I saw the haunted house cake as the October photo on my cake calendar, the image of this leapt into my head, and wouldn’t leave.
The trunk is white chocolate, molded freehand using a spoon and toothpick on a silpat. There are a couple of wooden skewers supporting the main part of the trunk, and the chocolate is poured over that. Then I poured the branches and roots (separately), as well as the pieces to brace the back of the tree. Because, of course, it had to stand upright. I then brushed some watered down cinnamon over the cooled chocolate to give it a little shading and color.
The leaves are gum paste, dyed red, and punched out with a stencil. Some have veining scored onto them, some were left to harden into a curled shape for more depth and visual interest. I stuck them onto the tree with leftover white chocolate, periodically putting the whole baking sheet in the freezer to help keep it seized up.
Finish the eyes with a bit of decorative red cake gel, and presto, a really fun GoT twist for Halloween!
wow. awesome.
wow, just wow. that’s amazing
stunning, this would make a beautiful center piece of a GoT dinner
that is unbelievably awesome!!
This would be a great project for a GOT season premiere party. You guys are awesome, as always.
BEST.CAKE.EVER.
Would love to re-create it for a GoT party.
That is spooktacular!!! Love it!
You have outdone yourself!
Brilliant!
That is awesome!!!
This is amazing! Excellent work.
this is a beautiful representation of the tree from weirwood-Wondrous job-Bravo-Id buy that from you in a heartbeat-My baking skills arent as good as yours-Id sure like a taste though
While the tree is pretty damn awesome I find myself hoping that you built it on a red velvet cake possible marbling it with a white chocolate mud cake.
Did you use tempered chocolate for the trunk or just normally-melted one?
Being pressed for time, and unable to bother with the hassle of tempering chocolate, I used white Wilton Candy Melts. I’d thought of making the leaves out of the red Candy Melts, but opted for gum paste instead. Using the wafers enabled me to work in batches building up the face in the tree, and giving cool texture to the bark.
Absolutely amazing !…I want one ..
That. Is. Stunning. You absolutely nailed it.
Awesome!
Genius. Pure genius.
I love this and your artistry. Well done.
Hi everybody!
A new book about Roman and medieval gastronomy (although also Mesopotamia… and al-Andalus!) has been published and I’ve thought you might be interested in it. I’m sorry, but the book is in Spanish, it is titled Recetas con historia = Recipes with history. More information:
http://www.lavanguardia.com/libros/20111103/54236677597/angeles-diaz-simon-con-el-imperio-romano-surgio-el-primer-intento-de-globalizacion.html
http://www.papelenblanco.com/divulgacion/recetas-con-historia-un-viaje-culinario-a-traves-del-tiempo
Best regards!
this is the greatest cake I have ever seen
I just realized I hadn’t checked in to see this yet (we’re moving into our new house on Dec 1st so things are crazy!!), it’s even better than I imagined it would be! Bravo guys! Totally going to attempt it too, it’s too awesome not to! I can’t wait! :D
(A Weirwood cake is an appropriate Christmas cake, right? Right.)
Hi!
I really enjoy all your posts! I wrote a blog post about food and film and featured your Weirwood cake, of course I linked it back here! Take a look if you like! :) Kind Regards, xx
http://pandacookbook.wordpress.com/2011/11/20/food-and-film/
I made this for my premier party and it came out awesome. I used red melting wafers for the leaves, because I’ve never worked with gum paste.
Everyone was very impressed. Definitely makes a great centerpiece!
Thanks!
Photos or it didn’t happen!! :)
When I first found this site I pondered the idea that the food just looked good because of nice presentation and good photography but this dashes my doubts. Defiantly out of my skill level. Beautiful cake.
This is amazing! Do you have pictures of the back so we can see how you braced it?
I don’t think so! I just used those triangular pieces of chocolate to prop up the back, with a lot of icing.
I might revisit this, along with the heart cupcakes, to make better how-to posts. :)
How did you mold the shape of the trunk freehand? Did you have to temper the chocolate? I’m worried that the melted chocolate will not really stay together to form a solid trunk. Thanks!
Because I used those candy melt chocolates, they seized right up when cool! I have my doubts about being able to follow directions closely enough to properly work with regular chocolate. ;)
Thanks, Chelsea! One more thing, did you use a particular type of food dye for the gum paste? The dye I am using seems to only turn the white gum paste a pinkish color.
It was the really serious food dye gel that comes in the little plastic jars, and never comes off your hands if you aren’t careful. King Arthur flour sells it, among many other stores!
This cake is awesome! Bestfriend & I are preparing a finale feast for this Sunday. We’re going to attempt this cake for the dessert table centerpiece! Also love your cookbook :)