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!
