Just in case you'd like to impress your guests this fall, I thought I would share how I made my Chocolate Maple Leaf Cake.
Maple Leaf Cake
And there, on the cover of a magazine was a cake I knew I had to recreate.
So I went on a search for Maple leaves.
Came home and was very proud of the leaves I had found.
After taking this photo and washing all the leaves and drying them, I got to thinking....
Maple leaves don't have acorns on them do they?
Then I realized that I picked Oak leaves NOT Maple leaves.
So back out on a search for Maple leaves...my mission was completed.
After washing and drying them, I bought dark and light chocolate candy melts to coat the back side of the leaves.
I painted the chocolate on with a little pastry brush and placed the pan in the refrigerator to harden.
Then...V E R Y C A R E F U L L Y I peeled the leaf away from the chocolate.
Keep the broken ones, you can use those as fillers!
Now that the hard part was done, I went on a mission to find a good chocolate cake recipe.
I have a ton of chocolate cake recipes, but decided to look further.
So I googled Really Good Chocolate Cake Recipe and I knew it was meant to be when a recipe titled "Really Good Chocolate Cake" came up.
I printed it out and the rest is history.
I have to say that the cake lived up to it's name and the frosting should have been titled "The Best Silky Chocolate Frosting in the World" because it is!!
So here are my cakes - it called for two 8" pans, but I didn't think that was right, so I used three 8' pans and I was very glad I did!
My mother taught me a little trick to lay wax paper around the bottom of the cakes to prevent your cake plate from getting full of frosting, like this.
Then you can just pull out the wax paper and lick it off.
I wish I had dropped more frosting on the paper, cuz it was sooooooooooo good!
Since I would be topping the cake with the chocolate leaves, I wanted the sides to look messy, and I didn't think about making it look like a tree trunk until it was too late.
See?? Nice clean cake plate, and it is really so much easier to lick the wax paper then to lick all around the cake plate!
Now for the fun part - decorating the cake the with the chocolate leaves!
I used some of the leftover chocolate frosting to stick the leaves in.
I bought mini fall decorations to place around the cake.
And yes, after all this hard work, we ate the cake!!
And everyone asked for a very SMALL slice.
(Are you kidding me?? Who wants a SMALL slice of anything chocolate??)
Oh, and I almost forgot...I had scooped out some Vanilla Ice Cream to serve along with the cake.
Froze them on paper plates ahead of time.
Then stacked them in a bowl to serve.
Anytime I serve Ice Cream, I always scoop it out first, freeze and serve it in a coordinating bowl.
I HATE to be struggling with a carton of ice cream during one of my parties!
Here is that wonderful recipe I used for the cake and frosting.
From Food Network
I hope you too, have a Wonder Fall Party!
I can't not imagine how long it must have taken to separate the leaves from the chocolate! That cake is a masterpiece! Also love the idea of scooping the ice cream ahead of time and freezing the scoops to put into a bowl!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree on the ice cream scooping! What a great idea to freeze individual scoops! And I'm glad you didn't make the cake look like bark it is so perfect exactly as it is!!
ReplyDeleteLove the cake. A new follower!
ReplyDeleteIn a perfect world I would LOVE to make this cake but sadly I live in my world...if I ever attempt this beautiful cake I may post my pictures so everyone can get a good laugh! If I could just make one leaf and have it turn out I would consider it a good day! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLove the ice cream tip. I'll definitely use that idea In the future. The chocolate leaves look like a lot of work, but so worth it. I think I'm going to go " leaf hunting" on my upcoming trip to Tennessee ;0) For some reason I don't think the cactus needles I'd find here in Arizona would achieve the same affect.
ReplyDeleteI always get a laugh out of your posts (your maple leaves with acorns!!), and learn something new each time.
Wow, wow, wow! Those chocolate leaves are amazing! I really want to try that but I doubt they'll come out as fantastic as yours. So impressive!
ReplyDeleteI would love for you to use the BOO banner, thank you so much! I feel so honored.
I'm following you now too, can't wait to see what else you have to share with us!
Brie from Darling Doodles
Wow! What a wonderful idea!! That cake is beautiful and looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteWow! This is an amazing post!
ReplyDeleteI love the leaf technique... very impressive.
Also thanks for the ice cream scooping idea!! I never thought of that!
I saw the magazine one in a magazine once too! I haven't been able to find it again! Do you remember what magazine you saw it in? Great job BTW!
ReplyDeleteI saw the original cake in a magazine once, and haven't been able to find it! Do you remember what magazine it was? Great job btw!
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry, I don't remember the magazine, I think it could have been Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies Home Journal or something like that.
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