I've been really nervous about making this cake. My mom volunteered me to make a cake for our family's yearly Christmas get together so I figured that would be a good time to make it.
I read the other RHB blogs about it and it looked like a mess. At first I was just worried that it was going to look like poop. But then while I was making the cake (before I made the pine cone parts stick out) my uncle Will came in the room and said he was worried because it looked like an inappropriately shaped cake. You can use your imagination there. By that time I was ready to just leave it at home.
But in the end, it (shockingly) worked out ok! It tastes like a flourless chocolate torte to me because it is so incredibly dense and chocolately.
The only problem that I ran into is that since the cake is so fragile, it seemed to be crushed between the ganache so that it was a very thin layer. I don't really know what to do about that.
In all the cake didn't take long at all. It consists of a chocolate cake that you make in a sheet pan. Then you roll it up in a towel to let it cool--I've never done anything like this before so I was immediately skeptical. Then you make a dark chocolate ganache with amaretto and almonds (yum) and a fondant that tastes like a tootsie roll (yum again). It's definitely a mouthful of chocolate.
I've left my camera at my house in Oxford so I had to tell my sister to bring hers for the party. Sadly there are no pictures to accompany the process because of this sad little fact.
Merry Christmas everyone!
PS. We didn't eat the berries on top... they may or may not be poisonous. =)
I am so glad your pinecone cake looks like a real pinecone than any other possible thing it could be. (Mine looked like what your Uncle was probably worried about.) What a treat for your family! Happy Holidays!
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