Peppermint Forest Cake for The Mental Health Association of Nova Scotia
From concept to completion, things change. Sometimes because I overestimate my level of skill and patience, sometime because it looks better in my head then it does in real life. When I was asked to provide a cake for the luncheon I readily agreed. I like doing over the top cakes and I don’t get to do them very often.
Original concept – almond cake, with white chocolate buttercream, covered with marzipan. All these things happened without a hitch. For the decor – white chocolate trees, snow, and greenery. A super classy, stylish cake. That part sort of went to shit. Firstly, tempering chocolate is something I learned in culinary school, I don’t do it often, but I know how to do it. However, the school had the “chocolate room” a beautifully air conditioned space sealed off from the rest of the class. The downside to this room was that it had a giant window that faced into the dining room and people would watch you. I don’t mind it now, clearly, but at the time, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. My kitchen here has less of a controlled environment. Bringing the temperature of the chocolate down to where it’s supposed to be can be difficult when that number is below the temperature of the room your working in. Long story short, it bloomed, twice, and I had to think of another plan.
I’m not sure how it morphed into something that looks like it was illustrated by Dr. Seuss, but I’m happy that it did. I sprayed the surface of the marzipan with white cocoa spray to give it a bit of snowy texture. I made some peppermint flavoured swiss meringues and dunked them in white chocolate, then dipped them in crushed candy canes. Topped with edible snow flakes, its whimsical and delicious.
Things rarely go as planned, roll with it, sometimes you end up with something better.
