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Champagne Birch Tree Anniversary Cake

I made this cake for me and Marco's 1 YEAR (!!) anniversary! It looks like a birch stump with our initials carved into the side - so cute! This is a super moist champagne cake, but if you'd like a non-alcoholic cake recipe, check the LINK BELOW!
Course: dessert
Cuisine: american
Keyword: Cake

Ingredients

Cake base: (NON-ALCOHOLIC VANILLA CAKE BASE HERE: https://youtu.be/9QyEeNkdaYw)

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 6 large egg whites
  • 2 cups champagne or sparkling wine

Buttercream:

  • 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 5 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • brown black and green food coloring
  • ½ cup strawberry jam warmed in the microwave until liquid
  • ½ cup marzipan
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Instructions

To make the cake:

  • Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • In a large bowl, place the butter and sugar and beat with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and egg whites one at a time, mixing well with each addition.
  • Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the champagne. So it will be: dry ingredients, champagne, dry, champagne, dry.
  • Grease and flour three 6” round cake pans. Divide the batter between the pans and bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely.

To make the buttercream:

  • Beat the butter with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, mixing with each addition.
  • Dye 1 cup of buttercream brown, 1 cup dark green and ½ cup black. Leave the remaining buttercream white.

Assembly:

  • Slice the tops and bottoms off the cakes with a serrated knife.
  • Spread some strawberry jam onto one layer. Place a dollop of white buttercream on top and spread to the edges. Place another layer of cake on top and repeat with the jam and buttercream filling. Place the final layer of cake on top and cover the cake in a thin layer of white buttercream. Place it in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
  • Spread the brown buttercream only onto the top of the cake. Reserve about 1/3 cup of buttercream. Spread the white buttercream onto the sides of the cake and spread it upwards, so that it creates a raggedy top edge.
  • Use a skewer or thin pointy tool to make a spiral in the top brown surface of the cake. Use the same skewer to draw a heart and arrow on the side of the cake. Carve you and your partner’s initials into the center of the heart with a "+" connecting them.
  • Place the remaining brown buttercream into a piping bag. Snip a small hole at the end. Pipe the buttercream directly into the heart etchings on the side of the cake.
  • Place the black buttercream into a piping bag and snip a small hole at the end. Pipe dots around the white sides of the cake. Use a cake spatula to smear the black dots horizontally, creating a birch-like pattern. Wipe the spatula clean between each swipe, so that the stripes look nice and clean.
  • Shape the marzipan into mushroom caps and stems. Attach the caps to the stems. Dust cocoa powder on top to give them dimension, using a mesh sieve or a tea strainer.
  • Place the green buttercream into a piping bag and slice a V-shape into the end. This will create a leaf shape when you pipe.
  • Pipe leaves all over the cake, creating little stems and bunches of leaves. Stick the mushrooms onto the cake and enjoy!

Video