Holiday Snow Globe Cake - Medium Difficulty

I have always wanted to do something new and different, but I just didn't know that it would be this messy. I was dreaming of cakes; each more amazing than the last. Then I thought of this. I showed my sketches to my parents, who instantly were on the "I-don't-think-that's-going-to-happen" line. Luckily, some of our cake-loving family were in town, and helped turn my sketches into reality. This cake is chocolate and peppermint flavored with peppermint buttercream frosting and adorable cake pop figurines. I hope you enjoy this winter dessert!

Supplies

For the Chocolate & Peppermint Cake:

-1 box chocolate instant pudding mix

-1 box devil's food cake mix

-2 cups mini chocolate chips

-1 cup sour cream

-½ cup milk

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

-4 eggs

-peppermint extract

For the Peppermint Frosting

-peppermint-flavored candy canes

-1 cup butter, softened

-4 cups powdered sugar

-2 teaspoon vanilla extract

-1 cup heavy cream

-red dye, green dye

*For the red frosting, we will also need ½ cup cocoa powder

For the Figurines

-excess of cake

-chocolate frosting

-sprinkles

-1 rolo

-1 junior mint

-white melting chocolate

-green melting chocolate

-powdered sugar.

-gold, red, fondant

Let's go!

Step 1: The Planning

This cake has a lot of ingredients, and we weren't even sure what, exactly, we needed. Here are a couple of sketches my cousin made. Let's just say she's an expert at cake making. We googled snow globes and decided what we liked and what we didn't and how to incorporate it into our cake. The planning and baking of this cake took the better part of the day.

Step 2: Just Beat It

First, for the cake, beat the four eggs until they are a creamy yellow color, shown above. Jam out to Michael Jackson while beating it... Then set it aside.

Step 3: Into the Thick of It

Add the chocolate pudding mix, devil's food cake mix, sour cream, milk, vanilla extract, eggs, and peppermint extract to the bowl. This is going to be a very thick mixture. You should consider using a hand mixer for this.

Step 4: Chocolate Chips

Take out your two cups of mini chocolate chips and a bit of flour, and then coat the chocolate chips with the flour. Use a very minimal amount of flour, as too much might interfere with the texture of your cake. Coating the chocolate chips with flour helps prevent sinking chips in your cake. Add them in your batter and gently fold in.

Step 5: It's Time to Bake That Cake!!!!

Time to bake your cake! Put them in two 8-inch pans for the length of time your boxed mix recommends. You should place parchment paper at the bottom of the pan to ensure that the cakes do not stick. After that time, check on it every five minutes. Your toothpick should be slightly wet when you take it out. When the cakes are cool, wrap them in saran wrap and store them in the freezer for about five minutes.

Step 6: Slicing Down to Size

Take your cakes out of the freezer and stack them on top of each other on the cake board. Place a six-inch cake board on the bottom of your cake. Take a bread knife and, a little bit at a time, slice it down to six inches. You should not see any cardboard. Take a cake off the turntable.

Step 7: Flattening the Cake

Identify the lowest spot on the cake. Hold the knife flat and firmly on that spot. Lock your elbow in place, don't move it. Use your other hand to slowly turn the cake around, and you should have a bit of cake on top of the knife. It takes some practice to get it right. Once you have removed the whole section, gently remove the top and put it in a bowl for later. This will help even out your cake, so it is not tipping over. Do the same thing with the other cake, then put it in the freezer. Again.

Step 8: Forming the Cake Shape

Take a 5-inch cake board and carefully place it on top of your cake. Both cakes should be on the turntable, on top of each other. Try to make one of the sides align with the edge of the cake.

Slowly take a bread knife and place it at an angle that you would like the sides of the bottom of the snow globe to look like. You must keep that same angle consistent all around the cake. Take off a little bit of cake at a time, and don't slice down. Remember to keep the scraps in a bowl for later! Try to leave the chocolate chips in, because if you take them out there will be holes in your cake.

Pick a side that looks better than the others. This will be your front. Now, put the cake back in the freezer. You are doing great!

Step 9: Crushing the Peppermint

Get out your rolling pins, ziplock bags, and candy canes because IT'S TIME TO CRUSH IT!! As you beat the iconic holiday treats to (nearly) smithereens, try and make the peppermint still have a bit of a crunch to them, so you shouldn't see fine peppermint stick at the bottom of your bag. I really recommend doing this on a undentable surface (I learned that the hard way.). Set this aside until we frost.

Step 10: Buttercream Frosting

First, take your cup of softened butter and mix until it is scattered around the bowl. Then add a bit of powdered sugar and vanilla. You should be mixing every time you add something new to the bowl. Now add the heavy cream and another cup of powdered sugar and a few drops of food dye. Mix until the frosting's texture feels light and airy.

Split the frosting in three bowls, but have more in one than another. That will be the red. Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder. This will help your frosting not look pink. Dye one green, and leave the other alone.

Step 11: Our Globe

We were first going to do a gelatin globe, but soon we realized that it was barely see-through. We then turned to other ideas. We went with the idea to get a large plastic ornament and cut off the bottom. My dad helped me with this part, as I have little skill in the workshop area. He used X-acto knife to cut off the top so the base was four inches in diameter.

Step 12: Cake Pop Dough

You remember those scraps of cake that I told you to put in a bowl? Get the bowl out and grab the chocolate frosting. Get a big bowl out and dump the cake in that. Take two huge spoonfuls of the chocolate frosting and safely fling it in there. Start mixing it with a hand mixture. Keep on mixing until it's the consistency of playdough. Now roll a small ball and a bigger ball out for the snowman. Feel free to eat as much as you want (It's the best snack).

Take out some wax paper and place a big hunk of the cake pop dough on it and fold the wax paper on top of it so when you roll it out, the dough doesn't touch the rolling pin. Pull out your tree cookie cutter and cut it out. Stick a cake stick in the bottom of both the tree and the snowman so it's easy to apply chocolate. Between the balls of the snowman apply some of the buttercream frosting. Now let them chill in the fridge. (So much chilling!)

Step 13: Decorating the Snowman and Tree

OK, let's now melt the green and white chocolate for 30-second increments at half power. Don't forget to stir the chocolate after every 30 seconds, otherwise it will burn. Take the cake pop figurines out from the fridge and carefully dip them in, using your fingers to fill in the crevices. Use the chocolate to decorate the tree by drizzling the chocolate over it and then sprinkling edible gold glitter before it dries.

For the snowman, you can use sprinkle eyes, carrot-shaped sprinkles, an edible marker, and fondant for the scarf. The fondant scarf can be a bit tricky, because it is hard to get the right thickness and length for it. When we made the hat, we used a Rolo and Junior Mint for the top hat. We applied everything with frosting.

Step 14: Applying Frosting Part 1: Crumb Coat

Take your cake out of the freezer and put it on a turntable. Get a big hunk of frosting on your pallet knife and slowly spread it around. This is going to be a thin coat of frosting, and you should see the darkness of the cake. This layer will make it easier for you to frost the cake. Remember to keep your knife at the same angle throughout the entire cake, or you will end up slicing it! Again, let it chill in the freezer.

Step 15: Applying Frosting Part 2: Final Layer

Do the same thing as above, but this time use more frosting, and make sure it's smooth. This layer is the most important, so be careful!

Step 16: Applying Frosting Part 3: Making the Snow

Use your ornament to lighty push down to put an indent in the frosting. Take a bit of the white buttercream and fill the indent in with the snow, and remember, it's snow, so it doesn't need to be smooth. Good Job!

Step 17: Deck the Halls

You are going to take out our green frosting now, and put it into a piping bag with a star-shaped tip. Use a cup to indent where you are going to pipe. Push in, push out to get the nice star shape. Practice first on wax paper, and then the back of the cake. If you really want to get fancy, make tiny bows or use red sprinkles on top of the garlands. Cute!

Step 18: Fondant Ring

Make a snake with your Gold Play-Dough- I mean Gold fondant. Roll it out to about a foot long and have it about half of an inch thick. The width should be one inch, and have a knife on hand. Take your knife and cut the strip in half, so each strip is one inch wide. Apply the fondant to the bottom of the cake, and overlap the excess and cut it off.

Step 19: Finishing Touches

Push in the sticks of your two cake pops and make sure they don't block the way of the globe. If you want to, sprinkle powdered sugar on top of them to get the snow effect. Slowly put on the globe.

Step 20: Covering Up

Get out the little bit of white frosting and put it into a piping bag. Pipe the frosting in the same way you did with the garlands. In, out, gently repeating it until you've covered the globe.

Step 21: Pat Yourself on the Back!!

Now this is something worthy of taking pictures! Snap a few and be proud to say "I Made It!" I hope you like my Instructable full of jokes and learning.

-When one teaches, two learn.-

NerdyandLoveit