It’s not a very Merry Christmas this year; not with the genocide in Gaza and all the other sadness in other parts of the world. Even when I was shooting this cake, I noticed that I was unable to use any bright or colorful props. I hope there will be enough love and mercy to make it stop. This will never be forgotten 🇵🇸

Before I start talking about this recipe I need to give credit to Natalia from Lieblings Desserts for being the source of the recipe!

Of course I didn’t dare to just copy and paste it as-is and in fact when I looked at her final cake it really reminded me of a tree bark in some ways with all the brown lines and loops, so I had to add my own twist. I made two-tone crepes using half matcha and half coco powder in the batters in order to give a more tree-like effect to the final look of the cake. With some activated charcoal powder I also managed to turn the base of the cake into a darker soil-like color.

Let’s get started!

• Ingredients:
  • Cake base:
    • 2 eggs
    • 70g granulated white sugar
    • 1 tsp honey
    • 20g melted butter
    • 30 ml milk
    • 65g self-raising flour (or 60g AP flour + half a tsp of baking powder)
    • 5g unsweetened coco powder
    • 2g activated charcoal powder (optional)
    • Pinch of salt
    • 20cm round baking tin (preferably with removable sides)
  • Crepes batters:
  • 100g flour
  • 20g unsweetened coco powder
  • 20g sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 130g milk (full-fat)
  • 70g boiling hot water
  • 10g honey
  • 10g corn oil
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt
  • *Same ingredients again for the matcha crepes but replace coco powder with matcha powder
• Cream filling:
  • 250g cream cheese
  • 160g heavy Greek yogurt (minimum 5% fat)
  • 90g powdered sugar (divided equally)
  • 250g heavy whipping cream
  • 10g honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla paste (optional)
• Method:
  • First preheat your oven to 170°C.
  • Beat the eggs and sugar first using an electric mixer until the eggs became pale in color and volume of the mixture triples. Your mixture should be well aerated, thick and fluffy. This usually works best over a very gentle warm water bath.
  • Add the milk, honey and melted butter.
  • Sift in all the dry ingredients and thrn carefully fold the mixture until fully combined.
  • Pour the cake base batter into the greased baking tin nd bake for 22 to 25 minutes depending on your oven.
  • While the cake is baking let’s make the crepe layers. In two separate bowls mix all of the ingredients of the two colored batters, apart from the boiling water. One for the coco and one for the matcha.
  • Add the boiling water last and mix until fully homogeneous and smooth. You may strain the batters for a finer texture.
  • Cover both bowls of batter and let them rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
  • Now let’s make the cream filling. First whip the cream cheese and 45g of powdered sugar using an electric mixer.
  • Add the yogurt, honey, vanilla and whip again.
  • In a separate bowl add the cold heavy whipping cream and whip until soft peaks form.
  • Gradually add 45g of powdered sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
  • Gently fold the whipped cream mixture into the cream cheese mixture for a delicate and smooth cream filling. Cover and keep chilled.
  • To make the crepes, heat up a medium sized (16 or 18cm) non-stick pan over medium heat.
  • Grease the pan lightly with vegetable oil once it’s hot and pour one ladle of each of the batters into either side of the pan.
  • Quickly swirl and shake the pan to cover it in an even layer of batter. And wait for 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Flip the crepe and cook on the other side for 1 minute.
  • Remove the crepe from the pan and place it on a flat dish.
  • Repeat until you finish both batters and end up with a stack of crepes on the dish.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to cool.
  • Now let’s assemble! First spread a thin layer of the cream filling on the cake base. This will help the crepe layers to adhere to the base for some extra stability.
  • Now spread a thin layer of filling cream onto each crepe and fold it in on the cream in thirds. You will end up with lots of wide strips of filled crepes.
  • Place 2 of the strips of crepes on a large flat, clean surface and start rolling them together.
  • Continue to roll them with a third strip. Once you are happy with the roll, place it vertical onto the center of the cake base.
  • Carefully grab the cream brushed crepe strips and wrap them around the roll. Make sure use the filling cream as adhesive to ensure a tight hug of those crepe layers.
  • Once you have wrapped all the crepes around the roll, you will end up with a rose-like finished piece. If you have a cake tin with removable sides, place sides back on to ensure that the layers stay put together while the cake chills in the fridge.
  • Chill for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight.
  • Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.
  • Indulge! 🎄

Thank you for the inspiration Natalia!! 🙏🏽 Super schön!