Olivia Moore: Peppermint cashew cream trees with chocolate cake dough

Peppermint cashew cream trees with chocolate cake dough. Photo / Olivia Moore - That Green Olive.

At this time of year, our pantries seem to accumulate containers of brownies, cakes and cupcakes from end-of-year work festivities; whether they be work dos, Christmas bake sales or home baking from the neighbours.

If you’ve got random bits of cake laying around, chuck them in the food processor with some melted chocolate, and voila - you have “cake dough”.

This can be molded into whatever shapes you desire - for the sake of this recipe, we’re rolling them into balls and then flattening them into discs as a base for a peppermint cream tree.

The peppermint cream is melt-in-your-mouth smooth and incredibly creamy, and is made with coconut milk and cashews. It’s a wholefood-based way to make what resembles (and tastes like) buttercream, and it’s also dairy-free, with no sugar added.

Here’s one to make for your next Christmas party!

Ingredients

Makes 10 small trees

● 300g cake (any mild-tasting cake will do)

● 100g dark chocolate

● 500ml canned coconut milk

● 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes and drained

● 50g cornflour

● ¼ cup coconut oil

● 1 tsp liquid stevia (alternatively use ¾-1 cup sugar)

● ½ tsp peppermint extract

● ½ tsp salt

● Finely chopped peanuts, to garnish

● Edible stars (you may make your cake dough stars - see notes)

Method

1. To make the cashew cream, blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Transfer to a container and chill for 6 hours or overnight to set.

2. To make the cake dough, roughly crumble the cake into a heatproof bowl and add the dark chocolate. Heat in the microwave or over a double-boiler until the cake’s oils and chocolate have melted.

3. Transfer to a food processor and pulse until a dough forms. Roll roughly ⅛ cup amounts of the dough into balls and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Gently flatten each with your palm. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to harden.

4. When ready to assemble, transfer cashew cream to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe swirls onto each cake dough disc, to resemble trees. Sprinkle over a light dusting of finely chopped peanuts, to resemble snow. Garnish each with an edible star and serve. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Notes

To make your own edible stars, you can make a yellow cake dough using white chocolate instead of dark chocolate (or a little coconut oil for dairy-free), and colouring with turmeric or yellow food colouring. Roll the dough out and stamp with a small star cutter.