Growing up, specially in her toddler years, she had what we called “a million dollar smile.”  As I would cuddle her in my arms, I would whisper for her to show me that million-dollar smile… and there it was without fail.

Even to this day, at the age of 27, I try to cuddle her in my lap and ask for that million-dollar smile. She doesn’t quite fit as she used to in my arms, but it sure is a lot of fun and laughter in trying to attempt it.

This past Fall, she came to live with us for almost six months. You never know how situations like that will go. Now, having lived through it, I can say that it is a time that I will forever cherish.  My sister and I bonded as adult, womanly friends and for that I a forever grateful.

To send her off on her new adventure in life, we had a going-away party for her.  How could I let a celebration slip by without some raw creation?!!  I simply couldn’t.  Neisha has a fascination with trees, much like her older sister (smiles), so I knew I had to design a cake with a tree on it.

It happened spontaneously and organically, each idea coming to me within the moment.  I never had so much fun.  My only regret is that I don’t have step by step photos of how to put it together.  I had just about two hours to create this on a whim.   If nothing else, I hope that by sharing this with you, it will inspire your creative side.

The Cake

Well, the raw cake was simple.  You can see that by reading the ingredient list.  She is a coffee lover, so I decided to add in some instant coffee to give it that flavor.  Feel free to adjust the spices and flavorings to your liking.

The base of the Tree

All of the decorations were made with marzipan, see recipe below.  This is the closest I could get to a cake baker’s play-dough called, fondant. The key is to use very fine almond flour. Simply grinding almonds down to flour, won’t work. I recommend either purchasing almond flour or making your own from the dehydrated almond pulp.

To create the base of the tree, I went on-line and googled, “tree drawings.”  From there I selected a tree that I liked and printed it out. My first thought was to cut the tree out and use it as a template… too much work and I was pressed for time.  So, I eye-balled it.  To give the tree a 3-D effect, I just molded the marzipan into strips and pressed them together.  It’s all very forgiving.

Leaves

To make the leaves, I used a mold that I bought at Michael’s Craft store. Here is a similar one to mine which can be purchased through Amazon. It’s one that cake bakers use with their fondant.  I just pressed the dough into the mold, cleaned up the edges, and popped it out.  Very very easy.  The only problem I had was knowing when to stop. lol

To create the coloring

The tan parts that show through is just the almond dough.  To get the brown in for depth and shadowing, I sprinkled some raw cacao on the counter and would just swipe a piece of dough in, getting a dusting of brown on it.  I thought it worked out perfectly, giving the leaves and the trunk of the tree some variation in color.

For the green leaves, I used a natural green food coloring that I had in my pantry.  In a pinch you could use spirulina or spinach… just watch that you don’t overwhelm the dough with those flavors.

Ingredients:

7″ round cake

• 1 1/2 cups raw almonds, soaked and dehydrated
• 1 1/2 cups raw walnuts, soaked and dehydrated
• 3/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 1 tsp Instant Expresso Powder
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups Medjool dates, pitted
• 1/4 cup liquid sweetener of choice (I used maple syrup)
• 1 Tbsp coconut aminos
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

Raw marzipan:

• 2 cups fine almond flour
• 6 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla or maple extract

Coloring:

• Raw cacao powder
• All natural green food coloring

Preparation:

Cake ingredients:

1. Place the dates in a bowl and add enough warm water to cover them. Soak for 15 minutes
   • This will soften the dates, making them easier to blend into the cake batter.
   • After the dates are done soaking, drain, and discard the soak water.  Squeeze the excess water from them before adding to the batter.
2. Place the nuts in the food processor, fitted with the “S” blade.  Process to a fine crumble.
3. Add the cacao, espresso powder, salt, and pepper.  Pulse together.
4. Remove the lid of the processor and sprinkle the dates around the bowl, along with the sweetener, coconut amino, and vanilla.  Process until the ingredients create a ball as it spins around.
5. Press the batter into a 7″ round pan.
   • I recommend springform pans because cakes are easy to remove from them.
   • Line the base with plastic wrap for ease of removal.

Raw marzipan:

1. In the food processor, fitted with the “S” blade, combine the almond flour, sweetener, and vanilla.  Process until the batter is smooth but be careful that you don’t process it too long… thus creating a nut butter.

Art Class:

1. This is where you can add your own creativity.  The marzipan is wonderful for creating different shapes.  You can make them by hand, with molds, or even cookie cutters.
2. Please read above on how I formed the tree and made the leaves.

 I love you, sweet sister!