Christmas Tree Cake

12 standard portions

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Ingredients

• 250 g Butter (softened)
• 250 g Caster sugar
• 4 Eggs (medium)
• 210 g Self-raising flour
• 20 g Cocoa powder
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 140 g Plain yogurt
• 50 g Chocolate chips (dark)
• 250 g Butter
• 400 g Icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons Milk
• 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
• 100 g Jam
• 15 g Food colouring gel (Green)
• 5 g Food colouring gel (Yellow)
• 5 g Food colouring gel (Red)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C(fan)/350°F/Gas 4. Grease and line a 30x20cm (12x10") baking tin.
2. Add 250 g Butter and 250 g Caster sugar to a large mixing bowl. Mix together until light and fluffy.
3. Whisk in 4 Eggs one at a time.
4. Sift in 210 g Self-raising flour, 20 g Cocoa powder and 1 tsp Baking powder. Gently fold the dry ingredients in.
5. Add 140 g Plain yogurt, 1 tsp Vanilla extract and 50 g Chocolate chips. Carefully fold these into the mixture.
6. Pour the cake batter into the lined baking tin and smooth over. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until an inserted knife comes out clean.
7. Once cooked, leave the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes.
8. Slice the cake in half through the middle and spread 100 g Jam over the bottom half.
9. Mix together 250 g Butter, 400 g Icing sugar, 2 tbsp Milk and 1 tbsp Vanilla extract, until smooth.
10. Remove two small amounts and put in separate bowls.
11. Add 15 g Food colouring gel (green) to the large amount and 5 g Food colouring gel (red) and 5 g Food colouring gel (yellow) to the smaller amounts. Mix well to get the desired colours.
12. Pipe about 1/3 of the green icing onto the jam. Put the top half of the cake back on and cut out a tree shape.
13. Starting from the bottom of the tree, pipe the remaining green icing in small downward motions, working upwards and slightly overlapping the row below.
14. Add small spots of red and yellow icing to make lights and baubles.