Cupcake Cake with Chocolate Pine Cone Wreath

Looking for a one-of-a-kind Christmas dessert this year? This wreath cake is really a cupcake pull apart cake! It’s also all buttercream, so no fondant. What’s so amazing about it? It’s covered with chocolate pine cones!

Indeed, they are CHOCOLATE PINE CONES! You should absolutely add this to your Christmas baking list.

To prepare this cake, you’ll need a few supplies, most notably pine cone molds. I utilized two different sizes, although you are not need to do so. By the way, the molds aren’t too costly, and I’ve included links to the ones I bought in the supply list below.

For my chocolate pine cones, I chose semi-sweet chocolate, but you may use whatever kind of chocolate you choose. You’ll also want to give yourself some extra time since the chocolate pine cones need to harden up before being unmolded and added to the cake.

You’ll also need some piping tips, but nothing too fancy. You’ll just need a couple of tips (which I’ve included in the supply list), and I’ll teach you how to make the leaves to appear like this.

Therefore, you will only need three colors of buttercream. Coloring buttercream is perhaps my least favorite job. I’m not sure why, but I wish I could twitch my nose like Samantha on Bewitched and the buttercream would get all jumbled up.

In any case, you’ll just need white, green, and red buttercream.

So you have a few possibilities for this dessert. After you’re done, you may leave it as is or sprinkle on some powdered sugar to make it seem snowy.

As is:

alternatively try a snowy look:

I can’t decide which one I like. Nonetheless, I really like how the powdered sugar looks on the pine cones.

Now, let’s get started on the lesson.

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SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR THE CHOCOLATE PINE CONE WREATH CUPCAKE CAKE:

• about 22 cupcakes (A box cake mix should yield this much, or you can use one recipe of my vanilla bean cake as well.)
• To cover the cupcakes, use one batch of white buttercream (Here are my recipes: Bright White Buttercream and Vanilla Bean Buttercream) For the buttercream on this cupcake cake, I used half butter and half shortening.
• Green whipped cream (You’ll most likely need a cup and a half to two cups.)
• Buttercream in red (Youll need just a small amount of red.)
• Leaf piping tip 352 for the leaves
• Round piping tips: a #5 round tip for the red berries and a #2 round tip for the little white dots on the berries.
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips, 12 oz.
• a big pine cone mold
• mold for a little pine cone
• bottle of squeeze (This isn’t required, but it makes putting the chocolate to the molds a lot simpler.)
• little icing spatula (To cover the cupcakes with white buttercream.)
• a large square piece of foam board or cardboard (For the base of your cupcake cake.)
• Scrapbook paper, contact paper, or fancy foil are all options (To cover your cake base.)
• If you’re going to add snow to your cupcake cake, you’ll need confectioners sugar and a sifter.

Let’s get this party started: (Dont forget to watch the video toward the end of this post, which will show all the steps as well.)

HOW TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE PINE CONE WREATH CUPCAKE CAKE:

To begin, prepare the foundation for your cupcake cake. I just used a huge square piece of foam board, but a larger piece of cardboard may also be utilized.

To make it seem nice, cover it with fanciful foil, scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, or beautiful contact paper.

If you use scrapbook paper, cover it with transparent contact paper to create a barrier. (See additional cake board ideas and how to cover them here: Cake Board Suggestions.)

Now you’ll want to bake all of your cupcakes and make sure they’re completely cool. They do not need to be cold, just heated.

After that, melt your semi-sweet chocolate.

I just melted mine in the microwave, 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between. You may add approximately a teaspoon of shortening to thin it down little, but don’t add any more or it won’t firm up sufficiently.

Stir until smooth and creamy.

Fill the squeeze bottle halfway with chocolate. You are not have to do this, but it makes getting the chocolate into the molds much simpler. That is all up to you.

After you’ve gotten the melted chocolate into the squeeze bottle (or if you’re simply spooning it in), squeeze it into the molds or use a spoon to fill them.

Melt the chocolate in both the big and little pinecone molds.

Tap the molds against the table on a regular basis to expel any air bubbles.

Place the molds in the fridge to cool. You may put them in the refrigerator, but it is easier to remove them out of the molds if they are very cold.

The smaller ones will firm up faster, while the bigger ones may take a little longer. Maybe an hour or so. While your cupcakes are firming up, start on frosting them.

Just gather all of your cupcakes and mold them into a wreath shape.

You’ll have to reposition them. You’ll want the opening in the centre to be no more than five inches wide, or you’ll run out of cupcakes.

After you’ve got them all arranged the way you want them, simply add the white buttercream. You may add it in teaspoons at a time, then smooth with a little icing spatula.

You want a rough texture, so don’t smooth it out fully. I didn’t strive to make mine flawless since I wanted it to appear like snow.

You will now begin piping. Fill your icing bag halfway with green buttercream and the leaf tip. Here is where the video comes in. There is a technique for piping the leaves.

I needed some lengthy leaf sprigs but didn’t want to pipe a bunch of little little sprigs with a small round tip, so I made do. Just hold your piping bag with the leaf tip’s pointed ends pointing up and down.

Squeeze and wiggle your hand frontwards and backwards to create a ruffled effect. You may alternate between long and short leaves.

Start piping your leaves at the top of the wreath so that when you add them to the bottom, they will overlap with the ones you’ve previously piped.

or away from the cake’s bottom. As a result, you’ll be flipping the cake board around and correcting it as you pipe. You’ll also want to make sure that you only pipe upwards. The leaves should be pointing up and

Simply do a first round of piped leaves. You don’t need to pipe all of the leaves yet; just build a basic form.

Next, take your chocolate pine cones out of their molds. The smaller molds are easy to remove, while the bigger molds may need a little push down to come out. It’s also a good idea to put a cloth below it so they don’t break when they come out.

Now all you have to do is add them to your wreath. I arranged them such that they spread out from the bottom centre and up the sides.

Just go in and add more of the piped leaves. Be careful you pipe in the same direction from the bottom of the wreath to the top. Fill in any blanks that exist.

After that, add your berries. I simply put them around the bottom of each pine cone and in other odd locations.

Next, on top of random berries, place some small little white dots. This just adds some depth.

Then, walk over and fill any holes that need to be filled with berries or leaves.

Have a peek and let us know what you think! Do you think it worked out well? Would you want to add some snow to it?

If this is the case, just dust some confectioners sugar over the whole cake. You’ll want to hold the sifter fairly high up to avoid bigger clumps and to achieve just a fine dusting.

Like I already said, I can’t determine which appearance I prefer!

VIDEO FOR THE CHOCOLATE PINE CONE WREATH CUPCAKE CAKE:

So, what are your thoughts? Isn’t it lovely? You can always alter up the design to fit your taste, but I believe this is especially appropriate for Christmas.

Remember to Pin it for Later!

More Christmas cakes to consider:

• Christmas Cake with Quick Buttercream Frosting
• Instructions for a Huge Peppermint Candy Cake
• Cupcakes with Ski Slopes