Ease of preparation: Complex
Yield: 1 cake
Ingredients:
Egg nog cake
8 eggs, separated
2 cups (480 ml) butter, room temperature
4 cups (960 ml) sugar, divided
6 cups (1.4 l) cake flour
3 tablespoons (45 ml) baking powder
1 tablepoon (15 ml) baking soda
2 teaspoons (10 ml) cinnamon
2 teaspoons (10 ml) nutmeg
1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
2 cups (480 ml) buttermilk
2 ounces (60 ml) rum
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
Frosting
4 cups (960 ml) butter, room temperature
12 cups (2.8 l) icing sugar
4 teaspoons (20 ml) vanilla extract
½ cup (120 ml) milk
Sugared rosemary trees
2 bunches rosemary
1 egg white, whisked
Superfine sugar
Edible fondant characters, to decorate
Special equipment
3 x 6-inch circular baking pans
1 x 8-inch circular baking pan
2 x 9-inch square pans
4 jumbo muffin cups
Method:
Let’s get baking!
To make the cake, preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Line the baking pans with parchment paper.
Add egg whites to a bowl and let them come to room temperature.
In a separate bowl, cream together butter and 3 cups (720 ml) sugar. Add egg yolks and combine.
To a third bowl, add cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and whisk together. Sift flour mixture into butter mixture and mix in. Add buttermilk, rum, and vanilla and mix in.
To the bowl with the egg whites, gradually add remaining sugar as you whip them to stiff peaks. Fold egg whites into batter mixture. Pour into lined cake tins. Bake 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Let cool.
To make the frosting, beat butter until creamy. Add icing sugar and vanilla and mix in.
Add milk a bit at a time until a thick but spreadable consistency is achieved.
To make sugared rosemary trees, break apart the rosemary bunches into smaller pieces. Dip each in egg white. Dip each in superfine sugar. Lay out to dry on a wire rack.
To assemble, ice the tops of all the cakes.
Stack the square cakes.
Use the circular cakes and jumbo cupcakes to form a tall hill and surrounding hills. Cover with buttercream to create a crumb coat and let dry.
Cover with a second coat of buttercream.
Decorate with rosemary trees and edible fondant characters.
