Gingerbread Tree

For 1 tree

250 ml milk

60 g honey

300 g all-purpose flour

150 g ground almonds

15 g baking powder

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground clove

½ tsp ground nutmeg

150 g soft butter

120 g brown sugar

3 eggs

Pinch of salt

200 g dark chocolate

For decoration:

Fresh rosemary sprigs

Chopped Pistachios

Pecans

Dried cranberries

Confectioner’s sugar

Add milk and honey to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer on Induction Hob heat setting 7. Then, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, ground almonds, baking powder, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground clove, ground nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.

Preheat your oven to 180 °C Circo Therm® and choose Added Steam Intensity Level 2. With a hand mixer, beat soft butter and brown sugar until pale and foamy. Then, beat in eggs adding one at a time until fully incorporated. Alternating, add dry ingredients and warm milk mixture to the butter mixture. Continue to beat until fully combined.

Add the batter to a greased baking pan (30x24). Spread evenly and gently knock pan on work surface to release air bubbles. Bake on shelf level 2 for approx. 10 minutes with Added Steam, then continue baking for approx. 10 minutes without Added Steam, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

For the christmas tree shapes remove the cooled down cake from the baking tin. Use either a self made template or simply cut out 3 trapezoidal shapes and 1 small triangle. Transfer the pieces to a wire rack. Then, set the rack onto a rimmed baking sheet which will catch the chocolate drips while coating.

Roughly chop dark chocolate. Choose Temperature Cooking with the Twist Pad Flex® and slowly chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pot with water at 70 °C. Pour the melted chocolate over the cake pieces and let the chocolate set for at least 20 minutes in the fridge.

Assemble the pieces to form a christmas tree and decorate with fresh rosemary sprigs, chopped pistachios, pecans, dried cranberries and confectioner’s sugar. Enjoy!