Everyone loves to get festive and bake for the holidays. Baking up a cake tree for Christmas can add a fun display to a small holiday party or fill your kids with joy when they see the result. You can make it a family activity, and all participate in decorating a Christmas tree cake.
Here is a recipe for a fun and healthy Christmas themed cake:
Ingredients:
- 1 box Betty Crocker cake mix, choose a favorite flavor
- Water, vegetable oil, eggs as directed on the box
- 2 containers of whipped frosting
- Candy, nuts, and dried fruit for decorating.
Instructions:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9 pan.
- Prepare a cutting board or cardboard covered in tin foil for the tray. Mix the ingredients as directed on the box.
- Bake as directed on the box. After cooling for 10 minutes, cut around the edges of the pan and move the cake to a cooling rack. Let the cake cool for a full hour.
- Slice off the rounded top to make it flat and place the topside down.
- Start at the center of the top and cut a straight line to the bottom left corner. Start again at the middle of the top and cut a straight line to the bottom right corner. This will form a large triangle shape. Place it on your cutting board.
- Use the scraps to form the trunk of the tree.
- Frost all around the edges and top to seal in the crumbs. You can refrigerate before frosting to make it easier.
- Decorate the cake! For candy ornaments, you can use gumdrops and skittles. To make the toppings healthier, try adding nuts and seeds as the toppings as well. Dried fruit like dried cranberries and dried apricots will add color and a nice tartness to the cake.
Baking for the holidays can be a fun tradition. And finding ways to make your traditions more healthy can also be something that is passed down. When you introduce your family to healthy alternatives, that gift is priceless and will benefit their lives for years to come.
When baking for the holidays this year, think of ways to add ingredients loaded with antioxidants and omega-3’s, including dried fruit, nuts, and seeds in delicious combinations. At Nature’s Garden, our products are healthy and easy to grab on your way out the door. Give your family the gift of nutritious snacks this holiday season.