Elegant Berry Wreath Cake Food

HOLIDAY BERRY MERINGUE WREATH

Steps:

• Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 225 degrees F. Line the back of a baking sheet with parchment. Use a 12-inch bowl as a stencil: Flip it upside down and trace a 12-inch circle onto the parchment. Use a 9-inch bowl to trace a circle inside the 12- inch one. This is the outline of your wreath.
• For the wreath: Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt in the very clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until thick and opaque, about 1 minute more. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, and beat until stiff, shiny peaks form, 13 to 15 minutes.
• Build the wreath: Using the template on the parchment as your guide, drop dollops of meringue in a line along the inside of the 12-inch circle. Use a rubber spatula to help clean off your spoon between dollops. Following the 9-inch circle and slightly overlapping the outer ring of meringue, make an inner ring of meringue dollops to fill in the rest of the template. Flatten the meringue slightly with the back of the spoon, making sure to keep a lot of peaks. Bake the meringue until it is dry, crisp, and pearly white on the outside, about 2 hours. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the cranberry sauce: Bring the cranberries, sugar and lemon juice to a simmer in medium saucepan and cook until the cranberries are soft and just begin to burst and the sugar is completely dissolved, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely. Gently fold in the raspberries and pomegranate seeds. Whip the heavy cream in a medium bowl until soft peaks form.
• Before serving, spread the whipped cream on the meringue. Spoon over the cranberry sauce and sprinkle with mint leaves.

NORWEGIAN WREATH CAKE

Steps:

• Whisk together the almond meal, powdered sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the egg whites, almond extract and orange blossom water or rosewater, if using, and stir with a spatula to combine. At first it will seem like there is not enough liquid to hold everything together, but just keep on mixing and it will eventually form a dough. Pat the dough into 2 discs, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and position two racks in the center of the oven. Use your hands to grease the kransekake molds liberally with butter or coconut oil, then set aside. (I prefer to set the molds on large baking sheets so that they're easier to move around.)
• Working with one dough disc at a time, chop off a piece of dough and roll it into a rope that's a generous 1/2-inch thick (or, if you're pulling your kitchen ruler out, just go with 5/8-inch thick), dusting with additional almond flour if the dough is sticky. Coil the rope into the molds, then pinch off any excess dough and pinch the ends to seal them together. Continue the process, re-rolling scraps as needed, until all of the molds are filled. Don't worry about overworking the dough!
• Bake until golden; begin checking for doneness at 9 minutes. You'll likely need to bake these layers in batches, which is totally fine; just keep any dough that you're not working with covered and in the refrigerator.
• Let the rings cool in the pans, then carefully pop them out (a small offset spatula or butter knife will help) and transfer to a baking sheet or wire rack.
• Stack the rings up using dots of the royal icing as "glue" (I do dots at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock). Decorate with sprinkles. Let the icing dry, 30 minutes to 1 hour, then decorate with paper chains, flags or other decor as desired. This is good for at least a few days uncovered at room temperature, so feel free to make it in advance!

ELEGANT BERRY WREATH CAKE

Steps:

• MAKE A RING-SHAPED CAKE: Prepare Hot toddy fruitcake mix (recipe opposite), then grease and double-line a 23cm round, deep cake tin. Peel off the label from an empty 400g can and wash well. Butter the outside of the can and wrap in non-stick baking paper. Fill the can one-third full with baking beans, rice or dried pulses (to weigh it down), then position in the middle of the tin. Spoon the cake mix around the 'ring', then smooth the top. Bake at 160C/fan 140C/gas 3 for 1½ hrs, then turn down to 140C/fan 120C/gas 1 and bake for another hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
• While the cake is still warm, use the skewer to pepper the cake with holes, poking it all the way down. Dissolve the sugar in the tea, add the whisky or orange juice, then spoon over the surface. If you're making the cake ahead of time, feed it with a fresh swig of hot toddy every week, but take care not to make the cake soggy. Can be kept for a month well-wrapped in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. If short on time, the cake can be made the same day that you decorate it.
• To decorate, lightly beat the egg white, then put the caster sugar on a flat plate or tray. Dip the tips of the leaves into the egg white, shake off any excess, then dip into the sugar to coat. Leave to dry while you cover the cake with marzipan. If your cranberries are frozen, leave them on a few sheets of kitchen towel at this stage to thaw and dry out, or the juice will run into the icing.
• Roll the marzipan to a 23cm circle, shaping it into a round with your hands. Alternatively, roll the marzipan a little larger than you need, then cut a round using the cake tin's base as a guide. Turn the marzipan over. Brush the top of the cake with jam, then put it, jam side down, on the marzipan.
• Make the hole in the middle. Using the can, push through the hole in the centre of the cake and punch out excess marzipan - this is the easiest way to make sure the hole in the covering matches hole in the cake. Turn cake right way up and sit on a cake plate.
• Sieve the icing sugar, then beat with the egg white until thick and smooth. Spread over the marzipan with a palette knife, then decorate the top with cranberries, bay leaves and the frosted eucalyptus sprigs. Leave to set overnight before cutting. Can be decorated up to a day ahead. Keep cake wrapped in foil up to the icing.