Chocolate Succulent Cake

This cake looks really cool and it was super fun to make. You may think it was hard to make but it was surprisingly easy. I made this for my mom for Mother’s Day. You can play around with the textures and colors too. Let’s get baking!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup boiling water

DIRECTIONS FOR CAKE:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8 in. round cake pans
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add in the wet ingredients, eggs, oil, milk, vanilla.
4. Once fully incorporated, add in the boiling water.
5. Bake for 30 min. or until toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. Pop the cake in the fridge after 30 minutes of being taken out of the oven.

DIRECTIONS FOR DECORATING:

1. While cake is in the fridge, make my buttercream frosting recipe.
2. Then, dye and fill 6 piping bags, as well as leaving some white for frosting the cake. The colors I chose were an avocado green color, fitted with a number 21 tip, a hot pink, fitted with a number 47 tip, a yellow color, fitted with number 10 tip, a leaf green color , fitted with a number 2D tip, a light green color, fitted with a number 5 tip, and a piping bag with a purple color with a slit in the bag that looks like a v facing inwards.
3. Use a flower nail to make the succulents. If you don’t have a flower nail just use a wine glass turned upside down. Cut lots of squares from parchment paper. Dab a little frosting on the upside down wine glass and stick the parchment paper square on it. Now you can pipe on any succulent design you want, on the squares as you turn the glass. You can add more detail if you want.
4. After you have your desired succulent, slide it off the glass and stick onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. after all of the succulents have been piped, (you may need about 20-30) Freeze for about 30 min.
5. While succulents are in the freezer, take out your cake and frost in between the cake for a layer, then, spread it around the cake. The thing I love about this cake is that you don’t  have to be perfect when spreading the frosting. I went for a bare and rustic look so basically I only did a crumb coat.
6. Transfer your cake to a cake stand and take out the frozen succulents. All you have to do now is pop the succulents off the parchment paper and stick it on the cake where ever you want. 
7. Once all succulents have been put on, fill in any gaps with the yellow frosting. You can even make some vines hanging down with the light green frosting, fitted with a number 5 tip. Crush up Oreos for some dirt and spread it around the bottom edge of the cake. If you have any succulents you didn’t have room for on top, you can put them down below on the crushed oreos. Enjoy!

Thanks for baking with me!

~ Natalie