How To Make This Edible Chocolate Flowerpot Cake!

Okay. I had to make this!  It was too interesting not to make!  Everything on this cake is edible.  Who knew that pansies were edible and the leaves! Of course, we’re not going to eat them, though.  But, you have to admit that when you see this flowerpot, it actually looks like a real plant.  I was sitting in Barnes & Noble on Sunday, waiting for my teenager to finish volunteering at this place, flipped through Food Network Magazine, and stopped on the page with this cake in the April 2013 issue.  I knew I had to try it. Of course, I changed quite a few things from the original recipe.  Some things didn’t seem necessary per the magazine’s instruction.  You can make this cake and you don’t actually have to be a cake decorator to do it.  It’s not as detailed as it seems.  The toughest part is going to be working with the fondant.  It’s not an expensive item to make either if you have most of the stuff on hand.  The only thing that you will probably need to buy will be the fondant and the gel coloring. I got the fondant from Michaels (make sure that you have your 40% or 50% off coupons).  So, if you’re feeling adventurous, follow the directions below! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

• 16.5 oz box devil’s food cake (all other necessary items for baking a cake)
• 16 oz tub chocolate frosting
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 24oz box of white fondant
• 3/4 teaspoon red icing food color (I used twice the amount here because I made 2 mixes)
• 1/4 teaspoon orange icing food color (I used twice the amount here because I made 2 mixes)
• edible plants: pansies or nasturtiums and/or mint sprigs

Directions:

Prepare your cake according to the directions on the box.  If you have a 6 inch and an 8 inch baking pan, please use.  If not, use two 8 inch pans and cut later to 6 inches. The only thing I changed is that I added about a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.  When we have chocolate cake, we like to really have chocolate.  Let cool, as per directions.

Level the top of each cake.  Since, I did not have a 6 inch pan, I used two 8 inch pans and cut one of the cakes into a 6 inch size. You want to make them even across the top.  The parts that you cut off will be used as the dirt for the top of the cake.

Frost the top of each cake.  It’s always hard to frost a cake when you level off the top part.

Begin trimming the cake around into a pot shape.  Then frost all the way around the shape. Put into the freezer after frosting around cake.  Let it stay in the freezer for 30 minutes.  You can begin working on the fondant.

Mix the colors together to form the color for the pot.  I had to make two mixtures of this because one wasn’t enough.  Put cocoa powder on surface to prevent fondant from sticking. I tried kneading the color into the fondant at first, but it wouldn’t blend completely.  The directions actually asked for food coloring gel, but I bought icing coloring because it was cheaper.  When you buy gel food coloring, it comes in a box with primary colors and then a separate box with other colors.  It didn’t have a box with both colors that I needed and it was too expensive for me to buy two.  So, I went with the icing coloring which was cheaper. After you finish getting color worked in, roll out to 24 x 6.5 inches.

Since, kneading didn’t working for getting the color worked in, I decided to make another color mixture and spread it across the fondant.  Let it dry if you decide to do it this way.  I actually used a blow dryer on cool to help it along.  I’m almost certain that you shouldn’t do that. LOL.  Trim the edges so that they are straight and even.  Cut off a 24 x 1.5 inch strip which will be used as the strip at the top of the pot.

Sorry, I don’t have a pic of me wrapping the pot.  My teenager had gotten tired of me calling her.  (Really, she should never get tired of me.)  The cake will still be bottoms-up when you wrap the larger piece of strip around it.  With the leftover straps, you want to try and knead together to make a round strip to cover the bottom.  Since, I am working on aluminum foil, it is easy to flip over. Then, wrap the thin strip around the top.  If the fondant is dry, just wet the top edge with a little water and wrap the thin strip around. I managed to get it around and that was a little of a feat.  But, it is on there.  You should have something of a pot look when you get to this part.

Crumble the part of the cake that you cut off.  This is your dirt.  Just spread it on top of the chocolate cake, just as you would if you were potting a real plant.

Cut off the roots of the edible plants.  Wash them really good.  Don’t wash them too hard because you want to keep the flowers looking neat.

Now, for the cutting photo….

Just slice into your plant for dessert!  Check out the slice below!

What do you think? Think I’ll be able to fool someone with that flowerpot cake?  This works great if you want to eat out on the deck and then ask someone if they want dessert.  Just imagine their face when you start to cut into the flowerpot! I have to say that this cake tastes so good! My kids have eaten half of the cake.  They didn’t eat the fondant or the plants.  They thought that was crazy. Go ahead and try this!  Then, sit back and enjoy the taste!