Chocolate Wreath Cake

Chocolate Wreath Cake
Categories: Cakes, Entertain
Yield: 12 servings

3 c All-purpose flour
1 tb Baking powder
1 tb Baking soda
1 1/2 ts Salt
3 c Sugar
3 c Water
6 oz Semisweet chocolate;
-finely chopped
1 lb Unsalted butter; softened
3 Large eggs; lightly beaten
2 1/4 c Confectioners' sugar
1/2 ts Vanilla extract
-Few drops green food colori
Fresh raspberries, dried
-cranberries, or cherries,
-for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan
with a nonremovable bottom. In a large bowl, sift together the flour,
baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium pot, combine the
sugar and water and bring them to a boil. Remove the pot from the
heat and stir in the chocolate and 1 stick of butter. When the
chocolate and butter have completely melted, whisk the mixture to
combine completely. Whisk in the beaten eggs. Pour about half the
chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk vigorously to
thoroughly combine the ingredients and remove any lumps. Working
quickly, add the remaining chocolate mixture and whisk to combine.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 60 minutes,
until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the
cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack
to cool completely. In a medium bowl, cream together the remaining 3
sticks of butter and the confectioners' sugar, until light and
fluffy. Remove 1/3 cup of the icing, place in a small bowl, and color
it with a few drops of the green food coloring. Put the remaining
icing in a pot, add the vanilla. Over low heat, stir the icing until
it becomes a pourable consistency. (If it overheats, causing the
butter to spearate, put the icing in the refrigerator to chill and
stir to bring it back together.) Pour the icing over the cooled cake
so that it drips down the center and outside. Cluster the red berries
in groups of 3 on top of the cake. Fill the green icing into a pastry
bag fitted with a leaf tip and pipe a few leaves around each cluster
of berries. Serves 12 to 16. Source:"An Edible Christmas" (A Treasury
of Recipes for the Holiday) by Irena Chalmers.