3d Chocolate Tree Recipes

CHRISTMAS TREE COOKIE FOREST

Steps:

• For the dough: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together the vanilla and 2 eggs in a small bowl.
• Beat the butter, granulated sugar and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed. Once they are incorporated, increase the speed to medium and, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, beat until slightly creamy, about 3 minutes.
• Reduce the speed to low, slowly pour in the egg mixture and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, increasing the speed as the dough gets thicker to keep the beaters spinning and scraping down the sides of the bowl and the beaters as needed. Once all the flour is just incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the dough is very smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl and bring it together on a clean surface. Divide into 2 pieces. Shape each piece into a flat square and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
• To cut and bake the forest: Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment.
• Dust your work surface with flour and roll out a piece of dough until about 1/4-inch thick. Keep the other piece refrigerated while you work. Punch out shapes in the dough with tree cookie cutters of various sizes and cut off the dough trunks; for every 3D tree you will need 2 tree cutouts of the same size so punch out the shapes in pairs. For our forest we used 4-inch, 6-inch and 8-inch cutters. Put the trees on the prepared baking sheets and chill while you roll and cut trees from the remaining dough. Combine the scraps of the 2 squares. Chill again, reroll and cut out more trees You should have 8 to 10 pairs of trees, depending on the size of your cutters. Freeze the cutout cookies for at least 30 minutes.
• Rearrange the cookies on the baking sheets so that the pairs are next to each other. For the first cookie of each pair, use a sharp paring knife to cut a 1/2-inch-wide slot from the bottom to a little more than halfway up the cookie. For the second cookie of each pair, cut a similar slot but from the top of the tree down to a little past the middle. You will fit the cookies together with these slots after they are baked. Return the cookies to the freezer for 30 minutes more.
• Whisk together the remaining egg with 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl. Brush a thin layer of egg wash on the cookies right before baking.
• Bake the cookies, rotating the baking sheets front to back and bottom to top about halfway through, until golden brown and dry on top, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely on the baking sheets set on a cooling rack, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the royal icing: Combine the confectioners' sugar, meringue powder and vanilla in a large bowl. Add 5 tablespoons water and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until the icing forms thick and glossy peaks, about 2 minutes, adding up to 1 tablespoon more water, if needed.
• Remove a third of the royal icing and place it in a pastry bag fitted with a small no. 4 round tip. Color the remaining icing with the green food coloring, one drop at a time, until it's a shade you like. If the frosting is still very stiff, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of water. Fill a second pastry bag fitted with another small no. 4 round tip with the green frosting.
• Use a sharp paring knife to shave the cookie edges so they are smooth and flat: Pay attention to the tree bottoms (so the trees will stand straight) and the inner edges of the slots. Assemble the trees by sliding the top-slot trees into the bottom-slot trees. Shave the cookies as needed for a smooth fit, then disassemble them and place the pieces on a flat surface. Don't worry if a tree breaks; glue the pieces together with green royal icing.
• To decorate the forest: Decorate each cookie with the green icing, leaving a blank strip up the center without icing; this is where the pieces will fit together. We used a zigzag line of green on each side. Sprinkle with white sprinkles while the icing is still wet. Let set
• until firm, 30 to 45 minutes. Turn the cookies over and decorate the backs in the same fashion. Let set until firm, 30 to 45 minutes.
• Assemble the trees. Pipe a thin line of white icing on the outer edges of the trees for snow. Let set before serving, 30 to 45 minutes. Arrange the trees on a serving platter to create a forest. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar for snow.

3D CHOCOLATE TREE

Steps:

• Fill a bowl with ice water. Fill a piping bag with 1 1/4 cups melted milk chocolate and use it to draw a tree on the surface of the ice water. When the tree has hardened, turn it 90° in the water, then draw more branches and thicken the trunk on the side. Repeat several times to obtain a 3D tree. Leave to rest in a cool place. Place the pie crust in the pie dish and prick it with a fork. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 °F. After baked and cooled, remove the crust from the pie dish. Use melted chocolate to glue the tree to the center of the pie crust.
• Melt the red candies in a saucepan. Place the hazelnuts on toothpicks and dip them into the melted candies. Use melted dark chocolate to make stems. Replace the toothpicks with a small stem of dark chocolate to create apples.
• Melt the sugar in 2/3 cup of water in a saucepan to form a caramel. Attach 2 forks horizontally at the same height to the workstation. Place some parchment paper on the floor under the forks. Dip the ends of the skewers into the caramel and then drizzle over the forks to create long, silky strands. Once there are enough caramel strands, shape it into a ball.
• Boil 2/3 cups of heavy whipping cream, then pour it over the rest of the milk chocolate to melt it. Add the remaining heavy cream to the mixture, then place in the fridge for 1 hour. Mix the butter, flour, cane sugar, cocoa powder, hazelnut powder, and sea salt until you obtain a shortbread texture. Place the shortbread on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350 °F.
• Beat the cold chocolate cream until a whipped cream forms. Place this mixture in a piping bag. Fill the pie around the tree with the chocolate cream. Cover with the crumbled shortbread and let chill. Once chilled, place the hazelnuts on the crumbled shortbread, then place the ball of caramel strands on the tree to form the leaves. Cut into pieces and enjoy.

DOUBLETREE SIGNATURE COOKIE

Steps:

• Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
• Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice, blending with mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl.
• With mixer on low speed, add flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, blending for about 45 seconds. Don't overmix.
• Remove bowl from mixer and stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
• Portion dough with a scoop (about 3 tablespoons) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart.
• Preheat oven to 300˚ F. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and center is still soft.
• Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for about 1 hour.

STAR COOKIE TREES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
• Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium speed until mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
• Reduce speed to low, and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until thoroughly combined. Divide the dough into four parts, and flatten each piece into a disk. Wrap the disks in plastic, and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place a clean piece of parchment paper or a Silpat (a French nonstick baking mat) on work surface, and dust generously with flour. Place one disk of dough in center, and roll to 3/16 inch thick. While rolling, occasionally run a large offset spatula under the dough to distribute the flour and prevent sticking. Use more flour for the top or bottom of dough if necessary. Transfer parchment paper and rolled dough to a cookie sheet that fits in freezer. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes or until the dough is chilled through. (This may be done in the refrigerator, but it will take longer.) Repeat process with remaining dough (you can stack sheets in the freezer to chill).
• Remove dough and parchment from the freezer, and transfer to work surface. Using the cutout templates and a paring knife or utility knife, cut three of each size star. Using a plastic straw, poke a hole in the center of each cookie. Remove the templates from the dough, and pull away scraps from the stars. If the stars are too close together, carefully use a spatula to transfer them to a parchment or Silpatlined baking sheet. Return cut cookies to the freezer to chill before baking; this will prevent excessive spreading. Reroll scraps, and cut out remaining stars.
• Once the cookies are chilled through, remove them from freezer, and place in the oven. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, rotating at least once, until cookies begin to get color. Remove from oven, and transfer to a heat-proof surface.
• Decorate the cookies with Royal Icing and sanding sugar or nonpareils if desired. Place one of the largest cookies on a plate, and place an 11-inch wooden skewer in the hole. Stack the remaining two largest cookies on top, spiraling them so that the points don't line up. Continue to stack the cookies in descending-size order. If you have left the cookies undecorated, dust them with confectioners' sugar if desired. Serve.

CHOCOLATE CHRISTMAS TREES

Steps:

• Place chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir frequently, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching, until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spoon melted chocolate into a small resealable plastic bag and cut off a small corner.
• Pipe Christmas tree shape onto the parchment paper and allow to harden in a cool place overnight.
• Once the chocolate has hardened, carefully remove chocolate trees from paper and use to decorate Christmas cakes or desserts.

CHOCOLATE TREE

Steps:

• Using a very clean pastry brush, paint the branches with bittersweet chocolate until completely covered. (Of course, this does not make them edible!) You may need more than one coating. Place the coated branches on a sheet of parchment paper until the chocolate has fully set.
• For the base of this presentation, use a small plastic container as a mold, the size of which depends upon the size of the branches you've coated in chocolate. Center the branches inside the container and add bittersweet chocolate, filling it to the top. Allow to harden. When the chocolate has set, remove the plastic container. Use bittersweet chocolate to "glue" whatever you've chosen to hang from the tree. There is no set pattern, just let your eye guide you as you randomly decorate the branches. Use as many or as few as you like, depending on the size of your tree. It will look more interesting if color is added (i.e. fresh fruits, orange peels, white chocolate leaves, etc). Use the chocolate tree as a centerpiece for the dining room table during dinner. When it is time for dessert, your guests can simply pick the petit fours and candies from the tree.
• Assorted items to hang from the "tree", for example: cookies, petit fours, fresh fruits such as cherries or raspberries, orange peels, white chocolate leaves, etc.
• How to Temper Chocolate(From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make At Home by Jacques Torres):
• Chocolate is tempered so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white (that happens when the molecules of fat separate and form on top of the chocolate). There are a variety of ways to temper.
• One of the easiest ways to temper chocolate is to chop it into small pieces and then place it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time on high power until most of the chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to overheat it. (The temperature of dark chocolate should be between 88 and 90 degrees F, slightly warmer than your bottom lip. It will retain its shape even when mostly melted. White and milk chocolates melt at a temperature approximately 2 degrees F less because of the amount of lactose they contain.) Any remaining lumps will melt in the chocolate's residual heat. Use an immersion blender or whisk to break up the lumps. Usually, chocolate begins to set, or crystallize, along the side of the bowl. As it sets, mix those crystals into the melted chocolate to temper it. A glass bowl retains heat well and keeps the chocolate tempered longer.
• Another way to temper chocolate is called seeding. In this method, add small pieces of unmelted chocolate to melted chocolate. The amount of unmelted chocolate to be added depends on the temperature of the melted chocolate, but is usually 1/4 of the total amount. It is easiest to use an immersion blender for this, or a whisk.
• The classic way to temper chocolate is called tabliering. Two thirds of the melted chocolate is poured onto a marble or another cold work surface. The chocolate is spread out and worked with a spatula until its temperature is approximately 81 degrees F. At this stage, it is thick and begins to set. This tempered chocolate is then added to the remaining non-tempered chocolate and mixed thoroughly until the mass has a completely uniform temperature. If the temperature is still too high, part of the chocolate is worked further on the cold surface until the correct temperature is reached. This is a lot of work, requires a lot of room, and makes a big mess.
• A simple method of checking tempering, is to apply a small quantity of chocolate to a piece of paper or to the point of a knife. If the chocolate has been correctly tempered, it will harden evenly and show a good gloss within a few minutes.

CHOCOLATE TREE BARK

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Arrange crackers onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Stir butter and sugar together in a bowl until the sugar dissolves; drizzle over the crackers.
• Bake crackers in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Spread chocolate chips over the crackers to cover completely immediately after removing the baking sheet from the oven, allowing the residual heat to melt the chocolate. Sprinkle nuts over the chocolate layer before it re-solidifies.
• Cool the bark to room temperature. Once the chocolate is again firm, break the sheet into pieces to resemble tree bark.