Recipe - Chocolate Wreath Cake

3 cup Allpurpose flour
1 tablespoon Baking powder
1 tablespoon Baking soda
1 One half teaspoon Salt
3 cup Sugar
3 cup Water
6 ounce Semisweet chocolate;
finely chopped
1 pound Unsalted butter; softened
3 Large eggs; lightly beaten
2 One fourth cup Confectioners' sugar
One half teaspoon 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
10inch 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.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini