Enchanted Forest Christmas Pie

The holidays are full of magic, and this chocolaty enchanted forest cake is no different! 4 ingredient chocolate mousse pie is topped with green white chocolate curls, for an elegant and enchanting winter forest! Perfect as a Christmas dessert cake, or even an Emerald City cake! This easy enchanted forest Christmas pie is PERFECT for the magic of the holidays!

What Are The Green Trees Made Out Of?

Those majestic and architectural trees are made out of white chocolate! White chocolate is melted and then dyed with green food coloring. A thin layer is spread over a large baking sheet, and is refrigerated until solid. Using a pastry scraper, a thin layer of chocolate is peeled away. When this is done at the correct temperature, the chocolate will curl on its own, forming tight spiral peaks that look like pine trees!

I love this Marble Pedestal Cake Serving Stand in gold for the holidays!

4 Ingredient Mousse Pie:

This is the same mousse pie that I make every Thanksgiving. It is perfect for the holidays because it is SO easy! First, chocolate and marshmallows are melted together in a double boiler. If you don’t have an official double boiler, you can do what I did and boil water in one large pot, and place a smaller pot over the water to melt the chocolate. This helps to prevent burning. In a separate bowl, heavy cream is whipped until stiff peaks form, then the chocolate is folded into those peaks! The mouse is then poured into a gram cracker or oreo pie crust, and refrigerated! It’s such an easy mousse recipe, and is SO delicious!

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Detailed Steps on ‘How To Make The Chocolate Spirals’:

This definitely takes a little practice and practice to perfect. Getting the chocolate to the proper temperature and ‘hardness’ is the key factor that decides whether your chocolate spirals come out large and beautiful, or if they splinter and fall apart.

1. MELT THE CHOCOLATE: I melted the white chocolate in a glass bowl in the oven set at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes, stirring once. This allowed the chocolate to melt slowly and helps to prevent burning.
2. ADD THE FOOD COLORING: I actually forgot to do this the first time I tried this recipe! It’s an easy step to forget, but I find that I personally like the enchanted forest cake to have green trees, instead of white. But that is preference, and you can make them whatever color you desire!
3. SPREAD THE MELTED CHOCOLATE THINLY OVER A BAKING SHEET: The chocolate needs to be spread very thinly over a flat baking sheet. Make sure the baking sheet is not ‘ribbed’, or the technique will not work. The chocolate should be spread as thinly as possible, while still being opaque (you should not be able to see through it).
4. REFRIGERATE UNTIL SOLID: Now, this is the part that can get a little tricky. Depending on the kind of chocolate used, the thickness and the temperature of your refrigerator, this amount of chilling time is going to be different for everyone. When I made this, one batch was ready to go in 4 minutes, while another batch took 10 minutes until it was cold enough.

My general rule of thumb is: you should be able to press a finger moderately onto the chocolate without an indent.

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5. PRESS A BREAD CUTTER INTO THE CHOCOLATE AT A 45 DEGREE ANGLE: Using a bread cutter/scraper, begin to press down on the chocolate and push away from you. If you push in a straight line, you will get spirals that do not come to a point. If you push in a half-circular motion, keeping one edge of the bread cutter in the same spot while moving the other end as you push down, you will get those spirals that come to a point and look like Christmas trees.

Note: THIS TAKES PRACTICE! It took me a few batches to get the technique down. Be patient!

BELOW: This photo shows what your spirals will be shaped like if you only push in a straight line. It is more of a ‘cigar’ shape.

These photos show how if you keep one end of the bread cutter in one spot, and push the other end in a ‘half circle’, your chocolate curls will come to a point and look more like ‘trees’.

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Temperature Tips:

If the chocolate is too hard and cold, it will splinter. If the chocolate is too warm and soft, it will not curl.

• Chocolate is too hard/cold: place the baking sheet back in the oven at 200 degrees for 30 second intervals until the desired softness.
• Chocolate is too soft/warm: place the baking sheet back in the refrigerator for 2 minutes, then re-check.

When To Serve This Chocolate Christmas Pie:

This is obviously a great holiday dessert idea, because it is unique, beautiful and absolutely DELICIOUS! This would be a great Christmas party dessert because I bet NO ONE has ever seen anything quite like it! This could also make a wonderful Wizard of Oz cake, because it does look a lot like the Emerald City! Just pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! (or me behind the mouse pie). This is a unique Christmas dessert that your holiday party guests will be requesting year after year!

Did you like my ‘Enchanted Forest Christmas Pie’ recipe?! If so, go check out my ‘Single Serve Melting Snowman Cakes‘ recipe.