Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.

Submitter's Comments: (High Res Image)
For me the hardest part was picking a design. I finally went with the Day of Reckoning because I loved the design and I got to bake cookies as well as a cake! Overall it took me about 3 days -- because I stretched out the process. On Day 1, I started by making the butter cookie dough and let it sit overnight.

On Day 2, I rolled out my dough and decided to make the trees, not by using cookie cutters, but by hand. So each tree was individual and frankly, a bit lopsided. My favorite was a little baby tree and the axes I made out of cookie dough for the woodcutter guy. I decided that instead of making a little arm sticking out of the tree, I'd use the arm of the tree and have it curl up around the woodcutter guy's food, so some of the trees have this curved arm. Then I baked the cookies. I also baked the cakes that night. I went with a simple 1-2-3-4 cake and experimented with flavor by adding orange zest and a couple of tablespoons of orange juice. I decided to go with 9 inch rounds and trimmed the top of one to stack it. (And to eat the scraps, which is part of the fun of stacking cakes!) I let everything cool and then wrapped it up tight.

On Day 3 -- or my day of reckoning -- I bought green cookie icing and iced the trees. The biggest decision I had to make was which of the big trees would be the angry tree. While the cookies set, I whipped some cream. I decided on a whipped cream and strawberry filling. I then made some vanilla buttercream frosting. I've never had much luck with frosting and this was no exception -- it always comes out to sweet for my taste and that was even after I only put in half the recommended powdered sugar. Still, it was OK. I assembled my cake and put on the crumb coat. Then I started making my woodcutter guy figure. I've never worked with gumpaste before so this was my experiment phase. It was fun, but I think I made him a little too big when compared to the trees. But I'm still proud of the guy! I colored him in using edible decorating pens and then stuck him in the frig. I then rolled out some more gum paste and made a couple of faces. I picked the one that looked angriest, cut it out and also put it in the frig. I frosted the rest of the cake and started sticking in the cookie trees to make my forest. I put the angry tree and the guy getting dragged away and the ax cookie down and voila, my cake was done. I brought in the cake to work and didn't bring my camera, so what you're seeing is the left over piece of cake I saved for some friends who will eat it tomorrow night.