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Equipment required: tall juice glass; bundt pan; 3 8-inch cake pans; baking sheet or heavy duty cardboard for base; aluminum foil; pre-made marzipan or plastic people, candy rocks, palm trees, dinosaurs and/or monsters
- Prepare two recipes of chocolate layer cake batter as directed. Pour one full recipe into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake for 40–45 minutes. Divide the second recipe between three greased and floured 8-inch cake pans and bake for 20–25 minutes. Cool all cakes completely.
- Meanwhile, prepare the black chocolate buttercream, green buttercream, Kahlua soaking syrup and lava sugar.
- Line the baking sheet or cardboard base with aluminum foil.
- Place the bundt cake on one end of the base. Poke all over with a fork or wooden skewer and use a pastry brush to soak with Kahlua syrup. Place the tall glass in the center of the cake.
- Cut a circle, the diameter of the tall glass, in the center of the first 8-inch cake layer. Poke holes the in cake layer and brush with Kahlua syrup.
- Dab the top of the Bundt cake with chocolate buttercream and place the first 8-inch cake layer on top, sliding it over the glass.
- Frost the top with chocolate buttercream. Repeat with remaining cake layers, cutting circles in each, poking holes, soaking with Kahlua syrup and then frosting the tops. The mouth of the glass should be level with the last layer of cake. (If it’s too short, pull it out and put enough cake crumbs in the hole to bring the glass level with the top of the cake.)
- Use a serrated knife to trim the sides of the 8-inch cake layers into a cone shape, narrow at the top and as wide as the Bundt cake at the base.
Note: It doesn’t have to be perfect, this is a geological formation. Save trimmings for snacks.
- Frost the volcano with the remaining chocolate buttercream. It’s okay for the cake to peek through in places, providing topographical diversity.
Note: It may be helpful to thin the frosting in the microwave for about 60 seconds to make it easier to spread on the fragile cake.
- Place the candy “lake” where you wish and cover the rest of the base with green buttercream.
- Add the candy rocks, palm trees, people and monsters.
- Place the red candy lava against the sides of volcano and break a few sharp shards to come out of the top as flames. Your volcano is now ready to rock and roll.
To serve:
- Prepare the fluff lava as directed.
- When you are ready for the eruption, place 4–5 ice cube-sized pieces of dry ice in the tall glass in the middle of the volcano.
- Pour in the warm fluff and add about ¼ cup of hot water. Smoke will puff out and the fluff will burble and foam.
- Pour in additional hot water if you want the fluff to flow over the cake. Step back and marvel and the beauty of it all.
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