No Bake Pandoro Christmas Tree Cake with Chocolate and Amaretto
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A delicious No Bake dessert for Christmas that is spectacular to look at and delicious to eat. Using the Italian Christmas cake Pandoro and Ricotta and Mascarpone this cake is sure to please everyone!
candied cherries(blueberries and silver balls to decorate)
powdered (icing) sugar to dust
Instructions
To prepare the filling, combine ricotta, mascarpone, powdered sugar, dark chocolate, orange peel and cinnamon in a medium bowl until well mixed.
Pour amaretto into a small bowl.
Remove Pandoro from packaging and slice horizontally into 6 even slices being careful to keep the slices in order.
On a serving platter begin assembling by place the bottom and largest slice. Drizzle or brush some of the Amaretto over the cut surface of the Pandoro.
Spread on some of the prepared filling. Sprinkle with finely chopped almonds.
Place the next largest slice over the filling and nuts so that the points of the stars are staggered to create the effect of the Christmas tree.
Continue with the Amaretto, filling and nuts and repeat alternating the slices until the Christmas tree is complete. Be sure to leave about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of filling to decorate.
Using the leftover filling, either pipe or spoon blobs on the end of each tree "branch".
Decorate the "branches" with candied cherries, blueberries and silver balls.
Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
Pandoro is a packaged Italian Christmas cake similar to brioche, available in supermarkets and good food stores. For this recipe use a large cake which is usually 32.2 ounces or 1kg in size. Substitute Panettone if you can't find Pandoro. It won't be a Christmas tree but it will still taste delicious and be easy to prepare!
if you have no candied orange peel use the finely grated zest of one orange
substitute orange juice (or any fruit juice) for alcohol for a non-alcoholic version
can be made 2 days in advance, wrapped well with plastic wrap and refrigerated
leftover cake will keep for a couple of days if wrapped well in plastic and refrigerated