Winter Wonderland Cake

Cake: Grease 13- x 9-inch (3.5 L) metal cake pan; line bottom with waxed paper. In bowl, beat bananas with sour cream until smooth; beat in eggs, then orange rind and vanilla. In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt ; beat in butter and half of the banana mixture.

Beat in remaining banana mixture; stir in chocolate chips. Spread in pan; bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven until tester inserted in centre comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Run knife around edges of cake; invert onto rack and peel off paper. Invert onto another rack; let cool.

From top left corner, cut across narrow side to make triangle with 2-inch (5 cm) short side. From top, cut triangle with 1 1/2-inch (4 cm) short side and 4-inch (10 cm) long side. Place cake on tray or cake board. Stand large triangle, cut side down, on cake to form hill. Butt small triangle against hill to form slope.

Icing: In bowl, beat butter until light. Alternately beat in sugar and cream, making 3 additions of sugar and 2 of cream. Remove 1 cup (250 mL); set aside. Spread remaining icing all over cake. Remove 2 tbsp (25 mL) reserved icing; tint blue with food colouring and spread on cake for rink.

Tint remaining icing green. Using piping bag fitted with leaf tip or with knife and starting at bottoms of mini and sugar cones, pipe over cones to form trees. Arrange on and around cake; let dry. Using sieve, dust trees and cake lightly with icing sugar.

Divide and tint marzipan desired colours. Form into balls; attach to make bodies and heads. Form into shapes: arms, legs, noses, scarves, hair, hats, hockey stick, skates; arrange on cake. Surround cake and rink with chocolate-covered crackers and raisins.

Source : Canadian Living Magazine, March 2002