Autumn wonder: Take a leaf out of Chetna's cook book

Ultra creative Chetna trained as a fashion designer in Mumbai before moving to Kent and it was the arrival of her two children that turned a love of cooking into a passion for baking which, she says, is the perfect outlet for her creativity. Chetna gets us in the mood for the chilly mornings ahead with her inspiring Autumn Bake for Get Creative.

When I thought of creating an autumn tree I started by visualizing what the end product will look like.

Being from a creative background I wanted to make something edible and wanted to make use of my baking skills.

I find baking very enjoyable and therapeutic. I feel I can use different ideas and my imagination to bring flavours together in my bakes.

And best of all my family can enjoy all the bakes in the end. Baking is fantastic fun and creative activity that can be enjoyed with the family.

Fondant vs Buttercream

Once I had decided to make the autumn tree with cake I was thinking of ideas to cover it. The most obvious way to do that would have been to use fondant.

I wanted this to be a really delicious cake as well as look good

I could have layered the cake, carved it and then covered it with fondant and then put all the finishes. But I am not a big fan of eating fondant and I wanted this to be a really delicious cake as well as look good.

So I started by making lots of layers of chocolate sponge and letting them cool completely.

Then I made a cream cheese icing to sandwich the cakes with.

Once I had layered and sandwiched the cakes I carved it to look like a tree trunk.

I then made a chocolate buttercream and covered the shaped cake with it.

I left the cake in the fridge to set and then started work on the branches.

I took some craft wire and covered it with brown fondant. Then I fixed these into the tree trunk.

Gingerbread Leaves

It was time to think about the leaves. My kids love ginger biscuits so I decided to make the dough and divide it into 3 portions.

One portion I left as is but added mustard and orange colour to the other two. I cut them into leaf shapes and placed them on a back of a madeleine tray so that the leaves are not flat but slightly shaped.

Once baked I left the biscuits to cool and made some brown royal icing. Then very carefully I stuck them on the branches of the tree. To finish I crumbled some left over cake and biscuits on the board.

And just like that a really delicious autumn tree was ready.

With this tree I just want to convey that being creative is an art that we all have. It’s not necessary that you are a great baker or cook but you can use your creativity to make all sorts of things.

Those things could be practical stuff that is used later or something that you want to create just to make you feel happy and content, and satisfied by the creation.

So whatever it is that makes your creative juices sing, go for it and don't be afraid. You might have disasters on the way but you will also find that one thing that gives you immense joy.

So don't wait and GET CREATIVE!