Whichever flavor you choose, make sure you crumb coat well and apply a second layer of frosting after your crumb coat has set in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

Don’t stress too much getting it perfectly smooth; birch trees are never smooth anyway!

I find well-chilled cakes easiest to work with for this style – this keeps the buttercream from pulling and deforming too much as you add the lines!

Mix a couple of drops of brown gel food color with a couple tablespoons of vanilla extract (the alcohol helps the liquid evaporate more quickly).

Pour your color onto something you can dip your knife or offset spatula into – I found this easiest to do on a small plate.

This is the part where a turntable is particularly helpful! Turning your cake slowly, add a series of unevenly-spaced shorter and longer dashes with your spatula or knife. Make a few of them shallower and deeper for a more realistic texture. You can add ‘knots’ and larger dark spots as well! Continue texturing until you’re happy with the look of the cake!

If you’d like to carve a name or initials into the side of the cake, you can use your spatula and/or a small knife to carve the buttercream down to the cake layers – a bit of brown food color can darken the carving as well.

And you’re done! Congratulations on your amazing cake!