Chef Adriano Zumbo Designs “Nutcracker and the Four Realms” Cake

Despite the torrential rains in Los Angeles, vendors, bakers, celebrity chefs and dessert lovers came out to LA Cookie Con. The event was sponsored in part by “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” and showcased several bakes inspired by Disney’s interpretation of the Christmas classic.

To celebrate the home release of “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” chef Adriano Zumbo designed and created an intricate cake that represented the themes and imagery of the movie in every element from the fruit filling to the petal mice. Zumbo, host of the Netflix reality competition show “Zumbo’s Just Desserts,” appeared at Cookie Con to discuss his creation.

“I broke down what the Four Realms were,” said Zumbo, on his inspirations for the cake’s flavors. “I used a chocolate forest cake,  which I got from the scene where the mouse runs into the forest with the key, it’s kind of dark and scary, so I used a very dark and decadent cake. I made a snow flake crunch based with coconut and pop rocks to represent the Land of Snowflakes, and the decorations bring the flowers.”

For the outer design, he created an “abstract nutcracker,” adorned with Easter eggs both figurative and literal from the film: the Mouse King, the egg-shaped box, the owl.

The total time to create the cake was more than 8 hours, but the whole process was captured and condensed to less than two minutes:

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is now available on Blu-ray and Digital