In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, honey, and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring until melted and bubbling. Reduce heat to low, add the baking soda, and stir well. The mixture will foam and lighten in color. Continue stirring until it reaches a light caramel hue.

Slowly pour the hot honey mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Sift in the cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Then sift in the flour and salt, mixing until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms. Wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180C (355F). Divide the dough into 10–13 pieces. Roll each piece on a floured surface to 2–3 mm thickness. Cut circles for the tree layers with diameters of 18 cm (7 in), 17 cm (6.7 in), 16 cm (6.3 in), 15 cm (5.9 in), 14 cm (5.5 in), 13 cm (5.1 in), 11 cm (4.3 in), 9 cm (3.5 in), 8 cm (3.1 in), 7 cm (2.8 in), 5 cm (2 in), 4 cm (1.6 in), and 3 cm (1.2 in).

Place all filling ingredients in a bowl and whip with a hand mixer to stiff peaks. Spread 5 mm (about ⅕ in) of cream between each layer, stacking from largest to smallest. Crumb coat, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for several hours or overnight.

Using a hand mixer, beat the butter in a bowl until fluffy and pale yellow. Add green fat-soluble food coloring and mix until fully combined. Add the cream cheese and mix on medium speed just until incorporated and the color is uniform. Do not whip.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in short increments, stirring in between. When it is about 90% melted, remove it from the heat and stir until completely smooth. Add the same food coloring and mix thoroughly so that all of the chocolate is evenly colored.

Add the chocolate to the butter and cream cheese mixture (ensure the butter mixture is at room temperature to avoid graininess) and mix until glossy. If too thin, chill in the freezer for 5 minutes, then remix. Repeat until the cream reaches a pipeable consistency. If the chocolate turns grainy when you mix in the chocolae, gently warm the cream in 5–10 second intervals, stirring in between, then cool as described to make it pipeable.

Transfer the cream to a piping bag and cut off the end to create a 2 cm (¾-inch) opening. Pipe 5 cm (2-inch) balls around the base of the cake. Using a spoon, drag each ball upward starting from the middle to form a slide shape (see the video at the end of the recipe card for more info). Pipe the next row of balls above and turn them into slides again, continuing row by row to the top. Add a few cream blobs on top for the tree tip. If the cream becomes too thin while piping, chill briefly in the freezer, massage the piping bag in your hand, then continue piping.

Decorate as desired. I made red fondant baubles and also used snowflake sprinkles.