How To: Decorate a Christmas cake

Sue McMahon, Cookery Editor of Womens Weekly, shows how to decorate your Christmas cake, in this video. She begins by turning over a rich plum cake to have a smooth surface for the decoration. Next, she pours some brandy over the cake to moisten it. She uses apricot glaze and spreads it evenly over the surface and sides of the cake. She kneads ready-made marzipan to make it smooth. Next, she dusts some icing sugar on the work top and rolls over the marzipan into a circle, large enough to cover the entire cake. Some icing sugar is also sprinkled over the marzipan to ensure it isn't sticky. The marzipan circle is then placed over the cake, covering it fully. Also, it is ensured no air is trapped in between. The excess marzipan, over the edges of the cake is trimmed away, using a small knife. She then smoothens out the surface and the sides, using a plastic scraper. The edges of the cake are smoothed using the palm. She then kneads the ready-made sugar paste. The sugar paste is rolled out in the same way as the marzipan was done, ensuring no air bubbles are trapped. The marzipan base is brushed with water and the sugar paste sheet is placed over it. It is smoothed out to ensure no air bubbles are trapped in between. The sugar paste is pressed into the base and the excess is trimmed away. The surface and edges are smoothed out, using a plastic scraper. A pattern around the top edge is created using crimpers. To add color, a ribbon is fastened around the base of the cake. She then makes cute Christmas trees of different sizes, from the sugar paste. By brushing water under the base of the trees, she fixes them onto the cake. Some icing sugar is dusted over the trees, to give the effect of snow. That completes the decoration of the Christmas cake.