How will you be decorating your cake this year?

[handsfree]

I can't decide what to do! Last year I let ds decorate it and it looked.....interesting.
I know Christmas is about the children but I think I want to decorate it myself again this year!! Just need to decide what to do.

The year before I did this although I also added in some green Christmas trees!

I'm doing mini square cakes this year. I'm going to decorate them as presents. That's as far as I've got, off to Pinterest to look at inspiration

I'm not sure what I'm putting on the top but around the sides I'm going to put trees and houses. I found it on Pinterest- millions of fab ideas there, and hours wasted looking!!

Following this. I'm 8 months pregnant so a Christmas cake is the only festive food I'm doing this year. It needs to be good!

If I get around to it then it will be Bethlehem and all the people. I have a cutter I bought but due to work haven't got around to using it yet. Break up early this year so should get it done. In the past I have used snowflakes on roughed up icing it looks very pretty if you can support with tissue until dry so they look like they have just fallen to the ground. I glitter them too. Kids could help cut out the snowflakes.
Alternative is have too cakes. Let them decorate one.

I'm really tempted to recreate the cakes of my childhood and go for something like this. Especially as I'm the only one who really likes Christmas cake and I'm pretty sure that rock hard royal icing will keep well into January, plenty of time for me to polish it off

One year I made Christmas trees out of melted glacier mints. They looked fab, all cold and frosty. However, they do soften and begin to droop within a day or two so don't decorate too early.

I made an igloo one year but my go to is a giant cupcake iced to look like a Christmas tree now. They're easy and fun!

marmalade that's what the Christmas cakes from My childhood looked like as well!

handsfree I know, pure nostalgia. It's one of my favourite Christmas memories, being allowed to decorate the Christmas cake with the same plastic decorations that came out each year. I'm off to see if I can hunt some out...

Question. If I make a square cake and then cut it into 4 smaller ones, will they keep well? I mean, even well wrapped and "fed" will the exposed sides go hard? I have only ever made one big one but quite fancy having smaller ones this year so I can give some to the family.

dementedma if you're talking fruit cake, that is how I do it every year - I bake a 10" cake and split it into 4 for family members. As long as wrap it after slicing it and are icing it all over, it will be fine.

Last year I didn't I've mine, but can't vetoed the sides with edible gold powder, glazed the top and covered it with dried fruit, candied orange slices, and gilded gingerbread shapes. I will do something similar this year.

Didn't ice the cake, and covered the sides with gold. Tsk, Broomstick! Check before you post!

slimjim will it be ok though before it is iced? I want to do it today and keep it uniced so I can feed it....d'oh! Just answered my own question. Dont cut it until ready to ice!!!

Demented wrap it and put it in a tin. It'll be fine cut or uncut. If you cut, keep the edges wrapped just as you do the actual sides of the big cake. I think I'd be inclined to cut it actually, to help even distribution of the brandy through each small cake.

I aiways go for a snow scene vintage look! I cant bring myself to try anything new!

I go for a traditional theme too.

Roughed up royal icing, Christmas tree, red pillar box with snow and a robin perched on top and FC and a reindeer wearing shades and riding a jet ski :)

If I put anything different on the cake, DCs would riot! :)

Ooh I haven't thought yet about my decorations.

I do my cake later, it's lighter, no currents, just sultanas. Caster sugar not brown.
I use Amarretto to soak the fruit and feed it, then to make the marzipan.

Might make a square cake, then cut into 2 rectangles, ice one but leave the other plain.

Last year I bought those Snowflake cutters from Lakeland but they are a pain in the bum , so I gave up.

My tried and trusted is ivy leaves cut from green icing (with one of those cutter/plunger gadgets) and artfully placed on thin swirls of green icing (piped) to look like a trailing branch.

I need to have a look in the Christmas Magazines for ideas I can poach

what is difference between currants and sultanas

Currents are too dark and gnarly, (and if they get burned at all, really bitter )

I think the grape is different that they're harvested from.

chottie you can't get more traditional than sunglasses and jet skis

This was mine last year I did bought royal icing and made the trees by making triangular cones out of green icing and then snipping around with scissors to create the branches. I then covered it with edible gold stars and edible glitter and a ribbon around the edge. Looked quite good.

I'm rubbish at cake decorating so this year I will be using a coloured icing and using a snowflake stamp make some snowflakes to sit on it.

chottie you can't get more traditional than sunglasses and jet skis :) :)

handsfree that's traditional for my family :)

I'm going to try this with just marzipan. DH always peels the icing off his slices anyway and I can then save more calories for chocolate.