Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas everyone! I just wanted to share my decorated gluten free Christmas cake with you. It’s a simple design of a marbled blue fondant background with blue and white snowflakes sprinkled with blue edible glitter to give it some sparkle. 

The choice of decoration was an easy one to make considering the huge amount of snow we have had over the past few days - 8inches! That probably doesn’t sound much to some of you, but I’ve never seen so much snow in my life! It certainly adds to the festive feeling though.

To decorate your baked Christmas cake you want to first level off the top with a serrated bread knife. I find I always tend to start off flat and end up going crooked halfway through. This year I thought up a solution – place your fruit cake in a shallow dish that has sides that reach just below the top of your cake. Then simply slice off the top, using the rim of the bowl as a guide and you end up with a nicely flat top on which to decorate. Don't throw the off cuts away, they are the cooks perk and will give you a hint as to the flavour of your cake.

Brush the top of the cake with Brandy and lay on a thick disc of marzipan. Colour some fondant icing the colour of your choice (or leave white) and roll out into a large circle, about 3inches/7.5cm wider in diameter than the base of your cake. This ensures it will cover the sides as well. Brush the cake all over with a little Brandy and then drape over the fondant, smooth down the sides, and trim off any excess using a sharp knife. All that’s left is to decorate to your hearts content.

Tying a bow round the finished cake not only looks pretty but also hides any small tears or creases you may have at the base of the icing.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope it’s full of lots of food and festive fun.