Shaped novelty cakes are very easy to make using specially shaped cake tins/moulds.  This Mickey Mouse cake was created using a Silicone Cake Mould my daughter purchased at Disneyland Paris.  Other shapes, such as trains, boats and Disney characters such as Buzz Light-year are easily obtainable to purchase.  However most cake decorating shops hire these tins for 3 to 4 days at very reasonable rates.

Silicone Moulds have the advantage in that the cooked sponge can easily be removed.  Cake release sprays are available, but I found that painting the inside with melted lard and then dusting with flour is very effective (see preparing a cake tin for a sponge cake).

The decoration is simply coloured butter icing piped using a rose nozzle.  The black icing is created by using chocolate butter icing.  Large amounts of black food colouring make the icing taste strange and I do not feel happy feeding children so much colouring.  The chocolate butter icing reduces the amount of black colouring required and gives a nice flavour.

Ingredients for the Mickey Mouse sponge cake are:

8 oz (225g) butter/margarine
8 oz (225g) caster sugar
8 oz (225) self raising flour (sifted)
4 eggs (beaten)
Half teaspoon of vanilla extract
Large baking tray to place filled mould on to cook as it is too floppy without
12” (30 cm) cake board

Set oven to 180 C, 356 F or Gas Mark 4

Beat the butter/margarine and caster sugar together until light in colour and creamy, using a wooden spoon or food mixer
Add the eggs and beat well
Add the vanilla extract
Carefully fold in the self-raising flour using a metal spoon
Spoon the mixture into the prepared mould and spread out evenly, especially in the ears
Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown.  The cake should be firm to the touch and starting to shrink from the edges of the mould
Remove from the oven and leave for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to cool completely

Butter Icing

6 oz (175) butter (softened)
12 oz (245) icing sugar
Half teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
4 oz (100g) fondant icing powder
Food colouring in red, black and pink
Piping bags and 2 rose nozzles, one small and one large

Beat the butter and icing sugar together until soft and creamy.  Put half into a bowl and set aside.  Sift the cocoa powder into the remaining butter icing and mix well.  This will now form the basis of the black icing.  Add just enough black food colouring to create a grey mixture.  Leave this for an hour to develop and become black.

Take the remaining butter icing and colour pink.  Take a tablespoon of this pink mixture and add red food colour until it is light red.  Again leave for an hour to develop.

Place the sponge cake onto the board and using the large rose nozzle, fill the piping bag with black butter icing.  Starting just above the one cheek, cover the top of mickey’s face with rosettes of black icing.  On the top of the ears, pipe a ring around the outer edge and then work inwards in circles.

Next cover lower half of eyes to make pupils, nose and outline of mouth

Next mix the powdered fondant icing with just enough water to make a very firm paste (which will hold it shape when pulled up into peaks) and pipe the whites of the eyes.

Using black and the small rose nozzle, pipe a black outline round the eyes and also a wavy line across the face under the eyes (see picture below).

Using the pink icing and the large rose nozzle, cover the rest of the face with stars

Finally using the red icing and small nozzle, fill in the mouth

If you want to personalise the cake with a name/age you could either pipe this onto the board or, as I have done, used some red fondant icing and cut the letters out using icing cutters.

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Ribbon insertion is very simple to achieve but gives a very impressive look to your cake and is certain to get that ‘wow’ factor.

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You will need
Cake covered with fondant icing
Coloured narrow ribbon (available from all cake decorating shops)
A pair of scissors
Tweezers
Greaseproof paper
Pointed knife

Cover the cake with fondant icing and leave for 24 hours to firm slightly and create a skin on the surface.

Take the ribbon and cut out lots of small pieces approx 1 cm in length and put to one side.

Decide where you want the ribbon to be on the cake.  In the picture above, it is used to edge the top of the cake.  To ensure it is evenly spaced from the edge, a template is made from greaseproof paper.

Cut a circle of greaseproof paper smaller than the diameter of the cake and lay it on top of the icing.  Being careful not to press your fingers into the icing, cut slots into the icing on the cake using the template as a guide.  Make the slots in pairs approx 0.5 cm wide and 1.0 cm apart.

Using the tweezers, carefully insert one end of a strip of ribbon into one of the slots of a pair.

Carefully bend the ribbon over and push into the second slot.  You may find the the point of a blunt knife helps.

Continue round the cake

When you have gone all the way round.  Using the flat of your hand, rub over the top of the ribon to smooth out any rough edges and to push the ribbon into place.

Leave to dry fully and decorate as required.

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You will need:

• Flower Paste (Pink) – This is available ready made or you can make it yourself.  Which one to use becomes a matter of personal taste.  I prefer to use Squires Kitchen Flower Paste.  This comes in a variety of colours, which is useful for dark flowers, or you can use white and colour it yourself.
• Flower Wires – These come in different thickenses and can be white or green.  The thicker wires (No. 24 guage) are required for heavy flowers such as roses and the thiner ones for little ‘fill in flowers’.
• Wire Cutters
• Food Colouring/Petal Dust (Red and Green)
• Green Floral Tape (for covering wires)
• Rose Flower and Leaf Cutters
• Calyx Cutter
• Ball Tool
• Small Rolling Pin
• Block of Oasis
• Sheet of Tin Foil
• Cornflower

First take the block of oasis and cover it with tin foil.  This  makes the perfect holder for your flowers to dry in.

Cut lengths of wire (approx 8cm) with the wire cutters and bend the ends over to make a hook.  Make lots of these and push them into the oasis.

Open the flower paste and colour with a little coloured red paste to create a delicate pink.  Then using small pieces at a time to prevent drying out, break off tiny pieces and roll into a ball.  Take a wire hook and dip into a little water then push into the ball.  Roll between thumb and finger to form an oval bud shape.  Put back into oasis to dry.

Roll out a small piece of flower paste very thinly and cut out a rose petal using the smallest petal cutter.  Place it in the palm of your hand and using the ball tool, rub over the edges to make it thiner and also shape it.

Brush a little water on the petal and wrap it around a dried bud.  Leave to dry.

Using the second smallest cutter, cut out two petals and shape.  Brush a little water on the base of the petal and wrap around the dried first petal, gently bending the top edge of the petal out.  Repeat with the second petal.

Repeat with the next size petal and making three petals.  Continue until you have the desired size rose.  Dry the roses between each petal size or they will become too heavy and ‘droop’.

Make a variety of sizes from buds right up to full blown roses.

Make a calyx by cutting out of green flower paste and using the ball tool to shape.  Brush with a little water and push over the wire and up to the rose flower and gently press into place.

Repeat with all the roses.

Take the floral tape and starting at the top of the wire just below the calyx, wrap it around the wire, stretching it at you do so.

Repeat with all the roses.

Take a little red petal dust and lightly dust the edges of the pink roses.

Make leaves by rolling out green flower paste and either using a plunger cutter or a plain cutter and veining tool cut out petals.

Using a cocktail stick make a ridge on the back of the leaf and insert a wire.

Make the veining of the leaves and dry in the oasis.

Wrap floral tape around the wires.

Using a little petal dust in green and red mixed together.  Lightly dust over the leaves, especially the edges.

Boil a kettle or saucepan of water and carefully spin each flower and leaf quickly in the steam to set the petal dust and create a very realistic look.

Leave to dry completely.

Using a thick wire No. 28 guage and floral tape, join the leaves together in groups of three.

Do the same with a few of the rose buds and small flowers to create small sprays.

Starting with a rose bud, a spray of leaves, a No. 28 guage wire and floral tape start to build up the large spray, inserting the leaves and small sprays as you go until you have the size spray you require.

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This cake may be preferred if you have children as it has chocolate mini eggs and little chicks.

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You will need

8″ round baked Simnel Cake
500 grams marzipan
Seedless jam
Small amount of Royal Icing
Bag of chocolate mini eggs
Small Chicks (these are available from card shops for a few pence each)
10″ round cake board
Baking parchment
1 mtr ribbon

Take the baked simnel cake and place on the cake board.  Using the tin it was baked in as a template, roll out marzipan and cut out a circle.

Spread the top of the cake with the jam and place the cirle of marzipan on top.  Smooth surface and gently ease the edges of the marzipan over the edge of the cake to give a smooth finish.

Place a saucer on top of the cake and using a flat bladed knife, ‘draw’ round the saucer.

Using the remaining marzipan, make 11 (13 if you want to include all the disciples and Jesus)  balls and place evenly round the edge of the cake.

At this point you can put the cake under a medium grill to toast the marzipan balls as in the Simnel Easter Cake or you may prefer to leave it as it is.

Fill the centre of the circle with Royal Icing and spread out.  Press the chocolate mini eggs into the icing at the edge of the circle and place 2 little chicks with a couple of eggs in the centre.

Cut 2 strips of baking parchment the same depth of the cake and cover the outside edge, using tape to keep in position (see Simnel Easter Cake).

Finally attach the yellow ribbon around the cake and tape into position.  I tend to use the paper type florists ribbon.  The remaining ribbon can then be used to make a bow and the rest torn into thinner strips. Using the blunt edge of a knife, place the strips between the edge of the knife and your thumb, press hard and pull the strips towards you to create frills.  Tie several together and tape to the cake using double sided sticky tape.

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This cake is very easy to decorate and as it does not have any icing it is not too sweet.

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You will need

8″ round baked Simnel Cake
500 grams marzipan
Seedless jam
10″ round cake board
Baking parchment
1 mtr ribbon

Take the baked simnel cake and place on the cake board.  Using the tin it was baked in as a template, roll out marzipan and cut out a circle.

Spread the top of the cake with the jam and place the cirle of marzipan on top.  Smooth surface and gently ease the edges of the marzipan over the edge of the cake to give a smooth finish.

Place a saucer on top of the cake and using a flat bladed knife, ‘draw’ round the saucer, then mark criss cross lines within the cirle you have marked.

Using the remaining marzipan, make 11 (13 if you want to include all the disciples and Jesus)  balls and place evenly round the edge of the cake.

Place the cake under a medium grill until the  grid and balls are golden brown.

Cut 2 strips of baking parchment the same depth of the cake and cover the outside edge, using tape to keep in position.

Finally attach the yellow ribbon around the cake and tape into position.  I tend to use the paper type florists ribbon.  The remaining ribbon can then be used to make a bow and the rest torn into thinner strips. Using the blunt edge of a knife, place the strips between the edge of the knife and your thumb, press hard and pull the strips towards you to create frills.  Tie several together and tape to the cake using double sided sticky tape.

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These lovely little buns are double chocolate muffins decorated with buttercream and white and dark chocolate hearts.  They are quick and easy to make and one popped into your partner’s lunch box would be a romantic gesture.  It could also have the added benefit of being a gentle reminder in case they had forgotten.

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You will need

Chocolate muffins (see Double Chocolate Muffins)
2oz (57g) butter (softened)
4oz (113g) icing sugar
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
25 grams white chocolate
25 grams dark chocolate
Small heart shaped cutter
Baking Parchment

Bake the muffins and leave to cool.

Melt the white and dark chocolate in separate bowls in a microwave or over a bowl of hot water.
Spread the melted chocolate onto baking parchment until it is approx 1cm thick.  Leave to cool until set.

Once the chocolate is set, cut out equal amounts of dark and white chocolate hearts.

To make the buttercream

Beat the butter until light and creamy and stir in the sifted icing sugar and cocoa powder.

Spread chocolate butter cream generously onto each muffin and gently press into the butercream one white and one dark chocolate heart so they overlap one another.

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As chocolate is so often associated with love, this delicious cake is chocolate through and through.  The cake itself is a light whisked chocolate sponge.  The covering is a rich chocolate buttercream and the decorations are made from dark and white chocolate.  Make as a gift to your loved one or better still cuddle up together and share it.

You may click on any image in this guide to enlarge it.

To make the sponge
4 medium eggs
6 oz (175g) caster sugar
1 tablespoon glycerine
2.5 oz (75g) flour (sifted)
0.75 oz (25g) cocoa powder (sifted)
8″ heart shaped tin, greased and floured

Set oven to 200 deg C or Gas Mark 6.

Using an electric mixer, whisk together the eggs and caster sugar until mixture is light and creamy and leaves a trail when you take the whisk out of the mixture.  Gently Fold in the glycerine and then the sifted flour and cocoa.  Stir just enough to mix in the flour and cocoa as mixing too much will ‘knock’ the air out and the sponge will not be light.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for approx 15 minutes until the cake is firm to the touch and appears to be shrinking from the edges.  Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate

4oz (115g) butter (room temperature)
8oz (228g) icing sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
50 grams dark chocolate
50 grams white chocolate
Baking Parchment
Heart shaped cutters in three sizes (Available £1 for set of 3 in Morrisons)

Cut two pieces of baking parchment and tape to chopping boards.
Melt the dark chocolate and white chocolate in two separate bowls in the microwave or over a pan of hot water.  Spread the melted chocolate onto the pieces of baking parchment and spread out to approx 1cm thick.  Leave to set completely.

When the chocolate is set, take the large heart shape cutter and place on the white chocolate.  Press down hard and evenly.  Lift up the cutter (the shape will still be inside) and very gently ease the shape out.  Repeat with the small cutter.  Then use middle size cutter to cut out a dark chocolate heart.  Cut two more small hearts in both dark and white chocolate.

If the shapes break and/or you run out of chocolate.  Simply remelt and start again.  Do not worry if the white chocolate appears grainy when remelted.  The texture can change on the surface but the underside will be smooth.

To cover the cake

Beat the butter until soft and creamy and then beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder until thouroughly mixed.  If the mixture is too firm add a little cold water.

Using a round bladed knife, spread the buttercream over the top and sides of the cake to give a fairly smooth surface.  Using a fork and starting at the top centre outside edge of the cake, press the prongs into the buttercream and follow the shape of the cake round to the point and repeat the other side.  Continue this process until the top of the cake is filled with the design.

Turn all the hearts over so you have a smooth surface.  Take the large white chocolate heart and gently press onto the cake at the bottom point.  Spread a little blob of buttercream onto this heart and apply the dark chocolate heart so that it is raised at the top edge.  Repeat with the small white heart.  You can place the hearts in the centre of each other, at the top of each other as I have or place all the points together (see picture above).

Finally take one each of the small white and dark hearts and place together into the icing at the top left hand side of the cake.  Repeat with the right hand side.

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This cake is a simple victoria sponge cake, decorated in sugarpaste, butter icing and water ice.  The decorations are hand made using a mixture of sugarpaste and marzipan.

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Ingredients (The Sponge)

Using the following quantities make the sponge as in (Victoria Sandwich)

12oz (340 grams) Soft Margarine
12oz (340 grams) Caster Sugar
12oz (340 grams) SR Flour
6 Eggs
Vanilla Extract
Two 7″ x 11″ rectangle cake tins greased and floured
13″ square cake board

For the Decoration

8 oz (230 grams) Butter
1 lb (455 grams) Icing sugar
1.5 lb (680 grams) white sugarpaste (Fondant)
Seedless Jam

4 oz (115 grams) icing sugar
Small amount of marzipan
Sugarpaste in various colours
Candy Laces
Selection of food colours
Green Colour Mist Spray

Take the white sugarpaste and roll it out to the size of the cake board.  Dampen the board with water and cover with the sugarpaste, smoothing from the centre out to disperse air bubbles.  If you wish to create a more interesting edge, you could press a modelling tool into the icing to create a pattern.  Allow to dry for 24 hours.

Using the remains of the white sugarpaste roll out and cut out a plaque.  This could be any shape using a cutter, or creating your own from card and cutting around it with a sharp knife.  Also cut out some numbers if required.  Again you could use cutters or create your own template.

I used a letterpress set to create the name and then impress into the soft sugarpaste, but the piping can also be done freehand.  Leave the shapes to dry.

To add the blue ‘glitter’ to the numbers, take two tablespoons of icing sugar and add one or two drops of food colour.  Mix until the sugar turns blue.

Slightly dampen the numbers with water and place them in a bowl and spoon over the coloured sugar.  Shake off the excess and leave to dry.

Make any novelty figures and items you wish to add to your cake. See below for how to make the items on this particular cake.

Assembling the Cake

Using the cake tin as a template cut out 2 pieces of paper the size of the tin.  Using one piece, lay this onto the iced cake board in the position that the cake will sit, 2″ from the back edge of the board and evenly each side.  Mark round the edge of the paper with a round bladed knife or modelling tool.  Spray the board with the green Colour Mist Spray to create ‘grass’, avoiding the maked out area.  Do not worry if it does not spray evenly, it will give a more natural look to the grass when the cake is finished.

Make the butter icing by mixing sifted icing sugar into softened butter until soft and creamy.  You could add a little water if it is too thick and also some vanilla extract for flavour.

Take the two halves of the sponge and place one on top of the other, turning to create as flat a surface as possible.  I always use the underside of the cake as my surface to decorate as the ‘crust’ of the sponge sometimes lifts away making it difficult to cover.  I try not to trim my cakes unless they have risen very high.  Instead I use buttercream to fill in any gaps.  Spread the one piece of sponge with the seedless jam and the other with buttercream and place the two halves together.  Spread a little buttercream on the board and gently press the cake into it.

The using a flat bladed knife, fill in any gaps with buttercream.

Decorating the Cake

Next take the second paper template and fold it in half diagonally.  Cut along the folded edge. Place on the cake and using a flat bladed knife, just cut into the surface of the cake to mark the shape from corner to corner.  Using some of the white sugarpaste, cut out a white triangle and cover one half of the cake, using buttercream to ‘stick’ it down.

Repeat with sugarpaste coloured with green food colouring.

Trim the edges to neaten.

Using buttercream, cover the front of the cake and smooth with a flat bladed knife.  Using a piping bag and a rose tube, pipe rosettes all around the bottom and top edges of the cake and also accross the top of the cake to cover the join between the green and white icing.  Finally cover the three remaining edges with rosettes until the cake is sealed in the buttercream.

The cake is now ready to be decorated.  Use your imagination to create a colourful and interesting design.  I try to incorporate items that relate to the recipient of the cake.  This particular person had a large piece of grass at the back of the house.  He also has a rabbit, so I used these items to create a scene relating to this.

Making Individual Decorations

To make the trees in tubs, take two balls of marzipan and flattened them top and bottom.  Cut them in two, but not quite in half and leave the two larger halves to dry.  When dry, paint them with brown food colouring. Using a little buttercream, stick them onto the board, but also gently pushing into the buttercream on the side of the cake.

Make four more marzipan balls and stick them in a line on the cake baord accross the front of the cake.  Using black sugarpaste, make a sausage and roll up to form a hose pipe and leave to dry.

Make the rabbit going down the hole by taking a piece of the green sugarpaste and shaping it into a cone.  Flatten the cone to form a base and using a ‘balling’ tool or your little finger, gently hollow out the cone.  Stick to the top of the cake.  Make a small ball out of brown sugarpaste and place into the hole with a little water.  Make the tail with a small ball of white sugarpaste and the feet with flattened oval pieces of white sugarpaste.

Using blue water icing (icing sugar mixed with just enouth water to form stiff peaks), pipe over the imprinted name on the plaque and using white water icing stick to the top of the cake in the white triangle along with the numbers.

Mix a little water icing and colour brown.  Then using a large writing tube, pipe a trunk up the side of the cake from the pot and branches growing out from it.  Use a little green water iceing to pipe leaves onto the branches.  Finally using some red sugarpaste and a plunger blossom cutter, press a few red flowers onto the branches.  If you do not have a blossom cutter, small balls of red sugarpaste flattened will do equally as well.

The watering can is also modelled out of marzipan and then painted with green food colouring.

Using a little brown water icing and a large writing tube, pipe little dots all over the four rounds of marzipan to make molehills.

Make flower pots out of marzipan by hollowing out little balls and painting them brown.  The trowell and fork are also made out of marzipan.  The handles are painted with brown food colouring and the metal part is created by using silver food grade paint.  Pipe a little pile of brown dots on the top of the cake to look like soil and set the flower pots round it.  Place the trowell and fork nearby.

Make boots out of black sugarpaste, moulding them into a boot shape and hollowing out the legs.

The butterfly and ladybirds are made from red sugarpaste.  Black balls of sugarpaste flattened make the ladybirds’ spots.  Yellow flattened balls make the butterfly’s spots and a black sausage makes the butterfly’s body.

Finally using a little green water icing, pipe ‘grass’ round the rabbit hole to hide the join and also blades of grass on the top of the cake and add a few yellow flowers.  A candy shoelace snaking accross the board looks like a discarded hosepipe.

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You will need:

Cake covered in marzipan and white sugarpaste
Additional White Sugarpaste
Blue Colour Mist Spray
Snow Flakes
Previously made Snowman and Children figures
Plain holly leaf cutter
A small amount of Royal Icing

Using the additional white sugarpaste, make 4 Medium and approx 20 small snowflakes using the same method as Making Holly Leaves plus a few extra to allow for breakages and leave to dry.

Spray the cake with the blue colour mist spray as evenly as possible.  (It will be necessary to cover the adjoining area before spraying as it does tend to go everywhere!).

Wipe the board with a damp cloth to remove any blue spray and leave the cake to dry.

Roll out the remainder of the white sugarpaste and cut out plain holly leaves.  Dampen the bottom edge of the cake with a little cool boiled water and stick the holly leaves to the cake, placing them at a slight angle.  Continue until you have gone right around the cake.

This provides an attractive boarder which is quick and does not require any piping of icing.

Using the royal icing place a small amount in the centre of the cake and attach the Snowman and Children figures.

To fix the snowflakes, place small blobs of icing in a pattern around the snowman and children and gently press small snowlakes into the icing.

For the side decoration place four small blobs equally round the side of the cake and gently press in the medium snowflakes.  Finally arrange small snowflakes in between.

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While the cake is maturing, it is a good idea to start making the decorations for the cake. I like to have all the decorations made and ready to assemble onto the cake as soon it has been covered with marzipan and icing.

As this is a Holly Wreath Cake it will require lots of holly leaves. The cake being featured is an 8″ round and I made approximately 60 holly leaves in three different sizes. I also curved 20 of them over the edge of a chopping board. These will be placed around the curved edge of the cake.

See Making Sugar Holly Leaves for step by step instructions.

I also made a large Christmas Rose to use on the cake to add relief to the holly leaves. See Making Sugar Christmas Roses for step by step instructions.

Once the leaves and flower have been made the cake can be prepared for decoration. The first thing that has to be done is to shape the cake into the ring.

Unwrap the cake and place on a chopping board.

I used the largest plain scone cutter to cut out the middle. Firstly I placed the cutter on the cake and measured to make sure it was central.

I then pressed the cutter down firmly and twisted it gently.

Remove the cutter and using a sharp knife, cut the remainder of the cake out of the centre.

Trim the outside and inside top edges to make them rounded.

Clear up the discarded pieces of cake and tidy up the edges. (The discarded pieces are perfectly edible and can be served with custard as I had intended until I turned round and found my husband tucking into them with a spoon!!!!).

Place the cake on a cake board and cover with a thin layer of warmed apricot jam (a pastry brush is a good tool to use).

Weigh 750 grams marzipan. Use a small amount of this to roll out a piece, the width of which should be slightly more than the depth of the cake and should be long enough to go round the inside of the cake with a bit extra.

Roll this piece of marzipan losely and place in the centre of the cake.

Press gently into place and cut off the excess.

Roll out the remainder of the marzipan on a work surface dusted in icing sugar. Take the cleaned scone cutter, that was used to remove the centre of the cake, and cut the centre out of the marzipan.

Lift the mazipan into position on the cake and gently press into place.

Smooth the marzipan round the edges with a smoothing tool or the flat of the hands and trim the bottom edge.

Leave to dry in a cardboard cake box or other container but do not seal.

When dry weigh 750 grams sugarpaste and knead until soft and smooth.  I coloured the sugarpaste light green using a paste food colouring which colours the sugarpaste without adding moisture.  It does take a little while to get an even colour, but it really does not matter if it is a little streaked as this will look natural.

Moisten the marzipan with a little brandy or cold boiled water and then using the same method as for the icing, cover the cake in the green sugarpaste.  The joins can be smoothed out by rubbing over them with your finger.

Do not worry if the surface looks uneven, this will be hidden by the holly leaves.  Leave to dry for at least 24 hours.

Mix a small amount of royal icing  and colour it green.  Lay out your assortment of holly leaves and starting at the back of the cake spread a little royal icing on the backs of the leaves and place them on the cake, using the curved ones to fit over the edges leaving a small ring at the back centre bare.

When you have placed approximately 8 leaves around the bare patch, put a little royal icing into this patch and lay some thin red ribbon accorss it so that it spreads out over the already layed holly leaves.  Place some more icing over the top and gently press in the previously made large Christmas Rose.

Continue to lay the curved leaves around the inside and outside edges of the cake until they are covered.

Then fill in the spaces with the flatter leaves.  This is a little like a jigsaw and requires trying different sizes and shapes to fit.  Continue until the top is covered and you are happy with the finish.  Finally add holly berries in little clusters of 2 or 3 to add relief and colour.

Put a band of red ribbon or cake edging around the side and the cake is finished.

Place in a display cake box and don’t tell anyone it started out as a solid round cake that went wrong.

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