From traditional Christmas cake decorations to quick and quirky fondant figures, get inspired with this gorgeous Christmas cake ideas, recipes and designs…
We’ve got lots of simple Christmas cake decorating ideas and designs for you to try this year. From fondant to icing sugar, royal icing to marzipan, we’ve got lots of easy designs for you to try with our classic Christmas cake recipe.
Christmas cakes can be made up to three months in advance, so you can get into the spirit nice and early with some Christmas baking. Our fruit cake recipes have beautiful festive Christmas designs that will be perfect for any parties you are having or for a classic dessert after your Christmas dinner.
To make a Christmas cake, all you have to do is simply mix up your chosen fruit sponge, bake in the oven and then ‘feed’ the cake with your chosen liquor (don’t worry we also have alcohol-free versions too!) over a few weeks in the lead up to Christmas to get an extra depth of flavour into your bake.
You can then decorate your Christmas cake with one of our amazing designs below. How about adding a fondant Olaf to your cake, the kids will love it! Or how about turning your Christmas cake into a fancy swan which could take centre stage on your Christmas dinner table.
Top tips for decorating a Christmas cake
If you’re at beginner level when it comes to decorating cakes, don’t be afraid to use cake decorating tools to help you out!
A cake decorating turntable and icing smoother are the perfect utensils to help you achieve a perfect polished look with your icing.
And if perfection is what you’re looking for, you could also use an adjustable cake leveler, which allows you to trim off any raised lumps and bumps that your cake grew in the oven, for the perfect base to your Christmas decorating creations.
The last thing you want when decorating your Christmas cakes is for your fantastic icing sculpture of Rudolph to go skiing off the edge. If your decorations are made of fondant icing, an easy way to help them stick to your fondant based cake is to dust them with a little water. This will activate the sugars in the icing and help it to stay stuck. You could also use a bit of frosting or buttercream to ‘cement’ them in place, just be careful not to use too much or it might escape and be visible underneath!
Our favorite go to recipe for Christmas cakes is Mary Berry’s classic Christmas cake recipe.
This is a traditional recipe you’ll want to make time and time again. You can make Mary Berry’s Christmas cake well ahead of the big day – in fact, the longer you leave it, the better it will taste!
Mary Berry’s Christmas cake recipe will be the talk of your Christmas Day meal or party. Made with fruits including currants, raisins and cherries and soaked with rich sherry, the sponge is fruity and moist.
Serve this festive cake with a dollop of brandy butter for a real Christmassy experience. This recipe makes a foolproof Christmas cake every time. Mary Berry’s classic Christmas cake recipe also shows you how to decorate this traditional cake in a simple, yet impressive way.
Mary Berry’s well baked fruit cake can be stored in the fridge, wrapped thoroughly in foil or a plastic bag to stop the cake from drying out, for up to 6 months after opening but we’d recommend eating sooner for the best taste. The whole family are going to love tucking into this Christmas cake!
Please note, nutritional info is per person based on this cake being divided by 15 people equally. The nutritional values also include the icing, almond paste and jam used to decorate this Christmas cake.
Ingredients
* 175g (6 oz) raisins
* 350g (12 oz) glace cherries, rinsed, thoroughly dried and quartered
* 500g (1lb 2oz) currants
* 350g (12oz) sultanas
* 150ml (¼ pint) sherry, plus extra for feeding
* Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
* 250g (9oz) butter, softened
* 250g (9oz) light muscovado sugar
* 4 eggs
* 1 tbsp black treacle
* 75g (3oz) blanched almonds, chopped
* 75g (3oz) self-raising flour
* 175g (6oz) plain flour
* 1½ tsp mixed spice
* To Finish And Decorate Mary Berry’s Christmas Cake You Will Need:
* About 3tbsp apricot jam, sieved and warmed
* Icing sugar
* 675g shop-bought almond paste
* Packet royal icing mix to cover 23cm/9in cake
Method
* Put all the dried fruit in a container, pour over the sherry and stir in the orange zest. Cover with a lid, and leave to soak for 3 days, stirring daily. Grease and line a 23cm (9in) deep round tin with a double layer of greased greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 140C, 120C fan, gas 1.
* Measure the butter, sugar, eggs, treacle and almonds into a very large bowl and beat well. Add the flours and mixed spice and mix thoroughly until blended. Stir in the soaked fruit. Spoon into the prepared cake tin and level the surface.
* Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 4-4½ hours or until the cake feels firm to the touch and is a rich golden brown. Check after 2 hours, and, if the cake is a perfect colour, cover with foil. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
* When cool, pierce the cake at intervals with a fine skewer and feed with a little extra sherry. Wrap the completely cold cake in a double layer of greaseproof paper and again in foil and store in a cool place for up to 3 months, feeding at intervals with more sherry. (Don’t remove the lining paper when storing as this helps to keep the cake moist.)
* Decorate with almond paste and royal icing.
Checkout other design inspiration below
Special Slay Concierge Note
Our high end ateliers across the world are capable of recreating any look seen on Slaylebrity. Contact sales@slaynetwork.co.uk or click the contact us icon to chat with slay concierge.
Source Good To Know