Good Housekeeping UK

The perfect Christmas cake decoration in one hour...

With a gentle dusting of gold, this cakes makes a shining centrepiece

By The GH Kitchen TeamPublished: 11 December 2005

Jump to recipe

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Yields:

Total Time:

1 hr

Ingredients

For the decoration

20 1/2
cm (8in) prepared rich fruit cake (refer to *Before You Start advice in the method section)
2 Tbsp.
sherry or cooled boiled water
A little icing sugar for rolling out
450 g
packet white ready rolled icing

Directions

1. Step 1
  Brush the cake with the sherry or boiled water and put it on a cake board or plate/
2. Step 2
  Dust the rolling pin and worksurface with icing sugar. Roll out the icing into a slightly bigger disc, large enough to cover the cake completely, plus 2.5cm (1in). Lift over the cake and smooth over the top and sides, trying not to make any pleats. Trim base and collect up the scraps.
3. Step 3
  Roll out the scraps of icing thinly and use the cutters to stamp out holly and ivy leaves. Mark veins on the leaves with a flat-bladed knife and carefully curl each piece. Put leaves on non-stick baking parchment for 10min to firm up.
4. Step 4
  Paint the edges of the leaves with a little water, then, using a dry brush, brush with gold lustre dust.
5. Step 5
  Arrange the leaves in the garland on the cake, overlapping slightly. Brush a little water underneath each leaf and press lightly on to the cake.
6. Step 6
  Press tiny scraps of gold leaf along outer edge and arrange candles in a ring in the middle. Wrap ribbon around cake to finish. Store in an airtight container for up to a month. The no-effort bow: wrap wired ribbon around cake, twisting ends over each other to secure. Cut a V shape out of each end.
7. Step 7
  *Before you start: the day before, brush the cake with 4tbsp warmed apricot glaze. Cover the cake with 450g packet ready-rolled marzipan and leave to dry for 24hr.
  
  Like this? You'll love...
  
  Chocolate cherry Christmas cake
  
  The best Christmas cakes
  
  How to make a Christmas cake video
  
  The best Christmas cake recipes
  
  The best Christmas pudding recipes
  
  Easy gingerbread recipe

Per Serving:

Calories: 650
Total carbs: 116 g
Total fat: 20 g
Saturated fat: 10 g

What to read next

The GH Kitchen Team

A crack team of highly skilled food content producers, the GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time.

Watch Next