My favourite thing in the world to do is decorate cakes. Sure, sometimes the result is not quite what I wanted but I love creating something that we can all enjoy, or creating something special for a friend.
Christmas cakes are so much fun, looking for a design, having fun making fondant figures or piping rows upon rows of buttercream stars. I also like pulling out the Christmas themed cake pans I own and finding a new way to use them. I'm sharing below some of the cakes I have made over the years using shaped pans with either links on how to make them or may own instructions.
If you are having a large gathering or just like to have lots of options you can do a cake with a large gingerbread centerpiece.
Here I used the Wilton Cookie tree along with the Wilton House pan. The tree is discontinued but the Holiday Lights Cookie tree is similar. You can still purchase the House pan.You can purchase these items directly from Wilton or here for the pan and mini gingerbread trees here.
I followed the instructions for the cookie tree which came with its own base. I purchased a large cake board and covered it and the base of the tree in white buttercream to resemble snow. I also sprinkled some edible glitter onto the base.
The idea for the house came from an old Wilton cake decorating book. Bake the cake as per instructions, then cover the roof in white buttercream. Rough it up so again it looks like snow. Smooth some green buttercream onto the front part of the roof. Take some more green icing and smooth on for windows. Finally get some white buttercream and smooth some on for the doorway. This doesn't have to be perfect as you will cover up with the basketweave and candies. Take a basketweave tip (like the Wilton 47 tip) and cover the front, back and sides of the cake. Finally tint a small amount red and pipe around the windows and form panes with a writing tip such as the Wilton tip 3. The final part is to add candies! You can use your imagination here to create a welcoming holiday house! I also managed to purchase a small wreath which worked well on the house door! This wasn't my best but it was easy and looks far more complicated than it actually is!
Wilton do some lovely seasonal pans so when I saw this snowman pan I knew I had to have it! Sadly the pan is discontinued, however, these do pop up on EBay once in a while. You could shape a snowman face from a round pan and a small square. I followed part of the instructions for the pan here. However, I used fondant for the hat and buttercream stars for his face. I then used black and orange fondant for his features. This was incredibly easy and perfect if you are a beginner.
This star tip is a great starting base for pipe work.
Another pan that is sadly discontinued is the Wilton Treeliteful pan. I have used this pan many many times. Wilton do have this tree pan now which would give very similar results for the cake below.
The pan instructions here gives you a couple of ways to decorate. The design above came from another old Wilton cake decorating book. The sides and top were iced smooth with a pale blue buttercream. Then I used a leaf tip to pipe all over the tree. The leaves were piped downwards, overlapping from the bottom to the top. A large open tip was used for the lights, and a star tip was used to create the trunk. I bought a string of fake pearls and placed these on the cake, held in place by buttercream snow. The sides of the cake were finished off with a zig zag pattern which can be achieved using a star tip.
Finally you can have a little giggle at this one that I did quite a few years ago!! I wanted to do this Santa cake I had seen in yet another Wilton cake decorating book but I did not have the right pan or a chance to get hold of it. So I looked at what I had and used the Wilton Handsome Man pan! As the name suggests, this pan was to create burly types! My Mum always commented that my Santa looked 'well built'! This pan has long since been discontinued but a Santa could be carved from a rectangle cake.
This cake is again a mixture of fondant and buttercream. I iced the legs lightly then covered those in green fondant to represent Santa's sack. I then used the star tip to make Santa's suit, face, hat and gloves. I used the star tip again in a swirl motion to create Santa's beard and the fur trim on his suit. Fondant was used to create presents. To finish off the sides I piped zigzags in green using the star tip. He gave us a laugh and he tasted good!
Look out for my next blog post which will feature cakes make using round pans with fondant modelling and cupcakes!
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