Easy Christmas Cake Decoration

📋Supplies Required

• Butter pound cake - three layers of 6-inch round cakes (please refer to the recipe card below for list of ingredients and exact measurements).
• Buttercream – to fill the cake layers as well as to crumb coat the cake before covering it with fondant (please refer to the recipe card below for list of ingredients and exact measurements).
• Fondant – to cover the cake and make the decorations. I used Satin Ice in white, chocolate, red, black, and green. You can also make your own fondant using this homemade fondant recipe or this marshmallow fondant recipe.
• Lemon extract – to mix into the gold edible dust to achieve a smooth paintable gold paste.
• Edible gold dust – for the gold stars and stripes on the baubles.
• Gold dragees or sprinkles – to decorate the fondant baubles. These can be purchased from your local cake decorating supplies shop or any online stores.
• Fondant glue & shortening – used as glue to attach the fondant decorations on the cake.
• Fondant extruder tool – to make the stripes on the baubles on the cake. You will need 2 different disc patterns, i.e. a small circle disc and a small flat oblong disc (please see Step 6 in the 'How to Make' section below).
• Sugarcraft knife – a general cutting tool for the project.
• Round cutter set – to cut out the fondant baubles.
• Holly leaf plunger cutter – I used a set consisting of 3 different sizes of leaves. For this project, I used the medium-sized cutter.
• Snowflake cutter – this was also part of a set of 3 plunger snowflakes cutters and I used the medium-sized one for this project.
• Square plunger cutter – for the top portion of the baubles.

Step 1: Bake the Cake

Bake the cake in three 6-inch round cake tins. If you do not have 3 tins, bake 2 first and then bake the third layer.

Once baked, let the layers cool down completely to room temperature before decorating.

Note: As soon as the cakes cool down to a warm temperature, wrap them with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely cooled down. This helps keep the cake layers moist.

Step 2: Make the Buttercream

While the cake is baking, make the buttercream.

Step 3: Stack the Cake Layers and Crumb Coat the Cake

Once the cake layers have completely cooled down, level them (if they are domed) and stack them with buttercream between each layer.

Crumb coat the stacked cake with a thin layer of buttercream.

Step 4: Cover with Fondant

Roll white fondant to about one eight inch thick and cover the cake. Trim off excess fondant on the sides and smooth the fondant. Also cover the cake board with white fondant.

Step 5: Make the Fondant Wreath Topper

Start the Christmas cake decoration with the wreath topper. Pinch out tiny pieces of chocolate fondant and roll them into thin strips. Gather the strips and gently twist them (images 1 & 2).

Apply shortening on the edges of the cake top and place the twisted strips. Repeat the process until you form a complete wreath that is about the same size as the cake diameter (image 3).

In joining the Christmas wreath pieces together, adjust the ends so that they look as natural as possible. Where it is too thin, roll out additional chocolate strips and attach them to the wreath especially at the joints (image 4).

Step 6: Make the Gold Stripes

Use the extruder tool and white fondant. I used 2 different shapes, one a flat wide strip (image 5) and the other, small plain thin round strip (image 6).

The round strips are also to be used as ropes for the baubles to hang around the cake, so pipe some of these strips longer. For the rest, pipe the strips in random lengths making sure their lengths are slightly longer than the diameter of the baubles.

Next, straighten the strips and leave them aside to set. Once set, mix the edible gold dust with a few drops of lemon extract and paint them (image 7). Set aside again to let the paint dry.

Note: Make extras to give allowance for any breakages.

Step 7: Make the Fondant Snowflakes

Roll white fondant thin and cut out the snowflakes with the snowflakes plunger cutter (image 8).

Paint them gold with the mixture of edible gold dust and lemon extract. Set these aside to dry completely (image 9). You can also add some edible glitter to the snowflakes if you like.

Note: You can use snowflake cookie cutters if you do not have the plunger cutters. Make some extras to give allowance for any breakages.

Step 8: Attach the Baubles Strings to the Cake

To position the baubles on the cake, measure the circumference of the cake. And then divide the measurement into equal lengths, making sure the intervals were neither too wide or too narrow to fit the baubles without overlapping or being too far apart. Mark the position on the fondant with a needle tool. The marking can be a small line or just a dot, so long as you can see it (image 10).

Next, mark the length of the strings (image 11). These should be short and long, alternately.

And then apply a thin coat of glue at the back of each gold fondant strips and carefully attach them to the cake (image 12). Cut off the excess.

Note: Use fondant glue instead of shortening as fondant glue will hold dried fondant pieces better.

Step 9: Make and Decorate the Baubles

To make maroon fondant, mix a little black to red (image 13). Knead well.

Roll it thin and cut out round circles (image 14). Keep the circles covered as you decorate each one.

Using a dry brush, dust the circles with pearl luster dust (image 15). This will give the baubles a pretty luster shine.

Attach the gold snowflakes to half of the cut outs with shortening. Use a thin stick or skewer (I used the opposite end of my cake decorating brush) to mark the tiny dots all around (image 16).

To attach the gold dragees or sprinkles, apply a light coat of fondant glue to each dent and place a dragee into it (image 17).

To make the baubles with stripes, attach the earlier prepared gold stripes to the circle cut outs. Use one flat strip in the middle and add one thin strip on either side. Secure these in place with fondant glue and cut off the excess with the sugar craft knife (image 18).

Step 10: Attach the Baubles to the Cake

Cut out small pieces of square maroon cutouts with the square plunger cutter (image 19).

Using the same round cutter used to cut the baubles, cut off a portion of the squares (image 20). These are to become the tiny top portion of each of the maroon circles. Dust these with pearl luster dust.

Once done, attach these small pieces to the cake, one piece at the end of each fondant strip (image 21).

And then attach the snowflakes baubles at the end of each long strip and the geometrical lined ones at the end of the shorter strips (image 22).

Step 11: Make and Attach the Holly Leaves

Knead a small amount of black fondant into green fondant to make it darker (I used Satin Ice green and black). Roll the fondant thin (image 23).

Use a holly leaf cutter (medium cutter) to cut out the leaves (image 24).

Note: Make some extra leaves for contingency.

Once the leaves are all cut, arrange them onto the cake. Start with the leaves on the outer edge of the wreath. Apply shortening to the back of the leaves to hold them in place on the cake (images 25 & 26).

Once the outer layer of leaves are done, repeat with the inner layer (images 27 & 28).

Step 12: Make and Attach the Holly Berries and Cake Border

To complete the wreath, add tiny holly berries made out of red fondant to it. Secure them in place with fondant glue or shortening (images 29 & 30).

Once the wreath on the cake top is complete, repeat the brown wreath at the base of the cake. Add 2 holly leaves and 3 holly berries to it at the front of the cake (image 31). Complete the Christmas cake decoration by attaching a gold ribbon around the cake board with hot glue.