I made the mistake of telling my Mother and my Nanna..."I've made the Christmas Cake"
So they both asked if they could have some. Of course, i am a generous lady and they can have some of the cake. But as i stood looking at the ROUND cake i had made i became a little dejected. My plans for a Merry Snow Scene decoration were not going to happen - the cake, becoming 'the cakeS' were going to leave little room for decorative play.
Please don't underestimate how long this simple process took me. Oh My Lord.
The able assistant lost patience after the icing sugar and rolling pin stage so i was (thankfully) on my own at this point.
Then i realised EACH cake needed a cake base / board.... and in a moment of sheer brilliance i managed to find 2 cardboard packages from that evenings dinner and cut them up into the right shapes for each cake. We had a ready made pizza base so that was perfect for the half moon shapes, once wrapped in foil.
The cakes sat in tins for days like this. I am no domestic goddess NOR am i at all into Cake Decorating... but they worked out something like this:

Wide tartan ribbon around the edge of all of them. Left over Jane Asher gold stars from a previous cheat cookery project....

All strategically placed for a minimal effect. And the last cake had some gummy heart sweets placed in one corner.
Wide tartan ribbon around the edge of all of them. Left over Jane Asher gold stars from a previous cheat cookery project....
All strategically placed for a minimal effect. And the last cake had some gummy heart sweets placed in one corner.
I am winning no prizes with these BUT i guarantee, the taste of these cakes will have the consumer totally forgetting the rather basic topping.
It goes to show, you can have your cake and eat it too. Just don't think about how it 'looks' for too long.