Gold shimmer Christmas cake

This easy-to-make showstopper by Cake Décor makes a great Christmas centrepiece!

Gold shimmer Christmas cake

You will need:

• 1 x 25cm (10in) and 1 x 18cm (7in) cake

• Cake Décor Salted Caramel Flavour-Ice
• Cake Décor Milk Choco Writer
• Cake Décor White Choco Writer
• Cake Décor Gold Glitter Spray
• 125g (4½oz) softened butter
• white ready-to-roll icing

• mixing bowl
• acetate
• turntable
• palette knife
• jug or bowl to melt Cake Décor Choco Writers

Method:

1. Cover the 25cm (10in) cake with white ready-to-roll icing and make sure to smooth and trim the edges as necessary.
2. Mix the Cake Décor Salted Caramel Flavour-Ice with the softened butter in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth.
3. Place the 18cm (7in) cake on a turntable and spread one thin, even layer of buttercream onto the sides and top – this will be the crumb coat. Once covered, place the cake in the fridge and leave to set for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the cake from the fridge and add a second layer of buttercream, making this layer thicker. This will form the base for your glitter, so make sure you finish this in a way that you like – we wanted ours to be a little bit textured, but you can smooth yours out if you like.
5. Spray the frosted cake with Cake Décor Gold Glitter Spray. You get  900 sprays in one little bottle of Glitter Spray, so really go to town with it and build up an opaque Christmas-level sparkle on your cake.
6. Draw out some Christmas trees on a piece of paper to use as stencils, and place a sheet of acetate on top.
7. Place the Choco Writers in a measuring jug or large glass of boiling water and leave to melt for 2-3 minutes. Once the Choco Writers have softened, carefully lift them out of the water, unscrew the cap and snip off the tip of the nozzle with scissors.
8. Using the Choco Writers, trace the tree shapes on the acetate. You will use the trunks of the trees to push into the cake, so we recommend making these quite long and wide to provide a sturdy base – they will be hidden in your cake so don’t worry about how they look in proportion to the trees themselves!
9.  If desired, add some details to your Choco Writer Trees with the opposite colour of Choco Writer. Put these to one side to set for 10 minutes.
10. While your Choco Writer trees are setting, use a palette knife to help carefully remove the frosted 18cm (7in) cake from the turntable and gently place it on your iced 25cm (10in) cake.
11. If any of the glitter at the bottom moves during placement, spray your palette knife with some Cake Décor Gold Glitter Spray and use this to smooth down and add extra glitter if necessary.
12. Once your Choco Writer trees have set, carefully peel them from the acetate.
13. Gently place the trees on top of the cake. If you have difficulty putting them in, use your palette knife to push into the top of the cake and create a slit, allowing the tree trunks to slide in more easily.