HOW TO DECORATE YOUR CAKE THE EXPERT WAY

What do you get if you cross a gingerbread house with a Christmas cake? This beauty of an iced creation, that’s what. Designed exclusively for delicious. by Bettys, the famous Harrogate bakers, it has the wow factor while being do-able. We’ve used Chetna Makan’s amazing saffron and pistachio Christmas cake from our November issue as the base (find the recipe online if you missed it), but you can apply the decoration to a traditional cake of the same size if you prefer. Oh, and no stealing the biscuits before the cake’s ready to be cut!

CHEF’S STEP BY STEP

RECIPE AND FOOD STYLING JENNY CULVER PHOTOGRAPHS MAJA SMEND STYLING LYDIA BRUN

"So much time and effort go into making a good Christmas cake: the soaking of the fruit, the long bake and the nurturing as you feed the baked cake with your favourite tipple. That love and attention are obvious when you taste the finished cake.

For me, though, it’s the marzipan, icing and decoration that really make a Christmas cake great. I’m the person who sneaks uneaten lumps of icing from people’s plates. The taste takes me back to baking Christmas cake with my mum – snaffling a rum-soaked cherry or a piece of marzipan, and dipping a finger into the bowl of fluffy royal icing before she gave the cake its final gilding.