How to decorate a Christmas cake

1. For an iced cake you need marzipan, either home-made or ready-made. Roll it out to cover the cake then brush with brandy – this acts as a preservative and also helps to fix the icing on. 
 

2. Use home-made or ready-made fondant icing. Measure the top and sides of the cake then roll out the fondant to slightly larger than the cake.

3. Then carefully fold over the rolling pin…  

4. …and transfer to the cake.

5. Smooth it out evenly over the cake using your hands or the rolling pin.

6. Roll out the icing trimmings and, with a holly leaf cutter, stamp out 84 holly leaves.

7. Brush the leaves with a little egg white to stick them to the cake and arrange them in clusters of four on the cake to cover the top and sides.

8. Using a little mixed icing sugar and water as a 'glue', place 2-3 edible silver balls in the centre of each holly leaf cluster.

9. What you'll then have is a very simple, easy but very elegant Christmas cake.