If you have made your Christmas cake and would like to make a grown up showstopper to top it off, my blog on how to recreate this elegant design could be just what you are looking for.

Inspired by the Rockerfeller Centre at Christmas, the decoration is made up of a sparkling tree centre piece and edged with a chocolate New York style skyline

The centrepiece and chocolate design can be make 2-3 weeks in advance and make a lovely pre-Christmas project which will get you into the holiday spirit.

Method

Prep time: Approx 6 hours depending on the size of your decorations, plus 1 day setting time

Measure the polystyrene cone against your Christmas cake. If you feel it is bit big, carefully trim it and wipe with a damp cloth to remove any pieces of polystyrene.

I have used a 28cm cone on a 23cm x 8cm cake but you can choose one which suits your cake dimensions.

Lightly dust a clean work surface with icing sugar and roll out your fondant to approximately 3mm thickness and a width that will cover the cone. Turn the fondant each time you roll it to prevent it sticking to the work surface.

Lie the cone sideways on the fondant icing and roll the fondant around it. Press the join of the fondant together and tuck the ends under the bottom.

Trim any excess from the bottom of the base and smooth over so that the cone stands straight. Turn the cone upright and use your icing smoother to gently rub the fondant on the sides of the cone until it is fairly smooth, working from the top down.

You can sometimes get an air bubble under the fondant. If this happens, simply make a small hole in the fondant to let the air out and then patch it back together with a small left over piece fondant.

When the cone is smooth, leave the fondant to set overnight. You will need to decorate the cone within 2-3 days if you are using balls as it will become too hard after this.

If you haven’t already done so, put your Christmas cake on your cake board.

When you are ready to decorate the cone, make the royal icing to use as glue for sticking on the decorations. Mix together the egg whites and gradually mix in the icing sugar. Cover with cling film straight away as royal icing sets very quickly.

Use a paintbrush to apply a small amount of royal icing to each decoration and stick it onto the cone. It should stick immediately. If you are using round balls, you will need to gently push them into the fondant icing to get them to stick. The end of the paintbrush is quite handy for this.

Have a bowl of water and some kitchen paper to hand to wipe you brush when it gets too much icing on it as this will keep your decorations clean. You will also need to keep the icing covered with cling film whilst you work and just dip the brush underneath.

If you are decorating the cake over a few days (which I would recommend if you are using smaller decorations) you may find it easier to make the royal icing in small one egg white batches.

For the decoration around the base, you can create a New York skyline effect by cutting the Matchmakers to different lengths. Measure around the base of the cake with a piece of string and cut it to find the circumference.

Lay the string out on a board and start to cut the Matchmakers. Start to vary the length, making them shorter and longer to graduate the height. Lay the chocolate out along the piece of string in a line as you work as this is the easiest way to see the effect you are creating.

When you have enough cut to reach the length of the string, you can stick them to the cake using royal icing and paintbrush again.

Once the Matchmakers are all in place, tie the ribbon around the cake, securing it with a few dots of royal icing. You may need a friend to help you hold the ribbon in place whilst you position and tie it.

Finally, secure the completed cone onto the cake by smoothing a small amount of the royal icing onto the middle of the cake and placing it on top.

This show stopper can be made to 2-3 weeks in advance.

Note

Make sure to tell your guests that the cone is non-edible and remove it when you are serving the cake. If you want to be able to eat the chocolate, you may want to leave this last part until the day before you are serving the cake so the chocolate doesn’t become stale.

Ingredients

Decorations

1kg Fondant Icing (ready-made)

55g edible silver balls

250g mixed sugar cake decorations (I used Sweetie Pie by Cake Angels)

2 x 120g pack Matchmakers

Royal Icing

400g icing sugar

2 medium egg whites

Assembly Items

28cm polystyrene cone

Icing smoother