Christmas Cake Topper

Well, that wraps up Tea, Cake & Create Christmas classes for 2016. (Wish I could say the same for my Christmas gift wrapping!)
And I did get around to using some green - even if it was very much in the background!

Christmas Teddy (and his Southern hemisphere friend) are made out of a modelling chocolate / fondant blend , but because it has been so damp and misty around here lately, I also added some CMC paste to the mix for the bear.

The ratio I use is 1:1 modelling chocolate to fondant.
And if I'm adding CMC paste (the paste, not the powder), I'll add approximately 1/4 of the weight of the modelling choc/ fondant blend.
So, if the blend weighs 100g (50g modelling choc + 50g fondant), the CMC paste added to that would be 25g (a quarter of the 100g).

The cake dummy is covered with a strip of red modelling chocolate / fondant blend around the sides, and a free-hand cut apron of white fondant to create the dripping icing effect.

It's such an easy way to cover a cake with fondant, especially if you've not worked with fondant much - no complicated draping and smoothing required. 

Remember if it's a fruit cake that you're covering, you need to have a layer of marzipan between the cake and the fondant to prevent the fruit acids discolouring the fondant. 

Here's some tips from BBC Good Food on covering fruit cakes: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/videos/techniques/how-ice-cake

And here's the fruit cake recipe I like to use for Christmas cakes:
http://teacakeandcreate.blogspot.co.za/2012/12/christmas-fruit-cake.html

Happy baking!

xxM