How to Make Christmas Pudding Cakes

Ingredients

* Chocolate Buttercream Icing 400g

* White Royal Icing 400g

* Gel Food Colouring - Bright Green

* Ready to Roll Icing 250g - Red

* Silicone Hemisphere Mould (28.5 x 16.5cm)

* 8oz/230g Soft Butter/Margarine

* 8oz/230g Caster Sugar

* 4 Medium Eggs

* 5 1/2 oz/155g Self-Raising Flour

* 2 1/2 oz/70g Cocoa Powder

* 1tsp Vanilla Extract

* 2tbsp Milk

* Pinch of Salt

To Decorate

* Chocolate Fudge Icing

* White Royal Icing

* Red Icing

* Green Food Colouring

* Piping Bag

* Small Leaf Nozzle

Equipment

* Mixing Bowl

* Sieve

* Christmas Pudding Mould

* Cake Release (You Could Also Use Butter)

* Baking Tray

* Cooling Rack

* Knife

Preheat the oven to 170C/375F/Gas 5.

In a bowl, beat together the butter/margarine and sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and add in the vanilla extract and salt. Sieve together the flour and cocoa and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the milk until well mixed.

Grease the Christmas pudding mould with cake release (or butter and a light coating of flour). Put the mould on a baking tray. The mixture will make 6 complete puddings so divide half of the mix between the moulds. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until well risen.

Transfer the mould upside down onto a wire rack and release the cakes. Repeat the process using the remaining cake mixture.

When the cakes are cold, trim any domed tops with a sharp knife and sandwich the halves together with chocolate fudge icing.

Pipe the tops with royal icing for the ‘custard’, letting it run down the sides of the cake.

Roll some holly berries out of red icing and position on the tops of the cakes.

For the holly leaves, colour a small bowl of royal icing with green food colouring - this needs to be a stiff consistency in order for the leaves to keep their shape so you may need to stir in extra icing sugar. Put the icing into a piping bag fitted with a small leaf nozzle. Pipe leaves on the tops of each cake.