To conclude my festive baking fest, I was thinking of something that could act as a gift as well as centre piece of a Christmas table. And what better to stand tall and proud in its festive glamour then a Christmas tree! 

These are made from a cheat’s gingerbread that is super easy to make and does not require any special ingredients (regular gingerbread has treacle and other goodies in it) so this is the perfect thing to whip up ready for Christmas day! Not able to get the mould? That’s ok! This makes a wonderful layer cake, loaf cake or even cupcakes! Just be wary as baking times will vary. Why not make this a loaf and top with my Biscoff buttercream from the Biscoff banana bread recipe?

Eat, Drink and be Merry this holiday season! And remember to spread love and good cheer to the special people in your life. 

Ingredients

For the sponge -

200 g self-raising flour

200 g unsalted butter, softened

200 g dark brown soft sugar

3 large free-range eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

1 pinch of salt

1-2 tbsp milk

To Decorate -

Royal Icing or melted white chocolate

Sprinkles

M&M’s - Optional

Recommended equipment -

Method

1 – 

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Place your clean dry cake mould on a baking sheet and set aside.

2 – 

Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl or, if using, the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat the two together for 2-3 mins until pale and fluffy, scraping the bowl periodically to ensure all the butter is combined. Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine. 

3 – 

In a separate bowl, add your flour, spices and salt and whisk / sift to combine. Crack your eggs into a jug or bowl and set aside. 

4 – 

Add the eggs one at a time followed by one third of the flour mix, alternating between the two and ending with the dry ingredients. Once the last of the flour has been added, add your milk to make the batter smooth such that it can be easily spooned into the mould. 

5 – 

Carefully spoon the mixture into your mould until the shapes are 2/3 full. Cover the remaining mixture and refrigerate while the rest bake. You are going to bake these trees in three rounds and with each tree skipping the next larger shape (this will make a small, medium and large tree). Put simply, the large three is all 5 pieces, the second is 4 and the third is two. We will use the round base for the medium and large trees.

6 – 

Bake for 20-25 mins or until a skewer, when inserted into the middle, comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Once cool, remove the cakes from the mould and store in an airtight container until ready to decorate. 

To decorate – 

Using white chocolate, make three stars using the star shape in the cake mould. You can store these in fridge until ready to use. 

When ready to decorate, remove your white chocolate stars and, using a clean dry brush, coat with gold (or silver) lustre dust to make them metallic in appearance. Using a sharp knife, cut a small channel in the top layer of the trees and insert the stars.  Set these aside. 

Using either royal icing or white chocolate, pipe drips of snow on each layer, sprinkle with festive sprinkles and layer on top of each other working bottom to top. Set aside to set. 

Once all set, transfer to your desired display plate, serve and enjoy! These will keep for 2-3 days in an air tight container, if you cannot store them assembled, I recommend decorating / assembling them the day they are to be eaten.

Optional step – 

You can hollow out the bottom layers of these cakes and fill them with sweets. I chose M&Ms for a colourful surprise when cutting them open.

You can also flavour your icing to really personalise these cakes. I used orange and vanilla extract for a Christmas spiced orange flavour.