Christmas Cake Decorations

Christmas is almost upon us and what better way to spend it than with a traditionally Christmas Feast. And one of the most celebrated courses in the feast is the Christmas cake. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced baker, you can find the perfect way to top your cake and impress your guests. There are several different options:

• non-edible cake toppers (plastic figures, for example)
• edible cake toppers (cookies, candy, chocolate figures)
• writing and drawing with icing
• cake decorating supplies (sprinkles, colored sugars, etc)

I found several cake decorating ideas to add magic and liven up that special cake.

The best thing about non-edible cake toppers is how easy they are. You simple make a delicious cake and put on your favorite icing or frosting, then grab a decoration (usually made of plastic) and put it right on top of the cake. Whether you want to use a snowman, santa, a religious image or the term "Merry Christmas", you can find cake toppers in craft stores and online outlets.

One company I love to check out for their creative cake toppings is the Craft Company.

No artistic skills are required, and they are great investments because you can use non-edible cake toppers again and again, year after year. Children will also feel very proud to arrange the cake toppers on top of the cake for the guests, so if you have a little one who wants to help you in the kitchen but is just too young to hand a baker's bag, let them top the cake with non-edible figures.

Edible cake toppers are great if you want to get a little more elaborate. It's always a wonderful thing when every part of the cake can be eaten. Some options for edible cake toppers you might consider include:

• Christmas cookie cut-outs
• figures molded with modeling chocolate or fondant
• marzipan figures
• molded chocolates

If you are handy in the kitchen, you can probably whip some easy little figures up on your own-- for example, it's simple to make carolers and snowmen if you can make a ball out of clay.

You can also purchase edible cake toppers if you don't have the time or the skill level to make them yourself.

Don't forget fruit! Chocolate covered fruits or sugared fruits are also a delicious way to top a cake, and make it look very pretty and festive.

If you can write or doodle, you can decorate a cake. Simply make tinted frostings, put them in a bakers bag and start drawing on your cake!

You can make your own frosting, but you don't have to-- a little store bought white icing and some food coloring provides you with all the supplies you need to make a festively colored cake.

The fun part is playing with all the different baker's bag tips for different effects. With a .99 cent can of supermarket frosting and some scrap paper, you can spend an afternoon practicing by making swirling letters and holly leaves. It doesn't take that long to develop some basic skill, and as soon as you get the hang of it you are ready to decorate the cake!

You don't have to get elaborate-- sometimes just a few simple touches makes a cake look pretty. Sprinkle some blue colored sugar crystals on top of a field of white snowy icing, or sprinkle red and green cake confetti on a chocolate cake.

Want something more sophisticated? what about edible pearls?

Simplest of all-- sprinkle some powdered sugar on it. Just put the sugar in a sieve and shake it gently over the cake. If you put a small cardboard cut-out on the cake and sprinkle, then remove the cardboard cut-out, you'll have a silhouette on the cake.

It is only a few more days until Christmas, so you had better start working on ideas for that wonderful Christmas cake. There are hundreds of other designs and decorations you can choose from online or on books, so start cracking if you want to find that perfect cake theme. And make sure it is as delicious as it looks. Happy holidays everyone!