How to Create a Nutcracker Cake

For the drumsticks, take a golf ball sized amount each of Teddy Bear Brown and Chocolate Brown icing.

Knead in a ¼ tsp of Tylo Powder into each colour to help the icing set hard.

You will also need two wooden skewers cut to 17cm long.

Top Tip: The Nutcrackers and the drumsticks for this project can be made ahead of time.

Roll each colour between your hands into a sausage, then roll the two sausages together to blend them.

Fold the sausage in half and continue rolling, keep folding in half and rolling until the icing has a woodgrain effect.

Roll the sausage into a long rope, approximately 40cm long, and cut in half into two drumsticks.

Insert a skewer carefully all the way into each via the cut end, rolling it on your work surface to keep the drumstick straight and smooth.

Taper the rounded end into the tip of the drumstick.

Leave the drumsticks to dry and harden on a flat surface.

Now it's time to make the Nutcrackers; dust the Nutcracker mould with cornflour and tap out any excess.

Use flower and modelling paste to fill the mould.

Top Tip: You can use ready to roll icing in the mould if you add tylo powder to the icing to make it into modelling paste.

Start with the beard, then face, then hair and body, layering each colour and pressing well into the mould with a modelling tool.

When the mould is full trim off any modelling paste from the top with a sharp knife and flip the mould over onto a flat surface.

Gently flex the mould to release the Nutcracker and leave the model to dry.

When you have made all of your Nutcrackers add detail with gold edible paint and edible marker pens.

Chill the crumb-coated cake for two hours in the fridge.

Roll out the white icing approximately 4mm thick. Cut out a circle to fit the top of the cake exactly

Top Tip: Use the cake tin you used to bake the cake in or use a paper template.

Remove the cake from the fridge and add the disc of icing to the top.

Smooth the icing flat on top of the cake with an icing smoother and trim away any excess so that the edges are flush with the sides of the cake.

Mark 2cm down from the top of the cake and use a cocktail stick to score a level line all the way around the cake.

Top Tip: secure the cocktail stick to a ruler or other straight edge with tape to help with this.

Repeat this process marking 2cm up from the bottom of the cake.

Measure the gap between the two score lines – you will need to draw a paper template for the triangles that will fit between these two lines.

Roll out the blue icing using a rolling pin with 2mm guide rings to ensure even thickness across all of the triangles you will be cutting out.

Use a pizza wheel to cut around your paper template – you will need approximately six or seven triangles.

Attach the triangles with a little cooled, boiled water if needed, lining them along the scored edge nearest the bottom of the cake.

Repeat with the white triangles, lining them up along the scored edge nearest the top of the cake.

Use an icing smoother to smooth all the triangles so that they sit flush next to each other.

Next, it's time to cut the red trim for the drum.

Top Tip: Use red flower and modelling paste for this – it will be easier to handle without stretching and tearing.

Measure the circumference of the cake, you will need to cut two strips at least this length.

Use the thicker guide rings (4mm or more) to roll out the red flower paste in a long strip.

Cut it just wider than 2cm using a ruler and pizza wheel.

Attach the strip around the base of the cake and another strip around the top of the cake.

Top Tip: Rroll the strip into a coil to help you transfer it to the cake and unravel it as you attach it.

Roll out yellow icing and cut out stars using the cutter.

Attach these to the white triangles on the drum with water.

Finally, attach the Nutcrackers to the drum with Royal Icing and arrange the drumsticks in position on the top of the cake.