Christmas can be a hectic, busy time of the year, even if it is enjoyable. Simplify everything you can, such as decorating a cake, as there are probably other things you could be doing. Spend that extra time with your loved ones, rather than decorating a cake that will be devoured in a matter of minutes.
Candy Toppings
Use candy shapes to decorate the cake in a festive way. Poinsettia candies or miniature candy canes provide simple decorations that work with the holiday.
Draw a Christmas tree shape on the cake with green frosting and use various candies to decorate the tree. Use rope licorice to look like garland and small gumballs, jaw breakers or gum drops to look like decorations. Sprinkle the tree with fine granulated sugar or powdered sugar if you want to add a snowy look.
Make a square or rectangle cake look like a gift by covering the cake with small candy shapes to resemble wrapping paper. Create the ribbon and bow out of licorice or an unrolled fruit snack.
Decorate a round cake to look like a drum. Use colorful frosting to make a simple striped pattern on the sides of the cake. Line the top and bottom of the side of the cake with round candies. Lay two licorice sticks on top of the cake to resemble drumsticks.
Non-Edible Toppings
Non-edible items can decorate the cake as well. Use clean plastic toys or other objects. Cover a piece of cardboard with aluminum foil and icing that matches the cake if you don’t want to set the non-edible objects directly onto the cake.
Decorate the top of a cake to resemble a winter wonderland. Position a clean, round mirror on a caked frosted with white icing. Use the icing to cover the edges of the mirror so it looks like a frozen pond or lake. Add plastic toy trees or cover sugar cones with green frosting, putting them upside down on the cake to look like trees. Small plastic figures can be added to the cake and mirror to look like people. Dust the entire cake–including the “trees”–with powdered sugar to look like a fresh snowfall.
Small toy trains, snow globes or other Christmas decorations are additional options.
Icing Decorations
Use colored icing to draw decorations onto the cake. For example, draw a train on the cake, or decorate a series of three or more loaf cakes to look like a Christmas train by using different colors of icing to draw on windows with toys showing through. Keep it simple by drawing blocks, teddy bears or whatever shape you find easy to draw. Use tubes of squeezable colored frosting if you want to keep it really simple.
Frost a cake blue and draw a snowman or snowflakes on the cake with white or icy-blue icing. Outline a snowman with black icing on a white frosted cake. Draw on the details, such as a hat, scarf, buttons, eyes, nose and mouth. Or draw a poinsettia, candy cane or wreath onto a cake.
