Christmas Bauble Cake

Preheat the oven to 170˚C (150˚C fan oven, 325˚F, Gas 3). Grease 12 x 6-7cm (2 ¼ - 2 ½ inch) hemisphere pans. Break up the Extra Dark Chocolate and put in a saucepan with the butter, sugar and treacle. Place over a very low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted. Remove from the heat, stir in the juice, leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Sift the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the egg and gradually pour in the melted mixture, mixing to make a smooth, thick batter. Divide the mixture equally between the tins and bake for about 25 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Turn on to a wire rack to cool completely. Trim the cake tops so they are flat.

To decorate, put the butter in a bowl and gradually sieve and mix in the icing sugar and Cocoa Powder to make a smooth, creamy icing. Use some of the icing to sandwich 2 cake halves together. Spread icing round the side of cake ball to smooth the sandwiched edge. Leave in a cool, dry place for about 30 minutes until set.

Divide the Marzipan into 6 equal pieces, and knead each piece gently until smooth and pliable. Lightly dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll out one piece to make a round approx. 15cm (6 inch) diameter. Brush the marzipan with a little honey and drape, honey-side down over a cake ball.

Gently smooth the marzipan down the sides of the cake ball, lifting and gently stretching each pleat as it forms, to create a smooth covering. Work the marzipan until it meets at the top to form a complete covering. Slice off any excess and gently roll between your hands, to smooth off the outer surface. Place on a board lined with baking parchment whilst you cover the remaining cake balls.

Re-dust the work surface, and working on one colour of Ready to Roll Icing at a time, knead gently until smooth and pliable. Cut into 2 equal pieces. Roll out one portion of Icing to make a round approx. 14cm (5 ½ inch) diameter and carefully drape over a cake ball.

Use the same technique for the icing as with the marzipan, working the icing until it meets at the top – it takes a while to cover the cake completely, but by gently easing and smoothing the icing, it will be possible. Gently roll the iced cake ball between your hands to smooth off the outer surface. Place back on the board whilst you repeat with the remaining colours.

Cover the cake balls loosely with baking parchment and leave to dry for about 24 hours, turning them occasionally, re-shaping them as necessary – they will naturally form a flat side where they rest on the board.

To make the red bauble design, on a lightly dusted work surface, roll out 75g (3oz) Regal Ice thinly, and stamp out 24 snowflakes using a 2.5cm (1 inch) cutter, re-rolling as necessary. Reserve the trimmings. Stick 4 on to each ball using a little water then pipe the stripes using the White Designer Icing with the writing nozzle attached, leaving sufficient space at the top of the balls for the cap. Repeat this design for each ball or see Tips for instructions on how we made the other designs.

Meanwhile, make the caps. Divide the remaining Regal Ice into 6 equal portions and shape each into a thick 2cm (3/4 inch) diameter round. Score the sides with a knife and place them, spaced apart, on a large sheet of baking parchment.

Paint with gold lustre, until a rich gold colour is achieved. Leave to dry completely for at least 2 hours or ideally overnight to ensure baubles are firm enough to handle.

Brush a little water on the top of each bauble and stick a gold cap on top of each. Leave for 30 minutes to further dry, before packing, ready to present.