Ingredients
For the cake
300g butter (room temperature)
200g caster sugar
225g soft light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
350g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g cocoa
1500ml buttermilk
150ml boiling water
To decorate
500g ready-to-roll chocolate icing
500g ready-to-roll white icing
100g ready-to-roll green icing
100g ready-to-roll red icing
Method
For the cake
Preheat oven to 160°c
Mix butter, caster sugar and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamed.
Slowly mix in the eggs and vanilla extract.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa, stir for a couple of minutes before adding the buttermilk and boiling water and mixing well.
Transfer mixture into Master Class Silver Anodised 20cm Hemisphere Cake Pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool completely on a wire rack before decorating.
To decorate
Roll out chocolate icing to approx. 35cm diameter. Carefully lift the icing and place over the cake, smooth down using an icing smoother from the top downwards trimming away any excess.
Roll out white icing and cut into approx. 7 – 10cm strips, place the strips over the cake starting at the top as if to look like cream running down the cake.
Roll out green icing and using the Holly Fondant Plunger Cutters cut out holly leaves and place on top of the cake where the white strips meet.
Finally take small pieces of red icing and roll into small balls, place onto of the fondant holly leaves.