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Santa-Claus-Shaped Cake
Ingredients:
Cake-Shaping Strip (from 6 sushi-mat segments)
Heavy-duty aluminum foil
Sheet pan
Prepared cake batter (see the Ice Cream Cake batter or prepare batter using about 2 boxes of cake mix)
1 (16-ounce) container white frosting
1/4 (16-ounce) container chocolate frosting
1 (about 16-inch diameter) sheet of fondant (you can use 1/2 recipe of the Easy Marshmallow Fondant recipe)
2-3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 (4.5-once) ready-to-use red frosting
1 (3.5-ounce) red sparkle gel
2 chocolate baking chips
1 (7-ounce) can of Reddiwip spray whipped cream
Instructions:
1. Line a sheet pan with two sheets of aluminum foil. Shape the Cake-Shaping Strip into a shape of Santa with his cap. Wrap the bottom foil layers around the strip. Cut the foil or add extra bottom foil strips as needed to wrap around the strip. Press small balls of loosely packed foil into outer corners or edges if you think that the foil didn't wrap around the portion well enough to prevent cake-batter leakage.
2. If making the ice cream cake, prepare the layers as directed in the recipe. Otherwise, prepare your cake batter, spray the strip and foilwith cooking spray, pour the batter into the prepared "pan", and bake until it is done. Let the cake completely freeze (for an ice cream cake) or cool (for a baked cake).
3. Cut away any ice cream or cake batter that leaked through the strip. Carefully remove the Cake-Shaping Strip. Insert the flat edge of a table knife between the strip and the cake if this helps.
4. Place a layer of fondant over the ice cream cake. (If making an ice-cream cake, refreeze the cake between each of the subsequent steps.)
5. Gradually add 2-3 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter to about 2/3 cup store-bought white frosting. Adjust the amount of peanut butter to your preference to make a skin tone. Spread the peanut-butter frosting over the face of the cake, but not over Santa's eyes.
6. Spread the ready-to-use red frosting over the cap portion of the cake. Spread the sparkle gel over the red frosting.
7. Combine 1/4 cup store-bought white frosting a pinch of the ready-to-use red frosting to form a pink frosting. Spread or pipe the frosting to form Santa's lips.
8. Place the chocolate baking chips on the cake to be Santa's eyes. Pipe a thin chocolate-frosting line along the top of Santa's eyes (not shown).
9. Re-freeze your cake until it's completely solid again and you're ready to serve the cake. Squirt whipped cream onto the cake to form Santa's eyebrows, beard and mustache and the rim and top of his hat.
5. Break apart most of the pretzel sticks. Stick them into the cake, such that the unbroken side is oriented upwards.
6. Gradually add some powdered sugar to the green frosting until it is somewhat stiff. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag. Pipe on the rest of the green icing over the pretzel sticks using a No. 352 Leaf Decorating Tip.
7. Frost the trunk portion of the cake with chocolate frosting. Cover the top of the trunk with vertically aligned whole pretzel sticks. Spread some more chocolate frosting over the pretzels, such that they are mostly, but not entirely, covered.
8. Place cranberries on the tree cake to look like ornaments. Dust the cake with powdered sugar to look like snow.
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