Crafty Christmas Cake

Food Blogger Janey Green shows us how to make a fantastic Christmas cake, which you can get the whole family involved with!

Christmas can be a daunting time for anyone trying not to over indulge , but hopefully you'll see that you can still have some fun with my whimsical idea. All these goodies are low-fat and, presented on sticks in this way, enable you to have a few treats without feeling like you are missing out. If you are a guest at someone else's house, you could offer to bring a dessert...then present this gorgeous table centre, knowing it's not going to tempt you off plan. My 'snow'-capped strawberries, and dancing snowmen will appeal to everyone, young and old, Weight Watcher or not!

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HOW TO MAKE MY CRAFTY CHRISTMAS CAKE

I thought I would show you in detail exactly how I made the cake, step-by-step.
You could make a base like mine, but if you don't have the time or the inclination, the goodies look great arranged in a vase or jug!

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THE BASE

Using florists polystyrene or oasis, create your desired base shape. Stick the oasis onto a 'hat-box' style box, then cover it with florists' moss from a craft shop.

Glue a paper napkin or wrapping paper around the cardboard base.

Tie a bow with rustic string.

Decorate with ornaments of your choice.

(I bought these gorgeous vintage-style painted plaster toadstools from a Christmas shop. I cut the wires really short so I could stick them into the polystyrene).

THE MINIATURE FLAGS & BUNTING

Make some little decorative flags and tiny bunting out of bamboo skewers, wire and WASHI tape. (You can buy this tape from gift and craft shops. If you are local to Leamington Spa, BERYLUNE on Park Street have an amazing selection. Paperchase sell it too).

Open out a length of tape (sticky side up) and pop the bamboo skewer in place.

Fold the tape back over the stick. The great thing about washi tape is that it's low-tack, so if you mess up you can unpeel and restick as many times as you wish! Cut into a flag shape. Make the miniature bunting the same way. Wrap wire around two bamboo skewers. Fold the tape over the wire and cut into triangles.

THE FRUITY POPS

These are approx.50kcal/1 WeightWatchers propoint (pp) for 2 fruit pops.

For every 5 Fruit pops, you need:

5 Large Strawberries or 15 Grapes

8g Plain Chocolate & 8g White Chocolate

2 Teaspoons Sugar Sprinkles

Weigh all the ingredients into separate small containers. Melt the chocolate.

Make sure your strawberries are chilled. Make a hole with the sharp end of a bamboo skewer. Insert the flat end of a bamboo skewer into the hole you made. Using a teaspoon, make a thin stripe of plain chocolate about a third of the way down the strawberry. Coat the top of the strawberry with a thin 'cap' of white chocolate.

Make sure the white chocolate overlaps the plain. Allow it to look random and wavy, like fallen snow. Gently dip the end into the sugar sprinkles. (You only need a few). Leave to set in glasses.

These are approx.90kcal/2pp each

For 15 snowmen you need:

4 Egg Whites

(Use '2-chicks' liquid egg white if you don't want to waste the yolks. Click HERE for link)

200g Caster Sugar

Selection of decorations

(Propoints are included for these)

When making the snowmen, choose a variety of small fruity and chocolate treats for decorating. Red laces or tiny dots of black icing are great for mouths. Whisk the egg whites until firm, then add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until you have a beautiful, glossy mixture. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Shape the meringue mixture with a teaspoon. (Approx. 1 generous teaspoon for the head and 2 for the body). Decorate BEFORE baking.