This is an easy and elegant DIY Christmas Wreath Cake made with a bundt cake pan that’s sure to become a classic for your holiday dessert table. All you need is a Bundt or angel food cake pan to make the wreath shape.
Get your kids in on the fun by letting them squeeze on some of the icing, or add a few red candies for berries to complete the look.
You can add a red bow as a finishing touch, but the cake will also look fine without the bow. If you decide to add the bow make it a day or two ahead of time and let it have a chance to dry so it will hold its shape on the cake.
DIY Christmas Wreath Cake
Materials:
Cake mix
2-3 cups green icing
Large star decorating tip (like Wilton 1M tip)
Pastry bag
Cherry sours (or other round red candies for berries)
Red Fruit Roll Up or fruit leather (optional) or red rolled fondant
Round cake board
Cake Foil
Bundt or angel food cake pan
Directions:
1. Bake the cake according to the mix or recipe instructions, and set it aside to cool.
2. While the cake is cooling, cover a round cardboard with cake foil.
3. Once the cake has cooled place it on the covered cake board and ice it with a thin layer of green icing to seal in the crumbs.
4. Use a large star decorating tip (like Wilton 1M) attached to the end of a pastry bag to cover the whole cake with stars to look like the greens on a wreath. Touch the tip to the cake squeeze, lift slightly and release to make a star. Repeat the process directly beside the first star. Show the kids how to make stars and let them each have a turn covering a portion of the cake. Keep repeating the stars until the entire cake is covered.
5. Let the kids place cherry sours candy randomly on the cake for holly berries. You can also use maraschino cherries, or another round red candy for the berries.
6. Optional: If you want to dress your cake up a little more, you can make a bow from either red fruit leather, or a piece of red rolled fondant. Make the bow a day or two ahead, to give it time to dry and hold its shape.
a. To make the bow, roll the fruit leather out and have an adult cut the fruit leather into 5 strips about ½ to ¾ inch thick and about 5 inches long.
b. Use two of the strips to make the loops on your bow, loop them around and press them together in the center. While you’re holding the bow, have your kids help you gently insert crinkled up wax paper into the loop to help it keep its shape until it dries out (see photo).
c. Cut another fruit leather strip in half and wrap it around the middle where the two loops meet, to make the center of the bow.
d. Cut the other two fruit leather strips (or fondant) to the length you’d like to have the bow’s tail, trim the ends at an angle.
e. Set the bow aside for a day or two to dry and harden so it will hold its shape when you add it to the cake.
Kids Fun Tip:
You can make this DIY Christmas Wreath Cake in other festive holiday colors, like a white wreath with red or pink berries, or a light blue wreath with bright blue candies. You can also use other candies to decorate the wreath, like mini candy canes or red and white mint candies.
Looking for more Christmas baking ideas? Check out these fun Candy Cane Kiss Brownie Bites.
