Serves 12
Preparation time 25 minutes
1 roasting-tin Madeira Cake (see page 10)
green and silver sugar pearls
12 white marshmallows
Orange butter icing
125 g (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
250 g (8 oz) icing sugar, sifted
grated rind of 1 orange and 1 tablespoon of the juice
Place the butter in a bowl and gradually beat in the icing sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the orange rind and juice.
Cut the cake horizontally into 3 short strips. Cut each strip into 3 triangles and use the half-triangle left at each end to make a fourth triangle, butting the halves together with a little butter icing. Create a total of 12 triangles – 9 whole ones and 3 made of butted-together halves.
Spread the tops and sides of the cakes thinly with butter icing to stick the crumbs in place, then spread with a thicker layer of icing. Arrange the triangles on a cake board or plate.
Place a marshmallow at the base of each triangle for a tub. Press on sugar pearls for decorations.
For chocolate Christmas trees, follow the recipe for the Madeira cake (see page 10), substituting 40 g (1½ oz) cocoa powder for the same weight of flour and increasing the quantity of baking powder to 1½ teaspoons. Use large chocolates for the tubs. Alternatively, cut a small strip of sponge off the cake before making the triangles, cut the strip into 12 for the tubs and wrap each one in red ready-to-roll icing.