Best Snowman Cake Recipes

BAKERELLA'S SNOWMAN CAKE POPS

Steps:

• Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan. Cool completely; crumble into a large bowl.
• With a large spoon, thoroughly mix cake and frosting.
• Roll mixture into quarter-size cake balls, and place on a waxed paper-covered cookie sheet. Place cake balls in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm up. You can then transfer them to the refrigerator to keep chilled and avoid freezing.
• Place white candy coating in microwavable bowl so that the coating is at least three to four inches deep. Melt uncovered in the microwave in 30-second intervals on Low, stirring in between. Repeat until melted and smooth.
• Remove a couple of cake balls from the refrigerator at a time. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted coating, and insert into a cake ball no more than halfway through. Dip and remove the cake pop in one motion without stirring. Make sure the entire cake ball is covered. If your coating is too thick, you can add a little vegetable oil to help thin it and make it easier to work with.
• Remove and gently tap off any excess coating to fall off the pop and back into the bowl. Before the coating sets, gently press an orange candy-coated sunflower seed in position for a nose. Place in craft foam to dry.
• You can get creative with placement of candy and sprinkles for fun expressions and details. Here are a few ideas.
• For sock caps, dip white cake pops at an angle into melted blue candy coating and sprinkle with white sanding sugar while the coating is still wet. When dry, dot on more blue candy coating with a toothpick, and sprinkle with more sanding sugar. Use the toothpick to gently make indentions on the brim of the cap. Alternatively, you can use a toothpick to apply white candy coating for a white brim, and sprinkle with white sanding sugar.
• You can draw on eyes and mouths with a black edible pen and use various sprinkles and add-ons to give your snowmen character. Dot on a small amount of coating to attach blue mini candy-coated power mint candies for earmuffs and pink confetti sprinkles for rosy cheeks. Coal eyes and mouths can also be achieved by using black confetti sprinkles. And jumbo snowflake sprinkles are like the icing on the cake pop for these snowmen. Use them to adorn their cute little hats. Let dry completely, and enjoy!

SNOWMAN CAKE POPS

Steps:

• Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Cool completely on a wire rack., Crumble cake into a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup frosting and mix well. Shape mixture into thirty-six 3/4-in. balls and thirty-six 1-in. balls. Place on baking sheets. Freeze for at least 2 hours or refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until cake balls are firm and easy to handle., To assemble snowmen, insert a lollipop stick into a large cake ball and then a small cake ball. Insert cake pops into a foam block to stand. In a microwave, warm remaining frosting; stir until smooth. Spoon frosting over each pop., Using sprinkles, add faces and buttons to snowmen. Add earmuffs and scarves with M&M's and pieces of fruit rolls. Let stand until set.

CAKE SNOWMAN

Steps:

• Prepare cake mixes according to package directions. Pour batter into two greased 1-qt. ovenproof bowls, two greased 10-oz. custard cups and one greased muffin cup., In a 350° oven, bake muffin cup for 18-20 minutes, custard cups for 45-50 minutes and bowls for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing cakes from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , For frosting, cream the shortening and butter in a bowl. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency., Head and body: Use serrated knife to level the cakes. , For the body, place one large round cake flat side up on the 8-in. serving plate. Frost the top of the cake. Place the remaining large cake on top with the flat side down and edges even. Frost the top and sides., For the head, place one custard cup cake with flat side up on top of body. Frost the top of the cake. Place the remaining custard cup cake on top with the flat side down and edges even. Frost the top and sides. Set aside 1/4 cup of frosting for hat., Press coconut over the top and sides of snowman, reserving some to sprinkle on plate later. Press two brown M&M's onto face for the eyes and three green M&M'S onto body for the buttons., Use your fingers to shape the orange gumdrop into a carrot shape. Press wide end onto face for the nose., Hat: Place reserved frosting in a bowl. Melt chocolate chips. Stir melted chips into frosting until blended. Frost top of wafer. With top of cupcake down, place cupcake on top of frosted wafer. Frost cupcake with remaining frosting. Place hat on snowman's head., Wrap two licorice pieces around hat just above brim and trim as needed., Flatten green gumdrop between waxed paper. Using sharp knife, cut a holly leaf shape from gumdrop and place on hat brim. Place two red M&M'S on brim next to holly leaf for the berries., Finishing: Press the ends of two licorice pieces together to create one long piece. Repeat with remaining two pieces of licorice. Tie long licorice pieces around neck for scarf. , Sprinkle plate with reserved coconut.

SNOWMAN CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare cake mixes according to package directions. Divide batter among two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans, one 9-in. square baking pan and 12 cupcakes. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes and cupcakes for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , Place one round cake off center and 1 in. from the bottom of a 25x16-in. covered board. Place second round cake above it. Set aside 1 cup vanilla frosting. Frost round cakes with remaining vanilla frosting., Cut the square cake into two rectangles-one 8-in. x 2-in. and one 8x4-in. (save remaining piece for another use). For hat brim, place the smaller rectangle (B) above on the top round cake. Cut a 5-3/4x4-in. piece from the large rectangle; place (A) above hat brim. For scarf, cut the remaining cake piece in half diagonally (C and D); position on left side of top circle. (Save the cupcakes for another use.), Frost hat with chocolate frosting. Tint reserved vanilla frosting blue; frost a stripe on hat for ribbon and frost the scarf. Cut three holly leaves from fruit roll-up; place on hat ribbon. Top with tiny tarts for berries. Position red candy coin for nose; add black gumdrops for eyes and buttons. Add licorice bites for mouth.

MELTING SNOWMAN CAKE

Steps:

• For the cakes: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, oil, granulated sugar and eggs together until well combined. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Add the vanilla extract and mix briefly to combine.
• Line a cupcake pan with 7 paper liners. Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter.
• Remove 2 2/3 cups batter from the bowl and place it in a separate bowl. Stir in the mint extract and red food color.
• Spray a 4-cup bundt pan and a 10-cup bundt pan with flour-based baking spray. Alternate layers of vanilla batter and mint (red) batter in each bundt pan until the pans are about 3/4 full. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the two batter colors together.
• Bake the cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes, the 4-cup bundt for 30 to 35 minutes and the 10-cup bundt for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a toothpick tester comes out clean. When the cakes are done, turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.
• When the cupcakes are cool, crumble them into a large bowl and add 2 ounces of cream cheese. Mix together using a rubber spatula or knead together with your hands. Squeeze a small handful of the mixture in your hand. It should hold together. If it doesn't and the mixture is crumbly, knead in the remaining 1/2 ounce cream cheese.
• Form three roughly ball-shaped pieces from the mixture that are small, medium and large as the segments of a snowman. Flatten the bottom of the largest ball so that it appears to pool and slump to one side. Add the medium ball on top and flatten slightly. Add the smallest ball on top and dowel the three pieces together with a toothpick. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• For the glaze and decors: Combine the powdered sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in the half-and-half a little at a time until a thick white glaze forms. Place the largest bundt cake on a cake stand or serving platter with a lip. Cover the top of the bundt cake with half of the glaze. Top the glazed bunt cake with the second smaller bundt cake. Top the second cake with the remaining glaze. You may not have to use the entire batch of glaze.
• Cut a small piece away from the orange fruit chew using a knife and mold it into a triangular carrot shape. Break away the point of a toothpick and insert the non-pointed end into the flat side of the carrot shape. Have this ready on hand along with the chocolate chips, pretzel stick, chocolate sprinkles and licorice lace.
• Melt the white candy melting wafers in the microwave at 100 percent power at 30-second intervals until the candy can be stirred smooth and is pourable.
• Place the chilled modeled snowman shape on the center of the top bundt cake. Spoon the white melted candy onto the snowman shape and allow the excess to run down the sides of the cakes.
• Quickly add two mini chocolate chips (flat side out) for the snowman's eyes. Add the two chocolate sprinkles just over the eyes for eyebrows. Press the nose into the face just under the eyes and add the larger chocolate chip (flat side out) for an o-shaped mouth. Break the pretzel stick in half and add to each side of the body, with one arm sticking upright and the other onto the lower part of the body as if it has melted off. Add the three remaining mini chocolate chips for buttons down the front of the snowman body. Add a licorice lace scarf around the neck.
• Cut the fun-size candy bar in half and have ready on hand with the vanilla cookie.
• Heat the dark chocolate in the microwave at 100 percent power at 30-second intervals until melted and smooth. Dip the cut end of a candy bar half into the chocolate and press it on the center of the cookie, creating a hat shape. Refrigerate until set, about 5 minutes. Dip the entire cookie hat in the chocolate and remove with a fork. Place it on parchment paper and refrigerate until set, about 5 minutes. Dab a small amount of melted chocolate onto the bottom flat part of the cookie hat and hold to the snowman's head until set, about 2 minutes.
• Display as an edible centerpiece at your next holiday gathering. Cut the cake into slices to serve, revealing the red peppermint swirled interior.

SNOWMAN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter and line the bases of two 18-19cm cake tins with baking parchment.
• Beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the lemon zest, vanilla, flour, milk and a pinch of salt and blend until just combined, then evenly divide the mixture between the tins.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 mins until a skewer inserted into the middle of each cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their tins for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
• To make the buttercream, put the butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk until fluffy. Add the icing sugar 2-3 tbsp at a time until it is all incorporated, adding the vanilla and milk halfway through. Sandwich the cakes together with a little of the buttercream and put on a board. Use the remaining buttercream to cover the sides and top of the cake. Chill for 30 mins.
• To decorate, roll out the white fondant icing on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar until large enough to cover the top and sides of the cake. Drape the fondant icing over the cake and carefully mould to fit. Trim off any excess, wrap and set aside.
• Roll out the green icing and cut out a semi-circle, using the base of the cake tin as a guide; this will be the snowman's hat. Brush one side with a little water and stick on the cake. Cut a strip of green icing and make some markings to make it look like the band of a hat, then trim to the correct length and stick on.
• To make the nose, shape a round, flat lump from the orange icing. Mark a smile by gently pressing the rim of a water glass into the fondant. Cut out two circles from the black icing for the eyes, then add a small circle of white icing (from the offcuts) to make the eyes appear to sparkle. To make the scarf, wrap a strip of the blue icing around the base of the cake, then use a knife to add cuts for the fringe. Will keep for up to a week in an airtight container in a cool place.

SNOWMAN CAKE

Steps:

• For Cake:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of 2 (8-inch) round cake pans; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil, eggs and extract. Use an electric mixer to beat on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down bowl and then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until batter is smooth. Divide batter evenly between cake pans. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes, or until center of tester comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes. Remove from pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. ;
• For Royal Icing:
• With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice or extract until frothy. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, smooth, and shiny. Turn to high and beat approximately 5 minutes until stiff and glossy. Add food coloring, if desired, and transfer to a pastry bag to pipe onto cookies. ;
• To Decorate:
• Line the backside of a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place 4 inch wide strips of parchment paper around the border of the sheet pan to keep the foil clean while you decorate the cake. Place cake rounds side by side on the lined sheet tray. Slice one side off each cupcake. Place cupcakes side by side at one end of a cake round with the cut/flat side facing up (this will be the top of the top hat). Frost both cakes and cupcakes with frosting so that it looks like a hat is resting on a snowman's head resting on a body. Remove the parchment paper. Spread or drizzle the bottom third of the sheet pan with some royal icing (the royal icing will act as glue for the coconut). Sprinkle the coconut over the royal icing to mimic snow. Randomly place 20 dollops of royal icing around the rest of the sheet pan. Place the snowflake cookies on each dollop of royal icing. Decorate the snowman's hat with rows of blue mints, starting at the very top of the Snowman's head and working up onto the cupcakes. To decorate the face use the peppermint patties for eyes, place a small dot of the royal icing in the center of each patty and place a blue jellybean on top of the royal icing. Use the orange gum drop for the nose and the blue candy coated chocolates for the smile. To make the buttons dip the flat side of a hard candy into the royal icing and then into the colored decorating sugar and place on the snowman's chest; repeat with remaining 2 hard candies. Take 2 (8-inch) piece fruit strips and tie them into a knot. Drape fruit strips across where the 2 cake rounds meet to make a scarf. To make the "broom", take a 3-inch long piece of fruit strip and slice the bottom 2 inches into thin strips. Place a small amount of royal icing at the end of the over sized candy cane and place the unsliced end of the fruit strip on to the royal icing. Use the large white gumdrops to make the hands. Place the candy cane next too one of his hands. ;

SNOWMAN SNOWBALL CAKE

Steps:

• For the Cake:.
• Hand mix the cocoa, eggs, water and oil in a bowl,.
• Pour some of the batter into a large sized (8") baking bowl and the remaining into a medium (5") baking bowl.
• Bake at 350F: 60 minutes for the larger bowl, 30 minutes for the smaller bowl.
• After cooling, remove the cakes from the bowls, cut a hole into the larger cake and fill with the marshmallow cream frosting.
• For the Frosting:.
• In a stand mixer, mix butter.
• Add the marshmallow cream; mix again.
• Add the powdered sugar, mix again.
• For the Assembly:.
• Place the larger cake upside down on a cake stand; this is the bottom base of the snowman.
• Cover with the marshmallow frosting.
• Cover the smaller cake (the snowman's head) with the marshmallow frosting and set on top of the bottom/larger cake; you may need to use a small round cardboard as a base to the head so it doesn't slide off.
• Cover the snowman with coconut flakes.
• Pipe little pupils, using the white icing, on the candy-coated chocolates; then place them down, forming the eyes.
• Add the chewing candy on the face, forming the nose.
• Add the mini chocolate balls, forming the mouth.
• Place the sweet & tart chews on the body, forming the buttons.
• And wrap the strawberry sour belts around the neck, forming the scarf.

SNOWMAN CAKE POPS

Steps:

• Crumble the cake and mix with buttercream frosting.
• Scoop out into 2 inch balls, shape into pears, and freeze on a parchment lined sheet.
• When they are set, insert the lollipop sticks into the heavy end of the pears. Freeze some more.
• Set up a snowman assembly line. First the M&Ms, then the sour belts(cut into fourths, in half lengthwise and crosswise), then the sunflower seeds, then the twizzlers (separated and cut into 3/4 inch lengths), then the button sprinkles, then the styrofoam block.
• In a double boiler or in the microwave, melt the almond bark.
• One at a time, assemble the snowmen like so;.
• Dip the pear into the almond bark and roll so that it is completely coated, down to the stick. Tap off excess so that the coat is nice and thin, and smooth the drip.
• Place an M&M on either side of the snowman's head for the muffs.
• Wrap a sour belt around the snowman's neck.
• Apply the snowman's nose (orange sunflower seed).
• Link the two muffs together with a piece of twizzler.
• By this time, the coat has probably dried up. You may have to use a toothpick and use some of the almond bark as "glue" for the snowman's buttons.
• When all pieces are on, stick the snowman in the styrofoam block for him to dry.
• Repeat steaps 7-13 until all the snowmen are assembled.
• Once dry, you can draw on or paint on the snowmen's faces with a black food color pen or just black food coloring and a toothpick.

MALTED MILK MELTING SNOWMAN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease two 20cm round cake tins and line with baking parchment. Heavily grease a 16cm hemisphere cake tin and stand on a ramekin on a baking sheet to hold it steady.
• First, make the sponges. Using electric beaters or a tabletop mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Pour the eggs in, one at a time, giving the mix a thorough beating before adding the next. If the mix starts to look curdled, add 2 tbsp of the plain flour. Beat in the yogurt.
• Mix both the flours together, adding ½ tsp salt, and slowly beat into the batter, followed by the malt extract (or vanilla paste) and milk. Spoon half the mixture into one of the 20cm tins, and split the remaining half between the other 20cm tin and the 16cm hemisphere. Bake the smaller amount of cake batter in the 20cm tin and the 16cm tin for 1 hr, and the larger amount for 1 hr 20 mins or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cakes. Cool in the tin for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Can be frozen at this stage for up to three months.
• Meanwhile, make the buttercream by beating all the butter and half the icing sugar together using an electric whisk or tabletop mixer. Add the rest of the icing sugar once incorporated, followed by the malt extract (or vanilla paste) and milk. Set aside until ready to use.
• To assemble, halve the largest 20cm cake horizontally so you are left with two equal-sized sponges the same size as the remaining 20cm cake. Put a blob of buttercream onto a 23cm cake board (or cake stand) and spread using a palette knife. Stick one of the sponges to the board. Spread a thick layer of buttercream on top of the cake and sandwich another sponge on top. Spread over another thick layer and sit the final sponge on top. Using a palette knife, coat the entire cake in a thin layer of buttercream and smooth the sides and top carefully, working around the whole cake, scraping off any excess icing. Chill in the freezer for 10 mins or in the fridge for 1 hr until set.
• Meanwhile, put the hemisphere sponge on the smaller cake board and halve horizontally. Fill the middle with some buttercream, sandwich with the top and coat the entire cake in a thin layer of buttercream. Chill in the freezer for 5 mins or in the fridge for 30 mins.
• Take the larger cake out of the fridge/ freezer and coat in another layer of buttercream. Take care when covering this time, as you want a smooth finish to the cake. Running the palette knife under hot water helps smooth over the sides once it is coated completely. Chill again for 5 mins in the freezer.
• Cover the hemisphere sponge with buttercream and smooth over with the palette knife. Carefully lift the hemisphere onto the centre of the cake (as the sponge has been frozen you shouldn't leave finger marks). Press down lightly to set on the buttercream. If there is a gap around the rim, use a small palette knife to fill in with any remaining buttercream. Chill for 10-15 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the eyes and nose using coloured fondant. Roll the black fondant into two balls for the eyes, and five smaller balls for the mouth. Roll the orange fondant into a carrot shape. Leave to set and harden slightly while you make the drippy ganache.
• Make the drippy ganache by mixing the chocolate and oil and microwaving for 30 secs, stirring and then giving it another 30 secs until melted. Transfer to a squeezy bottle, then pour down the edges of the round cake to create the melting snow effect.
• To finish the cake, stick the eyes to the head using a little remaining buttercream. Poke the wooden dowel into the carrot nose, leaving some poking out to stick it to the face. Stick the five small black fondant balls for the mouth and the chocolate buttons down the front of the cake for buttons. Insert the Mikado sticks on either side for the arms. Bring the cake to room temperature before serving.

SNOWMAN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F Grease and flour two 4-cup and two 1 1/2-cup ovenproof bowls. In medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In measuring cup, combine milk and mint extract.
• In large bowl, beat together sugar and butter on low speed until blended, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and beat 2 minutes, or until light and creamy. Reduce speed to medium-low and add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Alternate flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat until batter is smooth, occasionally scraping sides of bowl with rubber spatula.
• Divide batter among prepared bowls. Bake 30 minutes. Remove 1 1/2-cup bowls, and let cool. Continue baking 4-cup cakes until center comes out clean when inserted with a cake tester, about 10 minutes longer. Cool in bowls for 5 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire racks, and let cool completely.
• Meanwhile, prepare frosting: In the top of a double broiler, over simmering (not boiling) water, beat together sugar, water, egg whites, light corn syrup, and cream of tartar on low speed until combined. Increase speed to high, and beat constantly for 10 to 12 minutes, or until stiff peaks form, scraping sides occasionally with rubber spatula. Makes about 4 cups.
• To assemble cake: Trim the flat side of each cake layer. Spread a thin layer of frosting on trimmed sides of cakes. Place same-size layers together to form two round shapes. Stand cake upright, and place smaller cake on top of larger one to form the snowman shape. Secure cake layers together by inserting a trimmed wooden skewer.
• To decorate cake: Spread a thin layer of frosting onto bottom of Ring Ding, and secure to cookie. Spoon remaining frosting into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2" star tip. Pipe a border around Ring Ding and place blue M&M's onto border to create a decorative hat. Place taffies together and shape into a scarf. Set the hat and scarf aside to firm up.
• Transfer cake to a serving platter. Working down from the top, pipe star shapes around the entire cake. (If shapes are too pointy, gently tap down with fingertips.) For the face, arrange Junior Mints for the eyes, trimmed orange slice for the nose, and licorice string for the mouth. Wrap scarf around the neck. Place candy melts down middle of body for buttons; top with hat. Scatter rock candy around cake and serve.

BAKERELLA'S SNOWMAN CAKE POPS

Steps:

• Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan. Cool completely; crumble into large bowl.
• With large spoon, thoroughly mix cake and frosting.
• Roll mixture into quarter-size cake balls, and place on a waxed paper-covered cookie sheet. Place cake balls in freezer about 15 minutes to firm up. You can then transfer them to the refrigerator to keep chilled and avoid freezing.
• Place white candy coating in microwavable bowl so that the coating is at least three to four inches deep. Melt uncovered in microwave in 30-second intervals on Low, stirring in between. Repeat until melted and smooth.
• Remove a couple of cake balls from the refrigerator at a time. Dip the tip of a lollipop stick into the melted coating, and insert into a cake ball no more than halfway through. Dip and remove the cake pop in one motion without stirring. Make sure the entire cake ball is covered. If your coating is too thick, you can add a little vegetable oil to help thin it and make it easier to work with.
• Remove and gently tap off any excess coating to fall off the pop and back into the bowl. Before the coating sets, gently press an orange candy-coated sunflower seed in position for a nose. Place in craft foam to dry.
• You can get creative with placement of candy and sprinkles for fun expressions and details. Here are a few ideas.
• For sock caps, dip white cake pops at an angle into melted blue candy coating and sprinkle with white sanding sugar while the coating is still wet. When dry, dot on more blue candy coating with a toothpick, and sprinkle with more sanding sugar. Use the toothpick to gently make indentions on the brim of the cap. Alternatively, you can use a toothpick to apply white candy coating for a white brim, and sprinkle with white sanding sugar.
• You can draw on eyes and mouths with a black edible pen and use various sprinkles and add-ons to give your snowmen character. Dot on a small amount of coating to attach blue mini candy-coated power mint candies for earmuffs and pink confetti candy sprinkles for rosy cheeks. Coal eyes and mouths can also be achieved by using black confetti candy sprinkles. And jumbo snowflake candy sprinkles are like the icing on the cake pop for these snowmen. Use them to adorn their cute little hats. Let dry completely, and enjoy!

SNOWMAN COCONUT CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Make, bake and cool cake mix as directed on box for two 8- or 9-inch round pans.
• Cover 18x10-inch tray or cardboard with foil. To make ice skates, attach candy cane to each cone using melted candy coating; let stand until set. Arrange cake rounds with sides touching on tray. Frost with frosting. Sprinkle with coconut, pressing gently so it stays on frosting.
• Use large black gumdrops for eyes and buttons, large orange gumdrop for nose, small black gumdrops for mouth and fruit snack roll for scarf. Place cookie on each side of head for earmuffs; attach with shoestring licorice. Arrange pretzel rods for arms and cones for ice skates. Store loosely covered.

SNOWMAN FRIENDS CAKE DECORATION

Steps:

• ICE THE CAKE: Melt the apricot jam, then sieve and brush a little all over a 23cm cake (see Apricot & almond fruitcake recipe to the right of this recipe). On a clean surface lightly dusted with a little sifted icing sugar, roll out the marzipan to a circle large enough to cover the cake - use a piece of kitchen string to help you check. Lift up the marzipan by hanging it over your rolling pin, then drape over the cake. Gently pat and smooth the marzipan down the sides of the cake, then trim any excess from the bottom.
• Colour the regal icing with a little blue food colouring, then cover the marzipan using the same method as you covered the cake, firstly brushing the marzipan with more apricot jam. Trim the base.
• ADD SOME SNOW: Use your hands to roll two-thirds of the remaining regal icing into a long, thin sausage on an icing sugar-dusted surface. It should be long enough to go round the cake - use a piece of kitchen string to help you measure it. Use a rolling pin to roll the sausage into a strip about 5cm wide. Use a small, sharp knife to straighten one edge, and trim the other into a wiggly edge.
• Keep all the trimmings, and squash half into 2 wobbly circles for the snowmen to sit on. Brush the strip, circles and the very bottom edge of the cake with a little runny icing made with 100g sifted icing sugar and a splash of water. Scatter the desiccated coconut over the strip and circles, gently pressing to stick and cover. Starting with one end of the strip, stick it round the base of the cake. This can be a bit fiddly, so if you're nervous, simply halve the icing from the start and do in 2 half-length strips, using a little more coconut to hide the joins on the cake.
• SHAPE THE SNOWMEN: Roll the remaining third of regal icing into 2 large balls, 2 medium balls and 2 small balls. Stick together, squashing slightly, into 2 snowmen. Brush 4 cocktail sticks with a little brown food colouring and stick into the snowmen for arms.
• ADD BUTTONS AND NOSES: Push a few whole cloves into one snowman as buttons. Use a little orange food colouring to dye a little of the strip trimmings, and shape a little around the pointy end of 2 cloves to look like carrot noses. Use another clove to make little holes where the noses will go, dab a bit of runny icing into the holes and stick on the noses, pushing them into the holes to help hold them.
• SMILEY FACES: Use a black or brown writing icing pen to dot on smiley mouths and eyes - I find it helps to mark tiny holes with the end of a cocktail stick first. It stops you making mistakes and helps the icing stay in place.
• MAKE THE HAT: Dye another lump of regal icing trimmings with food colouring (we used green). Shape most into a woolly hat shape, pressing a slight dip into the bottom with your thumb where it will sit on the snowman's head. Roll a little ball to stick on top of the hat; attach it with more runny icing. Then roll and cut a thin strip to stick round the base of the hat. Use a cocktail stick to make markings like a woolly hat and rough up the ball on top. A little more runny icing will help it stick onto your snowman's head.
• AND LASTLY, THE SCARF: Knot the strawberry laces together at one end. Tightly plait a 10cm length and knot at the end again. Using scissors, snip the ends, leaving about 1cm for tassels after the knot, then wrap around the neck of the other snowman. Sit the wobbly snowy islands on top of the cake and a snowman on each one.

SNOWMAN IN THE GARDEN CAKE

Steps:

• Cover the cake with jam, marzipan and ready-to-roll icing), taking the icing to the edge of the board.
• To decorate, roll out several marble-sized balls of the 100g ready-to-roll icing to make snowballs, then set aside. Roll two larger balls, one a little bigger than the other, to make the head and body of the snowman, then leave to dry for at least 30 mins.
• Meanwhile, ice the gingerbread trees. Beat the egg white with the icing sugar to make a smooth paste. Put about one-third of the icing into another bowl, then mix in a speck of green colouring and a few drops water so that it's fairly runny and very pale green. Spread this over three of the gingerbread trees and leave to dry. Spoon another third of the icing into a piping bag fitted with a fine writing nozzle. Pipe rough fir-tree-like branches over the remaining trees. Once the green iced trees have dried to the touch, pipe branches over those, too.
• When the icing has set, fix the trees onto the cake and around the edge using spots of the remaining thick royal icing. Put the smaller snowballs around and on top of the cake. Pipe eyes and a mouth onto the head of the snowman and insert the nose. Fix the snowman's head on with a spot more icing, position him on the cake, then carefully tie a ribbon scarf with the shorter length of ribbon. This is easiest if you start with too much ribbon, tie it, then trim with scissors. To finish, attach ribbon around the base and secure woth a double-sided tape.

SNOWMAN CAKE

Steps:

• Bake cake mix as directed on package, using water, oil and egg whites, in two 8- or 9-inch round pans.
• Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire rack.
• Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Cover 18x10-inch tray or cardboard with aluminum foil.
• Attach candy cane to each cone using melted candy coating to make ice skates; let stand until set.
• Arrange cake rounds with sides touching on tray.
• Frost with frosting.
• Sprinkle with coconut, pressing gently so it stays on frosting.
• Use large black gumdrops for eyes and buttons, large orange gumdrop for nose, small black gumdrops for mouth and fruit snack roll for scarf.
• Place cookie on each side of head for earmuffs; attach with shoestring licorice.
• Arrange pretzel rods for arms and cones for ice skates.

SNOWMAN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Make, bake and cool cake as directed on box for two 8-inch or 9-inch rounds, or use one 8-inch round pan and one 9-inch round pan.
• On tray, arrange cake rounds as pictured. Frost with frosting. Sprinkle with coconut, pressing gently so it sticks.
• Carefully cut black gumdrop for nose and eyebrows, cut green gumdrop for eyes, use licorice for mouth and muffler and chocolate chips for buttons. Place cookie on each side of head for earmuffs; attach across top of head with licorice. Store loosely covered.