Christmas and New Year novelties: cakes, chocolates, wine

All around the world people are making Christmas cakes. In England the favourite is the heavy fruit cake with white icing topping decorated with little figurines of green trees and red Santas, nowadays skiers. In France the favourite is the Yule log, a chocolate spiral roll covered in chocolate cream.
Here's a visual trip around ten of the best log cakes in Singapore. My favourite is the pistachio green log  cake from the Regent hotel, with it mango filling and little white mushrooms, which a DIY cake maker could model with cream, icing or meringue.

I remember the rainbow cake in Singapore.

(More details about buying of making rainbow cakes in a previous post.)

My favourite Xmas novelties:

Pick A Penguin Cake?
Marks and Spencer Penguin cake
Family fun cake in the igloo penguin cake.
You could also try making your own novelty cake, snow scene topping.
Lots of great DIY cake ideas, recipes, colourful pictures to enjoy here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3311637/Forget-anti-gravity-cakes-season-s-hottest-showstoppers-HIDDEN-CENTRE-cakes.html

Rainbow cakes, like the ones I saw in Singapore (see one of my previous posts); cakes with a short name through the middle, hearts, love you, marry me, and a circular xmas cake. A great snowflake mould shaped like a five point star.

Chocolate Ball
Waitrose recipe books and magazines and website
Cheap luxury look chocolates for a Christmas party from Waitrose.

Lindt reindeer chocolate advent calendar

Waitrose Big Ball Lindt ? Lindor Ball
with truffles

Want Lindt super soft smooth chocolate, more bite size to share?

For a party, or a gift, plates for Stilton. from Waitrose.

Red for romance, and red for Xmas from Waitrose.

 Hearts for romance, from Waitrose.

How to keep the children quiet with chocolates with out a brown mess - white chocolate coins from Tesco, only 50p.

Snowman cake from Prosecco and cake bar in Intu shopping mall in Watford.

To finish your table at bargain prices, you can buy salt and pepper Santa shakers for £1, and a red santa hat chair back cover for the same price.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. Author and speaker.

BUY OR DIY Xmas party food and cakes from Waitrose, with snowman carrot nose

The big surprise was that the snowman's nose is made with a real carrot, a Chantenay carrot, small and conical. The carrot nose inspired me to think of making a carrot cake with a snowman face on top with a carrot nose. (I sometimes have carrot cake from the cafe in Waitrose.)

In your nearest branch of Waitrose supermarket, pick up a copy of the Entertaining Christmas Food made to order. At the back it shows you how to decorate a plain undecorated top iced cake. (The cake can be fruit cake to serve 3-35 costing £26, or chocolate, or sponge, to serve 20-30, at £16.)
If your order comes to £60 you get free delivery.

Their other brochure which is full of recipes shows you how to make mince tarts. You can make them any size you like, using ready-made shortcrust pastry and a jar of mincemeat, or make everything yourself. 

Waitrose Online 0800 022 4051.