How to Make Christmas Cakes such as this Manger Cake

Bake a sheet cake the size that you need. Also bake an eight inch round layer cake. Baby Jesus is cut out from the eight inch round cake.

If you are doing a full size sheet cake, you will need to increase the size of the round cake so it will be in the proper size proportion to the sheet cake.

Take the round cake and cut out the shape of the baby Jesus. Round off the edges so that they are curved.

Place the baby Jesus cake on the center of the sheet cake.

Use white icing and an icing spatula and cover baby Jesus’ body and around the face to simulate cloth.

With pink icing and star tip, size #18, cover the face.

Change the tip to round tip, size #5 and pipe a small half curve for the nose.

Use brown icing and round tip, size #5 and pip two half curves for the closed eyes.

Make a small amount of darker pink colored icing and use the same round tip, size #5 and pipe a small circle for the mouth.

Use your brown icing and cake spatula and ice the sides and top around the baby Jesus.

Next, make a dark brown colored icing or you can use chocolate icing and use a round tip, size #5 and pipe the lines to simulate wood grain.

Now make yellow icing and a golden yellow icing. You will need two different shades of yellow. Use a round tip, size #5 for each shade. Pipe the straw lines using both shades all around the baby Jesus.

The halo is made using a gold sparkle pipe cleaner and then stuck into the cake.