Martha Collison’s Spiced rum & white chocolate Christmas cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease and line 3 x 18cm tins with baking parchment.

2. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes using an electric whisk. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and spices. Add this gradually into the butter and egg mixture until a thick batter forms. Stir in the rum to loosen it slightly.

4. Divide the mixture between the tins and use a spatula to smooth over the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cakes are risen, golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

5. To make the buttercream, beat together the butter and icing sugar until thick and creamy. Add the melted white chocolate and whisk again until really light and fluffy, then whisk in the rum.

6. Lay a piece of parchment paper onto your work surface and place 3 wooden skewers onto it, leaving space between each one. Fill a piping bag with the melted chocolate and create trees of varying sizes by piping a zig zag pattern over each stick. Sprinkle over the edible gold and silver stars, then allow to set at room temperature or in the fridge.

7. Assemble the cake by spreading a layer of buttercream between each layer, and top with a thick layer of buttercream, swirled in a choppy fashion. When the trees have set, press them into the cake, then sprinkle over the sparkly snow.