This cake for a holiday crowd always draws raves . . . particularly after it’s cut and partygoers get a peek at the color inside. You can play around with your own color scheme for decorating this cake.

Keep the borders and edges free of any decoration so that the eye is drawn directly to the tree that appears to be standing amidst beautiful, fluffy snow.

Assembling and Decorating the Christmas Tree Cake

Tools: 12-x-18-inch cake pan, bamboo skewer, small rolling pin, #11 icing tip, #100 icing tip, paring knife

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 50 minutes plus 2 hours for cooling

Decoration time: 35 minutes plus 1 hour for refrigeration

Yield: 24 servings

2 batches Red Velvet Cake batter

2 batches Cream Cheese Frosting

Leaf green food coloring gel

Brown food coloring gel

36 large gumdrops in assorted colors

Large yellow gumdrop

1. After you have baked your red velvet cakes, let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. When they are completely cool, apply a crumb coat (thin layer) of cream cheese frosting. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Divide and tint the frosting as follows: 2 cups leaf green and 1⁄2 cup brown. Frost the cake with the remaining untinted cream cheese frosting.

3. With a bamboo skewer, sketch the shape of a Christmas tree on the surface of the cake. The tree trunk should be 3 inches tall.

4. Outfit a pastry bag with a coupler, #100 tip, and green frosting. Pipe boughs over the tree, overdrawing them for a full, lustrous look if you like. (Make sure to cover up your sketched lines!)

5. Outfit a pastry bag with a coupler, #11 tip, and brown frosting. Pipe the trunk in straight lines. If desired, smooth out the piping with an icing spatula.

6. Place the colored gumdrops on the tree, arranging them to look like ornaments.

7. To create the star, roll out a yellow gumdrop. Either carve out a star shape with a sharp knife, or cut the rolled gumdrop into five triangles and form them into a star. Place the star at the top of the tree.