Decorating cakes

If you want a smooth surface when frosting a cake, dip a palette knife into boiling hot water just before using.

Sift icing sugar over a less-than-lovely-looking cake or pastry.

To make chocolate leaves, paint holly leaves with melted chocolate, leave to set, then peel away the leaves. To make curls, pour melted chocolate onto a greased tray. Leave to set, then drag a cheese plane over the surface to create curls. If this is a fiddle, shop-bought Flake bars will often do the job. Or you could carefully scrape a veg peeler down the side of a chocolate bar to make shavings.