"Cakes are an iconic part of all celebrations, birthdays, weddings and especially Christmas. I love all the baking traditions, especially putting a coin in your Christmas pudding and getting the family to stir in a wish while you're mixing the Christmas cake.

"It's good if you can make your Christmas cake a couple of months in advance, but it's by no means essential as you can always fake maturity. One trick is to heat up the fruit in whisky and letting it soak over night before adding it to the cake. Another cheat is to use raw cane brown sugar.

"On the butter versus margarine debate I go for spreadable salted butter, which for me is the perfect compromise because you get a buttery taste that's still light. I've also experimented by using hands instead of a mixer, I'm convinced there's no difference.

"Having decorated possibly every style of Christmas cake over the years, I'm now open to anything. There's so many wonderful decorations available - leaving royal icing rough and sprinkling it with edible glitter or topping with gold leaf is just stunning. I also think that decorating with glace fruits looks lovely and it's so easy: simply line up your fruit, nuts, and even jelly sweets and then give them a brush with a jam glaze.

"If you totally miss the boat and have to get a shop-bought cake, I'd suggest skewer it well on the top and feed it a couple of times with brandy or orange juice the week you plan to eat it - that will make it moist as well as giving it more flavour.

"Chocolate cake is a great alternative to Christmas cake. I use Belgium chocolate drops, which are easy to cook with as they melt so easily. Then decorate it with gold leaf and a little plastic robin."