If you want to win Christmas, and let’s face it- who doesn’t? Rustle up a couple of these Chocolate Christmas trees. Making christmas cake decorations like these is bound to impress the Mother-In-Law and they’re so simple (and messy) to make they’re sure to be a hit with the kids too.

Like all Christmas trees, these smell great but start to droop after a little while. So keep them refrigerated before serving to stop them melting. 

Ingredients:

• 300g plain chocolate
• A large handful of pistachios
• Dried cranberries or edible silver balls

You’ll need:

• Parchment paper
• A piping bag (or make your own with a sandwich bag!)
• A food processor
• A stick of uncooked spaghetti

Method:

1. Blitz the pistachios in a food processor to make a green dust (or unload your Christmas stress by popping them in a bag and bashing with a rolling pin).
2. Break 250g of chocolate into pieces in a microwavable bowl. Melt in the microwave on a low setting for 30 seconds at a time, stirring gently with a fork in between, until fully melted. Lay out a strip of parchment paper. Tip: Weigh down the edges.
3. Pinch the tip of the piping bag, then carefully pour in the melted chocolate.
4. Hold the piping bag vertically, and pipe out blobs on the paper, increasing in size until the chocolate is gone.
5. Spread each chocolate blob into a star shape with the spaghetti, then sprinkle on pistachio dust.
6. Place the parchment paper in the fridge until the chocolate has set (fully!), then carefully break them off the parchment paper.
7. Melt the remaining 50g of chocolate (as in Step 2).
8. Add a blob of melted chocolate onto the largest star, then place the next largest star on top. Repeat until you’ve built a tree. Decorate with dried cranberries or edible silver balls, using melted chocolate as ‘glue’. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set.