It's a present? No, it's a cake

Back in the summer, I had gone to practice cake skills with a friend.  Now it came time for Christmas-related cake skills, and we chose to do a present cake.  I thought this could come in handy for any time of year, so was keen to practice with someone who knew what they were doing (at least, more so than me).  

We started with a square cake, which I've never baked, so that was fun to try to remember how to cover it with sugarpaste.  Then on to the bow.  I had tried a few times in the past, from watching videos on YouTube, and felt all my attempts to be not up to par.  This turned out to be exactly the same type of method, but when we laid the ribbon part flat, the two ribbons didn't cross over.  Rather they just met at the edges, so there was to be no bulk underneath the bow.  What a good idea.  The bow was made in just the same way as in all the videos I'd watched, but it was made much bigger, so I was better able to get the proportions correct.  And the two halves were just pushed up against one another and then simply stood up on the cake, on top of the draped ends of the ribbon.  

All a bunch of great ideas, I felt, and they helped me get a better handle on the technique - which was just what I had hoped for.  So, whilst it's far from perfect, I'm happy.