Opulent Golden Christmas Drip Cake

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.

Grease and line the base and sides of three 20cm cake tins with baking parchment.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, mixed spice, and salt.

Whisk together the buttermilk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and water with the eggs until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and whisk until well combined.

Scoop about a third of the cake mixture into one tin.

Optionally, mix the food coloring into the remaining batter and divide among the other tins.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cakes have risen and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat the butter with half of the icing sugar and the vanilla until smooth.

Add the remaining icing sugar and the cream cheese, then beat again until combined.

Be careful not to overmix.

Place one red sponge on a cake stand or board and secure it with a small amount of icing.

Sandwich with a gold sponge, generously layering with icing.

Top with more icing and the final red sponge, placing it flat-side up.

Use a palette knife to cover the entire cake with a thin layer of icing.

Chill for 30 minutes.

Once the crumb coat is chilled, use the remaining icing to completely cover the cake.

Chill for another 30 minutes.

Melt the white chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of lightly simmering water or in the microwave in short bursts.

Pour the melted chocolate into a disposable piping bag and set aside to firm up slightly.

Remove the cake from the fridge.

Optionally, use edible gold spray to add a shimmer to the surface.

Once the white chocolate is at the right consistency, snip off the end of the piping bag and pipe drips down the sides of the cake.

Fill in the top with the remaining white chocolate.

Top with a gingerbread star tree or your choice of decorations.