Yahoo Lifestyle 
Mum's super simple $20 Christmas mud cake hack
If you want to make a statement at Christmas dinner this year, then this super simple but show-stopping dessert could be just what you need.
Aussie mum Jasmine, from Bargain Mums, recently came up with an easy cake hack using the trusty Woolworths mud cake, and it’s sure to end up a centrepiece your family and friends will comment on.
Jasmine says she had been making her kids’ birthday cakes from scratch, but it was a process that took days by the time she baked a few cakes, stacked them and decorated them.
“It was so stressful and time consuming that I decided there had to be a better and easier way to give my kids the themed birthday cakes they wanted, while still keeping the cakes budget friendly,” Jasmine tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
Like many of us, Jasmine grew up with Woolworths mud cakes being a staple at birthday parties and first started with just putting a few lollies on top.
“But then realised if I stacked two or three cakes on top of each other and covered the outsides with buttercream icing, it would look just like the cakes I had been baking from scratch,” she tells us.
“I now use the Woolworths mud cake hack for my children’s birthdays each year. I enjoy creating my own mud cake hacks so much that I have also done Halloween and Christmas mud cake hacks this year, which have been a huge hit with my kids.”
She says her friends have been so impressed they have also started asking her to create cakes for their children’s birthdays as well.
“I did a flamingo themed mud cake hack recently that got a great reaction from the kids, and it only took around 20 minutes to put together,” she says.
You can try Jasmine’s Christmas mud cake hack by following the steps below:
INGREDIENTS
2 x Woolworths mud cakes
250g butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g dark chocolate
1/3 cup thickened cream
Mini candy canes
Giant Gingerbread man
Woolworths White Rum Balls
INSTRUCTIONS
Start by making the buttercream icing. Add the softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, then gradually add the icing sugar while beating. Continue beating until the icing is pale and thick.
Place one of the Woolworths mud cakes on a serving plate or cake board, and top with a little vanilla buttercream. Place the second cake on top, then cover the sides and top with the buttercream.
To make the dark chocolate ganache, add the dark chocolate and thickened cream to a microwave safe bowl and microwave in short bursts, stirring in between until the chocolate has melted and ganache is well combined. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Once the ganache has cooled (putting it on the cake while too warm will cause the buttercream underneath to melt, and the ganache will slide right off), pour the ganache over the top of the cake, encouraging sections to drip over the edge of the cake.
Top the cake with the gingerbread man, the mini candy canes and Woolworths White Rum Balls.
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