The Conversation
December is right around the corner, which means the holiday season is finally in sight! If you’re opting for a unique approach to a holiday cake this year, you’re in the right place. I’ve taken some of my favorite luxury pool floats and combined them with a snow globe to create this cake that is undeniably snow sweet! Everyone at your holiday shindig will fall in love with this edible piece of art that doubles as decor.
Ingredients:
- cake
- frosting
- fondant (in a variety of colors)
- shredded coconut
- fish bowl (slightly smaller than diameter of cake)
Instructions:
1. Start off by making the fondant cake toppers. These will need time to dry, so you can make them the night before constructing the cake.
- Flamingo pool float: Separately make the body, head, tail and wings with pink fondant. You’ll also need black and white for the beak and eyes. Attach the smaller elements to the “body” using chocolate as glue.
- Swan pool float: Follow the instructions for the flamingo, but use white fondant instead. You’ll also need orange and black for the beak.
- Unicorn pool float: Use the same method as above. You will also need to create a rainbow strip for the mane and tail, as well as a gold horn. To make the horn, create a small cone shape with white fondant, then paint it gold with a combination of luster dust and an alcohol-based liquid.
- Trees: Roll green fondant into cone shapes, then using small, clean scissors, snip into the fondant to create the appearance of leaves and branches. Continue to do this until the cone is covered.
- Pond: Roll out blue fondant, then hand cut into a pond shape.
- Presents: Mold fondant into cubes, then cut thin strips of white fondant for the ribbon. Attach them directly to the cubes before they begin to set.
2. Bake your favorite cake in 6-inch tins (or any size you desire), and allow to cool. Alternatively, you can just buy pre-made cakes to save some time! When completely cooled, level the cakes, then layer and crumb coat them. Place in the refrigerator to chill.
4. When chilled, add another coat of icing to the cake, then cover with shredded coconut. This part will get a little messy! Place cake back into the fridge to firm up.
5. It’s time to assemble the cake. Place the fondant toppers on top, then add a sprinkle of coconut for the snow. Carefully place the fish bowl on top of the cake as the finishing touch.
Separately make the body, head, tail and wings with pink fondant. You’ll also need black and white for the beak and eyes. Attach the smaller elements to the “body” using chocolate as glue.
Follow the instructions for the flamingo float, but use white fondant instead. You’ll also need orange and black for the beak. Add fondant Santa hats onto some of the floats for a festive touch.
For the unicorn float, use the same method as the other pool floats. You will also need to create a rainbow strip for the mane and tail, as well as a gold horn. To make the horn, create a small cone shape with white fondant, then paint gold with a combination of luster dust and an alcohol-based liquid.
Roll green fondant into cone shapes, then using small, clean scissors, snip into the fondant to create the appearance of leaves and branches. Continue to do this until the cone is covered.
Leave fondant toppers to dry before decorating the cake.
Bake your favorite cake and allow to cool. Alternatively, you can just buy pre-made cakes to save some time! When completely cooled, level the cakes, then layer and crumb coat them. Place in the refrigerator to chill.
When chilled, add another coat of icing to the cake, then cover with shredded coconut. This part will get a little messy! Place cake back into the fridge to firm up.
It’s time to assemble the cake. Place the fondant toppers on top, starting with the pond and trees.
Add the rest of the toppers, then add a sprinkle of coconut.
Carefully place the glass fish bowl on top of the cake as the finishing touch.
Show us your favorite Christmas baking ideas by tagging us on Instagram + using the hashtags #bcfoodie & #britstagram!
More From Dessert Recipes
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures