The Great British Bake Off at Christmas: top 10 tips To avoid a bitter ganache use chocolate with cocoa content of around 40 per cent; and keep the temperature low when melting or it will go granular Mary Berry's Tunis cake with chocolate ganache is an alternative to heavy fruitcakes If you get food colouring on your hands, lemon juice will usually get it off. When making marzipan leaf decorations, mould them over a rolling pin for a more natural curved shape. Roll gingerbread house sections out on baking parchment or you won't be able to lift them; and trim them while warm and soft or they will crack and break Gingerbread house sections are rolled out on baking parchment for easy lifting When using a loose base or springform tin for pie baking, put a tray underneath to catch any liquid that might seep out during baking. When adding fruit to dough for stollen, mix it in a bowl, folding vigorously from the outside inwards to evenly distribute the fruit. Paul Hollywood's German stollen A half-and-half mixture of butter and lard makes the shortest shortcrust pastry. Crush boiled sweets to a powder and bake to create colourful stained glass windows for your gingerbread house; use cocktail-stick ends to hold the roof on while waiting for the icing to set Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood's finished gingerbread house, complete with stained glass windows