I always decorate my glacé fruit Christmas cake as I would a traditional rich fruit Christmas cake with almond icing (or marzipan icing) and royal icing.
You can buy some very good ready made marzipan or almond icing but if I have time I like to make my own.
My recipe makes enough to cover a 9 inch / 23 cm cake.
Almond Icing (Marzipan)
Course: SnacksDifficulty: Easy30
minutesIngredients
6 ounces / 175 grams caster sugar
6 ounces / 175 grams sieved icing sugar
12 ounces / 350 grams ground almonds
Juice of a lemon
2 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon almond extract
- For the glaze
Icing sugar to dust work surface
Apricot jam or marmalade – 2 tablespoons
Directions
- Making the Almond Icing
- Mix the sugars and ground almonds together.
- Add the beaten egg yolks, almond extract and enough lemon juice to mix to a stiff paste.
- Turn out onto a working surface dusted with icing sugar and knead very lightly until smooth.
- Wrap in cling film until you are ready to roll it out.
- Covering the cake with the Almond Icing
- Heat the apricot jam or marmalade with a tablespoon of water and bring to the boil to make a glaze. Sieve and return to the saucepan and reheat.
- Brush the cake all over with the glaze.
- Dust your working surface liberally with icing sugar.
- Roll out the almond icing to a circle of approximately 12 inches / 30 cm diameter (for a 9 inch / 23 cm cake).
- Carefully lift the almond icing using using a rolling pin and place it on top of the cake.
- Smooth the icing gently down the sides of the cake.
- Trim any excess icing from the base of the cake (keep the excess in cling film and use to make some stuffed dates!)
- Place your cake on your cake stand or cake board and cover loosely with foil and stand in a cool dry place for 2-3 days so the almond icing can dry out.
Finish the Almond Icing with Royal Icing
I like to ice my cake only a day or two before Christmas as the royal icing can dry out and become very hard when kept too long.
If you leave it to just before Christmas the icing will be crisp on the outside but still soft inside.
My grandchildren always help to ice the cake. In a couple of days we will be decorating and putting the finishing touches to it.
