If you have been following my Christmas cake baking over the last few weeks you will know that I always make a Glacé Fruit Christmas Cake – I love the light crumbly texture and sparkling jewelled fruits. It’s also great if you need an emergency last minute cake.
I made some homemade marzipan, or almond icing to cover the cake – well worth the effort to make it yourself if you have the time.
Now it’s finally time for the icing on the cake – my Royal Icing recipe and of course a classic snow scene!
I love to get my grandchildren to help me with the icing and snow scene. So yesterday all the family came round and at the same time helped me put up my Christmas decorations – a nice added bonus! I like to put my decorations up just before Christmas.
After this very important job we got to work on the Royal Icing and the cake decoration. We use the same cake decorations each year – but always arranged in a different way.
Ingredients you will need to make Royal Icing
- 2 egg whites
- A pinch of salt
- 1 pound / 450 grams icing sugar (sifted)
- 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Directions
- Whisk the egg whites with the salt until foamy.
- Add about half the sugar and whisk until smooth.
- Add about a half of the remaining sugar and whisk again until smooth.
- Add 1-2 tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk again.
- Add the remaining sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
- Cover with cling film or a damp tea towel if not using straight away.
Royal Icing
Cuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy25
minutesHere is my recipe for Royal Icing (enough for a 9 inch / 23 cm cake)
Ingredients
2 egg whites
A pinch of salt
1 pound / 450 grams icing sugar (sifted)
1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Directions
- Whisk the egg whites with the salt until foamy.
- Add about half the sugar and whisk until smooth.
- Add about a half of the remaining sugar and whisk again until smooth.
- Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk again.
- Add the remaining sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
- Cover with cling film or a damp tea towel if not using straight away.
Origins of Royal Icing
It is said that royal icing is called royal because the British Royal Family used it to ice their wedding cakes and the name has stuck ever since.
The first known written reference to the icing of a cake appears in The Experienced English Housekeeper (original version 1769) by Elizabeth Raffald. An illustrated version of this book published in 1996/97 can be found at Amazon but is not very often available. I have also seen second hand copies at AbeBooks.co.uk. There is an audiobook version available at the Internet Archive and I have tracked down the reference to icing in chapter 11 – Observations on cakes.
The process needed to make this icing however was different to that of royal icing because in the eighteenth century they didn’t have the technology to refine sugar properly. The end result though resembled an icy frozen lake and so in baking terms it became known as icing.
How to ice the cake with a simple snow scene
Tip most of the royal icing out onto the top of your cake and roughly spread over the top and down the sides.
Patch any gaps with the remaining icing.
When the cake is completely covered use a knife to pull up little peaks to look like rough snow.
Then get the kids to add any decorations you have – the more the merrier!
If you prefer a more grown up cake, sprigs of holly make a simple and effective decoration.
Merry Christmas
This is the last of my Christmas baking for this year.
I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
Look out for my Christmas Pudding update on Christmas Day!
Happy Christmas Baking!
Tanya
