So every week since September it has been fed with a tablespoon of rum and it has been developing a gorgeous heady aroma.
Now as Christmas approaches it was time to finish it off.
Last week I gave it the required layer of marzipan. I brushed it all over with some gently heated marmalade, rolled out the marzipan and laid it over the top. Here is where I discovered my mistake, for a lovely flat finish I should have turned the cake upside down! Never mind, too late now, so my marzipan looks lumpy bumpy.
I left the marzipan to dry out a bit for a week, apparently this is the way to avoid it seeping into the icing and thus discolouring it.
Now I am afraid I did use ready made icing, why? I have no idea. I bought it ages ago and then regretted it when I realised how simple it is to make your own royal icing. Never mind, it is done now. Next year I will definitely make my own.
So I rolled out the icing to the thickness of a pound coin and laid it over the marzipan and smoothed it down. It is not perfect, but it is smoothish and clean looking. Very shiny and appetising.
I wrapped a ribbon around it. I won't properly decorate it until it is ready to serve (because it doesn't fit in the tin with the decorations on), but I have just rested some decorations on for now just for the purposes of a photograph, give you an idea.
I have loved making this cake, I hope it tastes as good as the effort involved warrants. It is certainly boozy!
I will definitely be doing this again each year, it was good fun and didn't cost much at all! I will, of course, let you know how it tastes.
Have any of you iced yours now?
No one else in my family likes cake OR pudding so no I haven't iced mine as I haven't made one :) I'm very impressed by yours though, well done!
ReplyDeleteJudy xx
A good tradition to start and the cake looks lovely!
ReplyDeleteGoing to do my marzipan today. When you said you left it to dry out, did you mean in the open or still in a storage container?
ReplyDeleteWell don't for one second think that I am any sort of expert on the subject, but I left mine in a storage container. It is not so much to dry the marzipan, but to let the oils from the cake seep into the marzipan. Apparently if you put icing on straight away the colour can bleed into the white icing and turn it a bit yellow. Like I say, no expert, but I just left it in the tin for a week. I am sure it doesn't matter that much.
DeleteThank you, anyway, completely forgot to do mine hence the lateness. It'll only have today and tomorrow, after that it will get iced.
DeleteNae lad, that dunt ice it, just some Wensleydale cheese wi it.
ReplyDeleteI admire this soooo much, to take the time to put such care and love ( and booze, lol) into this cake is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteooops I forgot to say, this is a work of art as much as any panting I have ever ever painted!
ReplyDeleteWe have a vegan version but without the marzipan or icing...I DO put a ribbon on it though!!
ReplyDeleteYour cake looks lovely!
Jane x
Hi Dan. I started my cake after reading your blog and this is the very firat gluten free Christmas cake that I have made. Usually GF cakes go hard but this one has stayed lovely and moist, due I think, to storing it in the freezer. I took it out 2 weeks ago and have been regularly feeding it ever since. I put the marzinpan on my cake this morning and will leave it for a couple of days before icing it and then, as they say, the proof will be in the pudding. I like the idea of making it in January and I may just give it a go next year, just as an experiment. Have a fab Christmas Hun x x x x
ReplyDeleteLovely! No one eats Mince pies in my house or christmas cake so I can't justify it! Looks like fun to do! I do tiffin, shortbread biscuits and pavlova........... Not a christmas pud in sight!
ReplyDeleteEven though we are British we had dried fruit, so no Christmas cake in this house and when I do ice a cake I tend to do the snow effect, to hide all the imperfections. Love the smell of Christmas cake though.
ReplyDeleteGill in Canada
That looks lovely and a great tradition to begin. I'm the only family member who likes fruit cake, and I don't like marzipan or icing. I make a fat free, egg free fruit cake and put some blanched almonds on the top so that it looks more like a Dundee cake. I make one for my Mum too and will be doing my Christmas baking at the weekend.
ReplyDeleteHi, I notice the money making trolls have found you at last, don't get sucked in!
ReplyDeleteYes, that was a clever one, I was unsure about it at first. gone now.
DeleteGood for you. It looks fantastic. Youve done a great job. Enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of Christmas cake, but the booze in yours makes it very appealing.
ReplyDeleteYummmm!! My Nana always makes us a Christmas cake, so I'm looking forward to that when I go home! One year my Mum's friend made us one - it must've had a whole bottle of brandy in it!! I swear, after one piece I reckon you'd be over the alcohol limit for driving!!
ReplyDeleteHave a great Christmas, Dan!
look's wonderful!you are very clever!i did make a Xmas cake,but no-one in my Family eat's it,just me!
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting for an invitation because I didn't make one myself but I can bring some beautiful Spanish red wine made by Isaac Fernández Montaña. What about that? Cheers!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing that tastes as nice as a homemade Christmas cake. I make mini christmas cakes to give out as presents and they go down a storm and so easy to make
ReplyDeletehappy christmas old bean!
ReplyDeletehappy christmas old bean!
ReplyDeleteI love it! Well done!
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing!
ReplyDelete