Okay so last time we saw your Christmas cake it was stashed somewhere wrapped in parchment or foil and being occasionally ‘fed’ with a bit of booze. No, it doesn't matter how late you make the cake but they are better made weeks/ months in advance and 'fed' with brandy or something every now and then. Subscribe/RSS. I've just finished my Christmas cake but iced it weeks ago (doing a cake decoration course). Traditionally, bakers would use a lot of dried fruits and sweetened orange peels. Add message | Report | See all nappyaddict Sun 23-Nov-08 00:50:18 You may opt to use your fruit of preference, such as raisin, walnuts, and dates. This means busting out a calculator and every penny of your cake needs to be worked out. Another tip is for easy short crust flay pastry ,by Delia Smith made Sausage rolls last year i got one and that was the te I promise it’s easier than you think, and the taste of a homemade Christmas cake … Unfortunately, decorating the cake in such haste is very stressful and the outcome will not be very professional. Making your own marzipan (or almond paste) is really easy. Cover the marzipan surface with a clean tea cloth and store out of the tin or container. If you work out how much 100g of all your basic ingredients cost (flour, sugar, butter etc) and how much it costs per egg, it will make it a lot easier to cost per cake. If stored in the way as you have described, yes the sugarpaste icing should still remain of an edible consistency. Then, starting at the back of the cake, firmly press the ribbon to the sticky tape. Icing is best left to the last few days – in my case often until Christmas Eve. You need to consider; Ingredients. After all, you need to leave room for a mince pie. Royal Icing. Hi. The best luxury Christmas crackers for 2020. You can’t go wrong with our classic make & mature Christmas cake. Next, wrap some aluminum foil around your cheesecloth-wrapped cake and place it into an airtight container. A quick and easy royal icing for a 20cm Christmas Cake. and the cake will continue maturing under the icing. Ingredients • 100ml brandy (plus extra for feeding) • 200g currants • 200g raisins • … Icing your Christmas cake is fun and a great way to get yourself in the Christmas spirit. How often should you feed a Christmas cake? You will need: Marzipan. The earlier you make a traditional British Christmas cake before the big day, the better it will taste, so you'll want to plan ahead. Makes an 8″ square or a 9″ round fruitcake. You can also cover the cake with aluminum foil during the last third of its cooking time, which will lock in moisture. For example - I always decorate my cakes at least 6 hours after it has been baked. To store a Christmas cake, start by marinating a cheesecloth in some brandy, rum, wine, or fruit juice. Frosting a warm cake will make it crumble and fall apart, so wait until the outside is completely cool to the touch before you start frosting it. By the way this is my first Christmas cake .I am using Nigella Lawsons recipe daughter of the politician it smells grand will start my Dundee cakes next week or the week after.These are for charity . 2. If your decoration skills are somewhat limited, it is easy to make a plain iced cake look spectacular with nothing more than a piece of ribbon and a little holly. However you do need a fairly deep tin for all sizes of Christmas cake. Golden amaretti Christmas cake. The most common size of Christmas cake would be a 20cm/8 inch diameter cake, though there is the handy chart with ingredients and times for larger and smaller cakes. Firstly, you have to know your costs exactly. Related Photos (Michelle Ransom-Hughes - ABC Local) Map Toowong 4066. Make the royal icing recipe and then spread it over the marzipan-covered cake with a flat palette knife in either a smooth layer or swirled to make little peaks all over the surface of the cake. Also, if your recipe just calls for egg whites, replace half of them with egg yolks since recipes that just use egg whites can dry out. not all the way through first time). The frequency will also depend on how far in advance you want to make your cake. Luckily, plastic wrap isn't necessary to store a frosted cake for just a few days so you won't mess up your beautifully decorated confection. Want to make a traditional Christmas cake? Make it now, and "feed" it every couple of weeks with a tablespoon of Brandy (make little holes over the cake with a skewer or cocktail stick half way down ie. You can also place the cake underneath an overturned bowl; just make sure the bowl is big enough to avoid contact with the frosting. My own Christmas cake is decorated weeks before hand but we normally don't cut into it well into the New Year. I baked the cake 6 weeks before Christmas, using a recipe I had not used before, and then dutifully "fed" it. Liggy’s Christmas Cake. Make & mature Christmas cake. If you don’t, why not join us and make your own. Then, wrap your Christmas cake in the marinated cheesecloth. You can keep it simple or go full-on-festive – the hardest thing is deciding how you want to do it. Do you make your own Christmas fruitcake each year? The traditional coat of almond icing (marzipan) should be put on the cake a week before you want to ice it, to allow its oiliness to dry out. Marzipan Spacers. Watch our video on how to ice a cake to master marzipan and delectable decorations. This can be tricky as you don’t want to be left with a soggy cake, but you don’t want a stale one either. The ‘join’ should be at the back of the cake, and you can cut another little strip of tape to stick down the overlapping ribbon. I did not ice it as we prefer our cakes without icing. Place the cake in an airtight cake keeper or a cake stand with a lid. Two months is good, but you can still get away with a pretty decent cake one month before Christmas. If you want to dry the icing out quicker put it under a bright lamp (like a flexible desk lamp), before adding the next layer. Try these tips out when you cook Alison's own traditional, rich, dark Christmas cake. A light, moist Christmas Cake that you can make on Christmas Eve and will keep for 6 weeks. There are recipes everywhere so I won’t bore you with that bit. For a richer flavour, mature the fruitcake over 12 weeks. Feed it regularly with rum, brandy, or whisky for a hit of spicy flavour. Decorate as you wish with silver or gold sugar balls, Christmas ornaments, or other festive decorations. If you do it’s time to soak your fruit, in preparation for a flavoursome and moist cake. Then look no further than Titli's Busy Kitchen. I believe it needs some resting time. Stockists. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack. Finally, store your cake in a cool, dry place. In addition, you can also wrap ribbon around the bottom of the cake if you like – obviously do not actually stick it to the cake! A professionally decorated cake takes time. To make a moister Christmas cake, try adding 1 cup of applesauce to the cake batter. A Christmas cake should be rich and spicy; bursting with boozy fruit but never, ever heavy. Liggy Morgan of the award-winning, Edinburgh-born cake boutique, Liggy’s Cakes shares her Stir-up Sunday Christmas cake recipe. If you’re too vigorous, you’ll also make the texture of your cake tough. If you want to make the cake rich, you should soak the fruit in alcohol for a minimum of three months. Now it’s time for the fun bit… the decoration! It's best made in a stand mixer if you have it. To expedite that process, remove it from the cake pan -- you can make this easier by lining the cake pan with parchment paper before you bake the cake. Technically, you can make a cake in less than 3 hours. Apparently according to the tutor, it will last a long time (up to a year), just keep it dry and cool. Icing a Christmas cake can be done a few weeks before you plan to serve it, so get it done early and it’ll be one less thing to worry about on the big day. 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