A little bit later than normal today, I've spent the whole day in the kitchen decorating these cakes and baking ready for Christmas day! Icing cakes isn't that difficult especially if you use ready rolled marzipan and icing. Rolling icing evenly and to the correct thickness can be tricky and it also makes a lot of mess. Cleaning up all the icing sugar can leave work tops sticky for days so I use it as it's super quick and doesn't create much mess. Firstly microwave some apricot jam for a few seconds and mix with some boiling water. Brush this over the cake in a thin layer so the marzipan has something to stick to.
You should cover your cake with marzipan the day before you want to ice it. Unroll your marzipan layer ready.
Place it over your cake and smooth it round the sides. You kind of need to lift the sides out as you smooth your hand down the side.
Once you have trimmed off the excess use an icing smoother to give you a nice smooth finish.
For this cake I am using printed icing sheets to create a parcel effect. You can find a tutorial to help you achieve this look
here.
Firstly you need to brush your marzipan covered cake with a little boiled water. Then cover your cake with the ready rolled icing, trim the sides and use the icing smoother for a nice smooth finish.
Cut out strips of the icing sheets using scissors and glue them to the cake using
edible glue. Keep going until you have finished the bow.
My parents always get a cute Christmas cake and this year I have chosen robin red breasts to fit the bill. The cake is based on
this one with added hearts, holly and snowflakes to make it more me. I rolled the tree out and added a few branches before making the robins from sugarpaste. The holly, hearts and snowflakes are all made using various cutters and the ones on the side of the cake are glued on with edible glue.
A couple of black sugar strands have been used for eyes and a sprinking of icing sugar mixed with edible glitter forms the snow.
Have you decorated any Christmas cakes? Link me to your creations, I would love to see them.
♥♥♥