How to Decorate a Christmas Cake
Follow this easy guide to icing and decorating your homemade Christmas Cake. Add layers of apricot jam, shop-bought marzipan and ready-to-roll icing, and all that’s left to do is get into the festive creative spirit!
Ingredients
- 75 g Apricot jam Smooth if you can find it
- 900 g Ready-made marzipan
- 750 g Ready-made sugar paste or fondant icing
- Icing sugar For sprinkling when rolling
- Green and red gel food colouring
- Ribbon
Instructions
- Apricot jam layer: Heat the apricot jam carefully in the microwave or in a pan over a low heat. If your jam has lumps of fruit in, you may need to pass it through a sieve.
- Use a pastry brush to cover all sides and the top of the cake with the jam.
- Marzipan layer: Knead the marzipan with clean hands until it is pliable. Place the marzipan ball between two sheets of cling film and roll it out using a rolling pin. Check as you roll that it is wide enough to cover the cake.
- Gently place the marzipan on the cake, use your hands to gently smooth the marzipan over the cake - trim any excess at the edges. If you have time, allow the marzipan to dry for 24 hours before icing your cake (you could ice it immediately but, if wet, the colour of the marzipan can come through the icing and discolour it.)
- Icing layer: When you’re ready to ice the cake, take the icing out of the packet and knead it with very clean hands (don’t wear a fluffy jumper!) until it is smooth and pliable.
- Sprinkle the icing sugar on a clean work surface and a rolling pin. Roll out the icing until it is wide enough to cover the cake.
- Brush the surface of the cake with cooled boiled water and gently place the icing over the cake, smoothing it with your hands. Trim away any excess icing (keep the offcuts).
- For the decoration: Take the icing offcuts and use green gel food colouring to make a couple of shades of green icing.
- Use the red gel food colouring to colour a very small amount of the icing red.
- Roll the green icing out (sieved icing sugar can help here, but try to only use it on the underside, or a very small amount on top, or your holly will look ‘dusty’).
- Cut out mixed sizes and shapes of holly leaves. Roll some tiny berries from the red fondant. Using a small brush, or clean finger, dab a little water onto the cake to ‘glue’ them on in a wreath shape.
- Trim the bottom edge of the cake with ribbon (secure with a pin or Sellotape at the back).
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Notes
Please note: If you have time, after you’ve done the marzipan layer, leave it to dry for 24 hours before icing your cake. You could ice it immediately but, if it’s wet, the colour of the marzipan can come through the icing and discolour it.
Apricot jam: Use smooth if you can find it. If you can’t make sure you pass it through a sieve before using it to get the lumps of fruit out.
To stop sticking when rolling: A little sprinkle of icing sugar (also called powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar) on a clean surface will help to prevent the marzipan from sticking to it, and shuffle it slightly every now and then as you’re rolling.
When rolling: Make sure when rolling out your marzipan and icing fondant that the surface area is wide enough to cover the full cake in one go. I once made mine too small and I had to go back to the beginning when I realised I couldn’t patch it up without it looking like a botched job.
Gel food colouring: For the holly decoration, be sure to use gel food colouring, not liquid. I use the brand Sugarflair and find it to be the best.