Even without using Marzipan, this Christmas cake icing still tastes great & is so simple to make, too ! Well I’m sure that everyone is all “Christmas food-ed out” at the moment if you are anything like me ! (Why is it that we always overindulge so much over the festive season, I wonder ?!)
For this reason I did not post a recipe yesterday, and I thought that for today’s post I would simply just show you a photo of my Christmas cake (you can see the recipe for that over here) since it has been iced. (Well, there is not much left of it now !)
We aren’t mad about marzipan in this family, and seeing as we can’t get it here in Tanzania (well, not easily at least), I do a ‘marzipan free’ icing for my Christmas cake each year.
For this icing I use a 500 gm bag of icing sugar which I sift well, then I add tablespoon by tablespoon of cold water very slowly so that I can control just how thick the icing sugar gets. The trick here is to make the icing as thick as possible, so I only use around 5 to 6 tablespoons of water to achieve the desired consistency.
Once I have it to the desired thickness (a very stiff paste) I simply pour the whole lot on to the top of the cake and wait for it to slowly drip down the sides of the cake. To speed this process along I use a flat bladed knife dipped in cold water to spread and smooth it. Once the icing begins to set I then wrap a ribbon (this one is made from fabric) around the side of the cake – one which has been cut to size before icing. I then decorate the top with a selection of plastic Christmas cake decorations which I’ve had for years.
Important Note : Usually, just before the icing sets & I wrap the ribbon around the cake, I take a dry flat bladed knife and press it quickly (blade side down) all the way around the cake – placing the knife on one spot, then quickly lifting it and placing it on another so that it forms a rough, peaky surface. This looks much nicer than the smooth, shiny surface above. I forgot to do it this year (!!) and by the time I remembered, the icing was too dry and it wouldn’t work. My daughter was helping me to ice the cake this year, I was trying to get it done as quickly as possible as her little fingers were all over the cake, poking and proding and … well you get the picture ! I was trying to hurry things along & get on to the next task, & forgot about the last stage …. I’m sure that many Mum’s out there can relate to this ;)
For this reason I did not post a recipe yesterday, and I thought that for today’s post I would simply just show you a photo of my Christmas cake (you can see the recipe for that over here) since it has been iced. (Well, there is not much left of it now !)
We aren’t mad about marzipan in this family, and seeing as we can’t get it here in Tanzania (well, not easily at least), I do a ‘marzipan free’ icing for my Christmas cake each year.
For this icing I use a 500 gm bag of icing sugar which I sift well, then I add tablespoon by tablespoon of cold water very slowly so that I can control just how thick the icing sugar gets. The trick here is to make the icing as thick as possible, so I only use around 5 to 6 tablespoons of water to achieve the desired consistency.
Once I have it to the desired thickness (a very stiff paste) I simply pour the whole lot on to the top of the cake and wait for it to slowly drip down the sides of the cake. To speed this process along I use a flat bladed knife dipped in cold water to spread and smooth it. Once the icing begins to set I then wrap a ribbon (this one is made from fabric) around the side of the cake – one which has been cut to size before icing. I then decorate the top with a selection of plastic Christmas cake decorations which I’ve had for years.
Important Note : Usually, just before the icing sets & I wrap the ribbon around the cake, I take a dry flat bladed knife and press it quickly (blade side down) all the way around the cake – placing the knife on one spot, then quickly lifting it and placing it on another so that it forms a rough, peaky surface. This looks much nicer than the smooth, shiny surface above. I forgot to do it this year (!!) and by the time I remembered, the icing was too dry and it wouldn’t work. My daughter was helping me to ice the cake this year, I was trying to get it done as quickly as possible as her little fingers were all over the cake, poking and proding and … well you get the picture ! I was trying to hurry things along & get on to the next task, & forgot about the last stage …. I’m sure that many Mum’s out there can relate to this ;)
