When do I marzipan and ice my Christmas cake?

[SpiderCharlotte]

I long before I ice it should I marzipan, do I need to let it dry out for a week or so?

And do I add a wee bit of glycerine to the royal icing? Thank you!

I usually ice mine a day or two after doing the marzipan, but I only use a thin layer of marzipan as I don't really like it. Maybe if you use a thicker layer it needs a bit longer.

Oh, icing. If it's the royal icing in a box then you don't need to add glycerine, but if you're making your own then you do.

Fab, thank you. We all love marzipan so it'll probably be a reasonably thick ish layer so I might need to leave it 5 days or so.

Delia says to marzipan a week before icing. And ice the day before eating.

I usually marzipan just a couple of days before icing mine. I use roll-on ready-made icing, on top of as much marzipan as I can get away with! Remember to stick the marzipan on with apricot jam, warmed up to make it runny so you can spread it.