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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

UCM................Christmas Cake Icing

24 replies

ludaloo · 05/12/2006 13:17

Is it too early to ice my christmas cake this weekend????
I can't do it next weekend..we are away, and the weekend after...its christmas!!!!!

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ludaloo · 05/12/2006 13:27

...

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maggymay · 05/12/2006 13:33

I am going to have to start to decorate one of mine this weekend as it is for my son and he will be down next weekend and we wont see him again untill after christmas I am hoping that if I wrap it well again after its dry it will be fine for christmas

vitomum · 05/12/2006 13:33

ludaloo - you read my mind. was going to start this exact thread today.

kickassangel · 05/12/2006 13:48

i'm not an expert, but so long as you haven't recently 'fed' your cake (because it will be too moist) you can ice a couple of months before eating.

ludaloo · 05/12/2006 14:00

Ahh...I might give it a go then...I haven't fed it for a while now as I was worried I'd over fed it...It does have a hard spot on the top though..do you think that is ok????

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ludaloo · 05/12/2006 17:19

?

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UCM · 06/12/2006 04:11

Oooooooo, I have been thinking about doing this. I have bought some ready to roll icing from Lidls 89p (for anyone who is interested) and may try this today/tomorrow). I have only iced a cake once before though. I think that, for a laugh I will take pics of it and show you. Promise not to larf if it looks crap.

DeckTheHallsWithFRAUsOfHolly · 06/12/2006 04:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

UCM · 06/12/2006 05:38

Laying in bed worrying about something, so got up and made cup of tea and came on as I haven't been able to catch up for the last few days really.

UCM · 06/12/2006 05:39

I made some cards too. Tis why I haven't responded til now. How are you hun??

BudaBauble · 06/12/2006 05:50

Hi UCM! Need to feed my cake today. Am taking to Dublin for Xmas so will wait and ice there I think.

I got woken up by a mosquito bite! In December!

UCM · 06/12/2006 05:51

A mosquito bite!!!!!! bloody hell

BudaBauble · 06/12/2006 06:11

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Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

ludaloo · 06/12/2006 06:39

Oh hello UCM! I was looking for you!
Its fine to ice it now then...
I haven't ever iced a cake before either.
I have a big slab of Marzipan, which I'm guessing I'm going to roll out with a rolling pin??
I was then going to follow a recipie for Royal Icing, and make the icing spikey like a snow scene.

I would LOVE to see a pic of your cake! I would never laugh!!!!(I'd put one of mine up but gawd only knows how I do it!!!)

Oh and do you think I should just ignore the fact my cake is hard on top??

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WhenPonkagotstuckupthechimney · 06/12/2006 08:22

Hello Ludadoo. I am a cake decorator. It's fine to ice your cake now. Do you want a few tips to start you off? Well, here's what I do. You can take it or leave it.

To prepare the cake, I trim the top so that it's flat and then turn it upside down so that the bottom becomes the top. I fill any gaps and holes with Marzipan before I start.

You need to use something as a crumb coater and to stick your marzipan on. I use Apricot Jam and heat it in the microwave for a few seconds so that it is boiling hot (this stops the cake fermenting). I brush it on and roll out the marzipan and then just smooth it on. I do it in 2 parts. First I roll out enough for the top on some icing sugar (keep lifting up to check it's not sticking and make sure you lift it as the last thing you do after you have finished rolling), then I turn the cake upside down, place it on, cut around the shape of the cake and then turn over back the right way. Make sure the sides are pushed in to be level with the cake.

If it's a round cake, I do the side in one go, measuring around the outside with a piece of string so I roll out the right lenth. I roll the piece slightly wider than needed. Use icing sugar and keep lifting up again. Stick onto the side of the cake and get a sharp knife to trim the top (cutting inwards towards the centre of the cake, not outwards). Next, make sure that the edges are fully joined at the top.

If it's a square cake, I marzipan each side individually in the same way and make sure they are all smoothed together so that there is no gap (lines don't matter becuase it's going to be covered)

I hope this helps get you started.

Happy cake decorating

ludaloo · 06/12/2006 09:20

Ponka.....Oh Wow!!!!!!! THANKYOU!!!!!!

You make it sound sooo easy!!!!! I might give it a go and get some flat icing. I didn't even think about cutting the top of the cake off!

I didn't even know about the jam to stick the marzipan on either,

Thanks for that...brilliant!

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WhenPonkagotstuckupthechimney · 06/12/2006 10:19

No problem. If you get flat icing (sugarpaste), it's best to cover it all in one go. This is slightly more difficult than doing the marzipan. The trick is to make sure you knead the paste so it's nice and soft and do it as quickly as you can to avoid it drying out. So:

Brush the marzipan layer with brandy/vodka or water if you don't have either of those (so it sticks). You can measure the sides and top of the cake together with string so you know how big it needs to be.

Evenly roll out the icing using icing sugar but try and use as little as you can just so it doesn't stick but the more you use, the more it dries out. Hang it over the rolling pin to place it over the cake and let it hang. The trick is to gently pull up the icing and push it down around the edges to get rid of the waves without folding the icing. It does happen if you are patient. The other trick is not to smooth the icing down from the top (the icing will crack on the top edges of the cake) but instead to sweep up from the bottom to smooth it. Once the cake is covered and the icing is pushed right to the bottom of the cake, cut it off with a blunt knife straight away and use the blunt knife and your hands to make sure the icing is pushed against the cake at the bottom. Finish off by smoothing the whole cake over with your hands. Try not to mess too much with the icing once it's on. It just makes it worse, not better.

Or you could just do peaky royal icing
Let me know how you got on!

ludaloo · 06/12/2006 10:43

Thank you so much for that...I've copied and pasted your posts ready to print, then I can have a go and read as I go along!

I might even have a practise go...

If it goes horribly wrong I can always cover it all up with spiky icing!!!!

I bet you do a fab cake!!!!

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WhenPonkagotstuckupthechimney · 06/12/2006 11:41

Ah. That is the irony of most cake decorators (I don't do it as a profession because I'm too busy with my boys but I will one day). They are so busy making cakes for others that they never really make an effort on their own, so I hear. I'm doing the quickest thing I possibly can. It will be really simple. I've got too much on and a couple of cakes to do for other people

vitomum · 06/12/2006 15:41

Ponka the icing godess thank you so much for those tips. I am going to give it a go this weekend

loopybear · 11/12/2006 21:11

Thank goodness I read this thread I was just going to put the marzipan on like a blanket!!!!! I have a question how long after I last fed the cake before I can ice it?

ernest · 17/12/2006 15:32

Oops, I watered mine today woth loads of brandy. How long do I have to wait ti ice? And is it right you have to wait like a week bwn marzipan & icing?

WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 22/12/2006 14:16

Is it too late to ice a cake now? I have been waiting because of the mould experience last year and then got side tracked.

kickassangel · 22/12/2006 17:42

i would suggest 24hrs between feeding & marzipan, then the same gap between marzipan & icing. i have seen demonstrations where they do the whole lost at once, but you can only keep it for a couple of weeks if you do that.
it is not too late to ice - i finished mine yesterday!

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