Late Christmas cake - dosing

[PiratePetespajamas]

I only baked mine yesterday. Oops.

Ideally I’d like to ice it on Christmas Eve, which means putting the marzipan on tomorrow.

I threw a tablespoon of brandy over it last night (I didn’t actually throw it…I dosed it properly through holes) but can I get away with/do I need to do anymore or is it too late at this stage?!

Rather than it being too late, it’s likely your cake won’t need feeding, as it won’t have had any time to dry out.

My instinct would be to avoid a soggy top under the marzipan!

oooh okay: so its purpose is to stop the cake drying out, not to impart boozy flavour or something? In that case I’ll just not bother!

I know it's a bit late for you but a top tip by Eddie Spence (the undisputed King of Royal Icing who made cakes for the Queen and is a legend in cake decorating circles) is to pour the alcohol over the cake as it it still hot if you've made it quite late, he said it was difficult to tell the difference. I attended a demo he gave and apparently I've posted on MN about it before under a different name https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/1615946-a-fab-tip-i-picked-up-re-fruit-cake-feeding-today

god I've been on here a long time...

It will be perfect as it is, try not to fret.

Interesting … My recipe involves soaking with alcohol straight out of the oven and feeding once or twice a week thereafter. I guess that must be why it apparently only needs ten days - though I like to make it about a month in advance so the cake and I can become acquainted. It’s such a friendly presence in the larder …

@PiratePetespajamas I’m sure my mother’s late 1950’s Good Housekeeping cookbook (passed onto me in the late 70s, promptly lost) would have explained things properly. My vague understanding is that at whatever point in history a heavy fruit cake would have been made in a season of plenty and preserved for sustenance over a long cold Winter, careful feeding would have been necessary to keep the cake moist and to drive away anything that might have devoured or spoilt it ahead of time. But your cake won’t have suffered any drying out so should still be replete with the flavours of the alcohol or any other liquid you had soaked the dried fruit in prior to baking.

(Clearly I’m a bit obsessed - it’s possibly my favourite Christmas ritual!)

Oh you’ve all been so helpful - I have learnt such a lot! I am defo going to do the hot cake thing next year - because, firm as my resolutions are to make it at least a month in advance next year, I know it’ll be max a week in reality 🙄

@MistletoeRegrets i do like the idea of becoming acquainted with ones cake 😂 Sadly it just becomes acquainted with my waistline way too fast!!

I made mine a couple of weeks ago , I did see something on TV that they used very good quality fruit and soaked ot for a week then didn't feed at all .

I got some lush Turkish sultanas , soaked in Amarretto 5 days and fed once before wrapping ,
Marzipaned (Thurs)and iced it (Fri) it is delicious .
I make my own marzipan with a helfty dose of Amarretto and a good layer of apricot jam to stick it