Do I really need aprcot jam underneath the marzipan on the Christmas Cake?

[Frostythesurfmum]

Is it just to make it stick, in which case will strawberry jam do? Hope so it's all I've got and I don't really want to go out today.

Frosty, I don't use any jam at all! It is purely to stick it down, but I'm never needed it.

Yes, use jam unless you want everything to fall off (and strain it otherwise you'll get lumps and bumps under the marzipan and icing)

I used it once as an attempt to adhere some iced animals to the icing but it never set and they kept sliding off.

Yes, otherwise the cake goes dry, and the marzipan falls off. Although SackAche must know something I don't!!

Well my cake was loverly last year and not a hint of jam in sight! I'm icing mine tonight and my recipe book tells me to mix some of the fondant icing with warm water and paint it on the cake! I'm doing that this year, but honestly I didn't last year and I iced it a few days before Christmas.

Great, thanks! I couldn't really see what difference the flavour made but didn't want to risk spoiling it having managed to get a decent looking cake out of the oven. Not my strong point this baking lark. It's not so much the waste of cake that would bother me, but the waste of alcohol that I've poured into it!

Personally wouldn't use strawberry jam. Last night in desperation I melted together some syrup, a little orange juice and a little brandy and brushed that onto the cake. Seems to have worked OK.