Royal icing alternative

[Mumisnotmyonlyname]

I'm trying to cover a Christmas cake.

Is there an alternative to royal icing? I don't like it and find it too hard an crunchy. Last year I iced the cake in a ready roll icing from the supermarket, but it sweats after a day or two.

Thank you in anticipation!

I've never known fondant icing to sweat when the cake is kept in a tin in a cupboard. Did you just use fondant on the cake, i.e. no marzipan, and did you put the cake in the fridge?

I did put it in the fridge. Was that my error, do you think?

Why would you put it in the frudge, Christmas cake doesn't need to go in the fridge? That's exactly what was wrong, sugarpaste icing will sweat in/after a fridge, it stays perfect if you don't refrigerate it.

That's why I asked the question - I have only ever heard of fondant sweating if it has been refrigerated. Completely unnecessary. If the cake is too big to go in a tin once decorated it can stay on a plate with a foil tent over it or I use a cake cover designed for transporting a decorated cake where the domed lid clips onto the base. Cakes and bread go stale if refrigerated.

Royal icing won't go too hard if you add glycerine to it.
Fondant icing is disgusting.
You could just leave the cake with marzipan on it.

Last of all why on earth are you putting it in the fridge? Christmas cake keeps for weeks if not months.

Thanks all

I’m going to skip icing and decorate it with glazed nuts instead.

Yeah, never put cake in the fridge. It not only destroy sugar paste icing, it dries cake out too.