How to decorate a plain fruitcake for a funeral?

[ShhhhhItsASurprise]

My lovely friend’s mum died recently and I’ve offered to make some cake for them to serve after the funeral - her mum’s favourite fruitcake but they want a traybake which can be cut and served in small squares. She didn’t like marzipan or icing so whenever I’ve made it for them before I’ve used glacé fruits and nuts to decorate, but that won’t work when it is to be cut into small pieces. The other cake will be lemon drizzle with edible flowers to reflect her love of her garden. Any ideas for a coordinating decoration for the fruit cake? Edible flowers don’t feel like a good match.

What about a dusting of icing sugar and twisted candied orange or lemon slice on each square of the traybake?

I would make flower patterns with half glace cherry centres /half almond petals.

Place them one flower per square serving, perhaps starting every other row with a rectangle so they are offset and pre-score or cut before the event.

Would look gorgeous I think.

What a lovely friend you are.

Or, cover it with thinned down apricot jam and sprinkle crystallised ginger over it. Not particularly matching with the other cake, but might be nice.

Flaked almonds. Sprinkle on before you bake so they toast.

Blanched almonds on the top before baking like a Dundee cake?

I love this idea but I don’t think the pieces will be more than 1” square. (Around 100-120 of them.)

I think I will need to have a play with some ingredients. Also conscious of nut allergies.

You can surely just ice it if the person who didn't like icing is not going to be eating it.

Put flower shapes (card?) on top of the tray bake, dust over with sieved icing sugar, remove card flowers?

Friend has asked me not to.

Does it need decorating? I'd be delighted to get a litte square of home-made fruit cake just as it is. However, cake decorating is a closed book to me!

I cannot imagine what kind of person would write this

@MyCatLooksHappy agreed. My stomach flipped a bit. They need to be locked up. Glad it has been deleted.

What about finely chopped candied fruit and nuts?
Then it would look like a mini version of your friend’s mum’s favourite

Brush on apricot jam and cut it into the squares and the decorate each square with some fruits and nuts

What a lovely idea. At that size maybe a single half glacé cherry and a tiny twist of candied peel?

The other thing would be to leave the cake plain but serve it from a nice tin with a ribbon in a suitable colour or muted tartan round it?

I hope you find something that gives you the effect that you are looking for, and I know that I’d have been touched to eat a friend’s favourite cake at their funeral. It’s a lovely gesture.

Does it have to be a traybake? Difficult to get a fruitcake right if shallow. I've always cut round fruitcakes into small pieces rather than wedges as it's rich.

I would probably just dust with icing sugar, or as an alternative you could make a crumble topping to sprinkle on. You could do it before putting in the oven or possibly brush with apricot jam and sprinkle. Make it with brown sugar and it should have a good taste and a bit of a crunch.

Won’t icing sugar just melt on top of a moist cake though? I won’t have time on the day to do anything so I need to have it done the night before (and will be late as away for work that day).

I want to avoid nuts due to potential allergies. Friend isn’t sure who will be attending as her mum was a much loved teacher and they put a notice in the press.

Was going to do it as a 12” square and just slightly shallower than when I made it as a 10” circle for friend’s wedding, so 2”. I’ve made the fruit cake a lot, but never for this kind of event.

I’m thinking I could use pieces of glacé cherries/dried cranberries and dried apricots/other dried fruit to make flower shapes over the top of the cake.

I agree. I'd leave it plain.

If you know how big the pieces are, then just put half a glacé cherry in the centre of each piece.

I’d just do the flaked almonds on top , people with a nut allergy would see the almond and avoid it
The lemon drizzle with flowers sounds beautiful