Now that it’s December, our Christmas Tree is up, the fairy lights have been switched on and, possibly most importantly, the Christmas Cake has been decorated. And cut. And a little bit eaten.

I made our cake about a month ago and have been giving it a light dousing with sherry once a week since then. So to finish it off, I iced it in the traditional way – with a layer of almond icing, and then a layer of white icing on top of that.

I usually use bought almond and white icings (I think I used Pettinice brand last year which seemed ok), but this year I’m on holiday. So with all this time on my hands I thought I’d have a crack at making my own. Just to see if it was nicer/cheaper/easier.

I’ll go into more detail on the icings in the recipes below, but the short answer is: Almond Icing is DEFINITELY worth making at home. It’s cheaper than buying it, it’s really easy to mix up, and actually it’s easier to roll out and place on the cake than the bought stuff. Plus, it does taste nicer. Significantly more marzipan-y.

With white icing, the jury is still out. It’s definitely easier to roll out and place on the cake. It  is marginally cheaper. These factors may tip the scales for some. I can’t say it was easy – not in the skills department; the recipe is simple, but in the elbow grease department. The icing is so thick, the Kenwood refused to co-operate. So I pretty much did it by hand. Put it this way – I didn’t need to go on a run yesterday. As for taste, I can’t say I noted an enormous difference from the packet stuff. Friends I fed it to last night said they thought it was better. Maybe they were just being nice. It’s hard to tell sometimes.

Try it yourself, and see what you think! Does anyone else make this stuff at home? What are your thoughts?

A few words on the decoration of cakes. Following the almond and white icing layers, I usually mix up Royal Icing and decorate the top of my cake with little kisses or stars. This year, I think mixing the white icing cleaned out my kitchen motivation reserves. I was content with just a big tartan ribbon and this funny little bird decoration that I’ve fallen in love with.

Others save up the scraps of white icing, and cut shapes out of them, and place the shapes on the cake (see this one by Hungry and Frozen).

The other decorating option is to use tacky but heart-tuggingly nostalgic plastic decorations. When I was little, my mum put the almond and white icing on the cake, and my brother and I were allowed to sit on the bench and “help” by providing advice on where the little plastic red house should go, where the jolly fat Santa should sit, and at which strategic intersections the royal icing kisses should be applied. We also had tiny plastic Bambi deer, which we pressed lightly into the white icing a couple of times, before settling on a position. This made ‘hoof-prints’ in the icing, as if the tiny Bambi had happened upon the Christmas Cake in the wild, and walked around a bit before deciding it was an excellent place to set up camp for the month. Man would not come to the thicket here.

I was (abnormally) thrilled to find that you can still buy the very same little red house for $3.99 at Spotlight, along with jolly fat Santas, wandering Bambis and gold “Merry Christmas” text plates.

I should add, too, please don’t let all this talk of home made icings, month-long sherry dousings and plastic Bambis put you off making or decorating a Christmas Cake! Although I made mine a while ago, it’s definitely not too late to make one now, and it will still taste amazing. My recipe’s available here. And in terms of decoration, you could just place extra dried fruits and nuts on the top of your cake, and brush with a lightly beaten egg before you bake it. It will look shiny and beautiful. If you’re keen on the almond and white icing combination, the bought stuff will definitely do the trick. The instructions for rolling it out and placing it on the cake below might help.

I have surprised myself with how much there is to say about decorating a Christmas Cake. I feel that a summary is needed. So:

• Home made Christmas Cakes are delicious. You can bake one following this recipe, and either:
• Place pretty dried fruits and nuts on top of the cake, and brush with warmed up golden syrup, or a beaten egg, before you bake it; or
• Bake the cake plain, and ice it with a layer of almond icing, followed by a layer of white icing, either home made or bought; and then:
• Leave it as is; or
• Tie a big ribbon around it; or
• Cut out shapes from white icing and stick them on; or
• Go crazy with piped royal icing and/or nostalgic plastic decorations.

This recipe is slightly adapted from Alison Holst’s Christmas cookbook. This mixture made enough to go over the top and down the sides of my huge Christmas Cake, so you may like to reduce quantities if you have a smaller cake, or if you just want the icing on the top. 

200g ground almonds
2 cups icing sugar
1 cup caster sugar
2 egg yolks
½ tsp almond essence
4 Tbsp lemon juice

Place the almonds, icing sugar and caster sugar in a large bowl (I used my Kenwood cake mixer), and mix to combine. In a little bowl, mix together the egg yolks, almond essence, and 2 Tbsp of the lemon juice. Mix this mixture into the almonds, and add the remaining lemon juice, a little at a time, until you have a paste that will be easy to roll out, but not too sticky.

A wee note – I’ve made a note to myself to try replacing some of the caster sugar with more icing sugar next year, to make a smoother paste.

Home Made White Icing
This recipe is also adapted from Alison Holst’s Christmas cookbook. It makes a large quantity – you can freeze leftover white icing. 

1 Tbsp gelatine
3 Tbsp cold water
3 Tbsp liquid glucose (also called glucose syrup, most supermarkets stock it with the baking supplies)
2 tsp glycerine (also called glycerol; easiest place to find it is at a pharmacy)
1 kg icing sugar. Yes, you read right. 1 kilogram.

Mix the gelatine and cold water in a small microwave-proof bowl, and stand for 3-4 minutes. Warm it in the microwave – I put it in for 20 seconds, gave it a swish around, and in for another 20 seconds. You just need to dissolve the gelatine. Mix in the liquid glucose and glycerine. Tip: run your measuring spoon under hot water first, these two ingredients are like golden syrup.

Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl (again, I used my Kenwood mixing bowl). Pour the gelatine mixture into the middle of the icing sugar, and mix. I started off using the dough hook of my Kenwood, but this only worked for so long before it gave up. After that I just kneaded it with my hands. I also added a few splashes of very hot water when I thought the icing was just too dry and crumbly to work.

Putting It All Together

Christmas Cake
Apricot Jam (my cake used about a third of a 500g jar)
Almond Icing, home made or bought
White Icing, home made or bought
Patience

First, warm your apricot jam in the microwave, and pass it through a sieve. Brush the cake with the jam so the almond icing has something to stick onto.

Sprinkle your bench or a board with icing sugar, and roll out your almond icing until you have the right size to cover your cake. You can fill in any little holes or dents in your cake with scraps of the almond icing first, so you have a smooth surface to place your icing onto. Then, lightly drape your almond icing over the cake. This can be tricky.

I have a very useful little plastic or silicone placemat sized thing I bought for about $3 at Moore Wilson’s.  It’s very thin and flexible. I’m not sure what it’s purpose is supposed to be (maybe a hot plate?) but I use it as a rolling board. That way, I’m able to pick up my board with the icing still on it, and invert it over my Christmas Cake, then gently peel the board off the icing, leaving a crease-free smooth surface without risking breakage. Just make sure you dust the board with plenty of icing sugar before you start rolling.

Whip round the cake with a sharp knife to cut off any overhang, and then smooth the icing, and repair any cracks as much as you can by lightly pressing with your fingertips.

Now, brush the cake again, very lightly this time, with more sieved jam, so the white icing can stick onto the almond icing.

Sprinkle your bench or board with more icing sugar, and now roll out your white icing, again so you have an area big enough to cover your cake. I did my board inversion trick again, but if you don’t have a flexi placemat type thing, just lift your icing onto the cake as best you can with the aid of spatulas, fish slices and family members. Hopefully you can avoid any major cracks or splits as you place it on. Again, cut off any overhang and smooth the icing down.

All done! Now you can finish your cake off with any other decorations you like, and munch away!