How to Ice a Christmas Cake - super smoooooth!

Get your Christmas Cake out ready to decorate - here's how to ice it!

Everything you need to ice an 8" round rich fruit cake

1 lovely 8" round fruitcake

Stuff you’ll need to make the cake


225 g (8 oz/2 3/8 cups) natural-colour glacé cherries, washed and halved
175 g (6 oz/1 cup) sultanas
275 g (10 oz/1 3/4 cups) raisins
275 g (10 oz/1 ¾ cups) currants
75 g (2 ½ oz/1/2 cup) mixed peel
150 g (5 oz/1 ¼ sticks) salted butter
150 g (5 oz/3/4 cup) molasses sugar
140 g (4 ½ oz/1 1/8 cups) plain flour
3 medium eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground sweet cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
120 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) brandy, plus more to feed (about 6–10 tablespoons, to taste)
50 ml (2 fl oz/1/4 cup) vodka

Preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F/Gas 1).

Weigh out all the dried fruit, peel and glace ginger into a large bowl big enough to hold the entire mix and mix together with a large wooden spoon.

Place the butter and sugar in a small, microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute at a time, stirring well at each interval, to mix the butter and sugar together. If you don’t have a microwave, do this in a non-stick pan over a low heat and melt gently.

Beat the eggs together with the vanilla extract. Add the spices to your flour and mix well with a metal spoon to distribute through.

Tip the warm butter and sugar mix into the large bowl of fruits and mix well. Add the beaten egg and mix well. Add the flour and spice mix and stir in until all lovely and mixed. Finally add your brandy and vodka. YUMMO

Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour, then turn the heat down to 125°C (250°F/Gas 1/2) and continue to bake until completely cooked through. This will take approximately 2–2 ½ hours, depending on your oven. Check that a sharp knife or a skewer comes out almost clean.

you can store this bad boy for up to 6 months in baking parchment and foil, in a cool dark place, but is still good if you make it even a week before Xmas time.



1kg Marzipan (you can save your offcuts)
1.2kg white sugarpaste
some brandy or similar for sticking icing to marzipan
a large plastic rolling pin
Icing sugar for dusting
guide sticks or marzipan spacers (not essential but good to have!)

Merry festivities to one and all!


Jingle Bells by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?i…
Artist: incompetech.com/