I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and will have a happy new year too. I stuck to my classics this Christmas, with mince pies, gingerbread men and Christmas cake. I’ve posted them all many times before so thought I’d spare you another trip down memory lane!
I did make some tweaks with my Christmas cake this year so thought I should document them...if only to aide my aging brain come October 2012 when I’m desperately trying to recall what I did!
I stuck with my classic Christmas cake and fondant icing recipe and used brandy as the spirit in the cake this year. The holly decoration is made from leftover fondant icing coloured red and green – I used Dr Oetker natural colouring.
For the marzipan I used the dead easy no-faff recipe that I first tried at Easter with my simnel cake – it tastes divine and is sooooo good natured to roll out. I’ve never had such a lovely smooth covering:
Normally, I only cover the top of the cake, but this year I decided to do a full covering...I have to admit it does look nicer when you cut a slice. I think the key to it is getting the marzipan and icing thin enough so that it doesn’t over power the cake.
Apologies for the slightly fuzzy photos, but it was rather late on Christmas day when I suddenly realised, “oh bother, I am yet to photograph my Christmas cake”. Yes, that’s exactly how the thought formed in my mind.....!
I love the holly on your cake, it looks fab! I actually totally forgot to decorate my christmas cake this year, so we will be having ours plain!
ReplyDeleteDo you usually do a Christmas cake and a pudding? Or it it one or the other? I'd love to try the pudding, but am afraid of the weeks-long commitment. Not that I wouldn't do what needed to be done; I worry that someone in the house would *have* to taste the pudding before Christmas.
ReplyDeleteMy Christmas pies were a disaster this year--baked in a small convection oven that burned them on one side. Ah, well. There's always next year. :)
Beautifully decorated Christmas cake! I love all the rich fruity alcoholic flavours of Christmas cake.
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa Marie
ReplyDeleteYou can have both as pudding is for dessert, and the cake is more for tea time. We don't bother with pudding though, as no one wants it after such a big dinner - I always make panna cotta instead.
Happy baking
Thanks for sharing your Christmas cake with us! I hope you had a good one. I love the decorations. Also, congrats on your mention in Love Baking magazine.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cake Caked Crusader, hope you had a lovely christmas! Your icing to cake ratio looks perfect. I may have to try the marzipan recipe sometime as I've never made my own before.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! Love the decoration and the cake itself looks fab - really moist and delicious!
ReplyDeleteI love your decorations! They are very festive, and the colour of the holly is spot on
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed your CHristmas. I look forward to following you into the new year
Looks SCRUMPTIOUS (although I am in no way a advocate of christmas cake - I do love looking at them all decorated)
ReplyDeleteThat cake looks so good and marzipan all round can only be an improvement - I can never get enough marzipan. AND I've just realised, I haven't had any at all this Christmas!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous looking cake! Love the decoration. I had so many plans for decorating my Christmas cake this year, but instead I ended up abandoning all plans and decorating it very quickly at 9pm on Christmas Eve! There's always next year :-)
ReplyDeleteYour christmas cake looks classic and gorgeous. I prefer natural food colouring too - if you're using good quality ingredients you don't want to ruin it all with artifical colourings!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful Christmas cake! Hope you had a great Xmas, and wishing you a Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteYum. It wouldn't be Christmas without a good Christmas cake :) I hate remembering I need to take photos when all the lights gone or we've eaten the whole cake!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your mention in the Love Baking magazine too! Happy New Year