Fruitcake? Are you nuts?
Monday, December 24th, 2007
In yesterday’s post I talked about British fruitcakes and showed you how to properly line the pan.
Once your fruitcake is cooked and cooled you can douse it in brandy, wrap it up in wax paper and then foil. I then store it in a metal tin and douse it with more brandy about once a week until you’re ready to ice it. Yes, I said ice it. It’s traditional to ice a fruitcake for Christmas.
To do this you’ll need apricot jam, marzipan and either royal icing or fondant. Strain your apricot jam and warm it on your stovetop. Peel your foil and wax paper from your fruitcake and set it, flat side up on your cake board and brush it down lightly with your warmed apricot jam.
Knead your marzipan until it’s soft and easy to work with. Tear off a chunk and begin filling in along the bottom edge of your fruitcake so that you have nice smooth sides, pressing it in as you go. Check your fruitcake for any holes and fill those also, pressing it in for a smooth, flat surface.
Brush your marzipan patches with jam. Roll our your remaining marzipan. You can either ice the top and sides separately or all at once. For the novice, icing it separately may be easier. I like a fairly think layer of marzipan, perhaps a quarter inch thick or so but you can roll yours as thick or as thin as you like. I generally would cut the circle for the top first, using the base of your cake tin as a guide. after you place the top roll out the side piece and wrap it around the cake, cutting it even with the top where necessary. Brush again with a light coating of jam and set aside.
Next you’ll need to knead your fondant until it’s soft and easy to work with and then roll it out large enough to cover your cake. I fold mine over my rolling pin to help lift and place it. Smooth the top down and then begin smoothing the sides a small section at a time. Pull the fondant out to work out buckles. Trim the fondant at the base with a knife or rolling pizza cutter, being careful not to cut it too short. You can also cover your marzipan layer with royal icing, if you prefer. When I use royal icing, I like to spike it out to look like snow. Careful pulling your spikes out too far though, they can be quite lethal when dry.
Now you’re ready to decorate. Any easy way to decorate the sides is to simply wrap it in a big ribbon. I chose wrap mine in a wide band of red velvet ribbon, using a bit of royal icing as my “glue”. You can decorate the top any way you like. I made some darling little pinecones by making a cone of marzipan and sticking almond slivers in the side then coating the whole thing with chocolate. To make it extra pretty I tipped the edges in edible gold paint. For another I molded a Santa medallion out of gumpaste using a chocolate mold. I then hand painted it using luster dusts. Be creative and have some fun!
I’m particularly pleased with the way the Santa medallion turned out though I wish I could say the same for the photo. I apologize for the blurriness!
That’s it for today’s lesson on icing fruitcakes. If you have questions feel free to ask me!
Fruitcake, Christmas, Cakes, English, British, Marzipan, Apricot Jam, Lining pans, Decorating
Fruitcake, that is. Yes, I know the saying, “
What: 
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been very busy. I have baked so many cookies I could have fed an army. In fact I did feed some, if not the entire, Army. I adopted two troops for the holidays this year. One troop has as a member the son of one of my cake club members. I’d heard that one of the ladies had a son in Iraq and I asked her if I could adopt his troop. She told me that her son was home but that another member’s son was still in Iraq. I contacted her and she was very happy to have my help. Ellen had been doing her best to bake cookies and ready packages for the 41 members of her son’s troop. With work and baking she was only half way done so having me help her out was, as she put it, “a god-send”. I was happy to do it and when I told another friend about my baking efforts she joined in and made several dozen cookies, too. Not only that but her church sent along cards done by their Sunday School and two big bags of personal hygiene stuff like toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash and dental floss. In addition I decided to adopt a second troop, a small one consisting of only six people, four men and two women. I packed their box full of nuts, pop tarts, candy, cookies, popcorn, drink flavors for bottled water and personal hygiene products. You know, I used to think that those “personal sized” toilet paper packets were stupid until I saw them listed often on soldier’s request lists. The troops can be out on missions for several days and it can be challenging to find bathrooms and toilet paper can become a premium item to have on you! A lot of the troops don’t have access to the base stores to purchase every day items that we take for granted. Women are desperately in need of feminine hygiene items like tampax.
If you’re looking for volunteer opportunities this Christmas you might just lend Santa a hand. Here are two ways you can help:
One of the things I love most about Christmas is the shopping. In particular I love all the Holiday bazaars and markets, be they big or small. Even the church bazaars with all their home made goodies. 
Now that Thanksgiving is over many of you will begin preparing for Christmas. Big on the list of “things to do” is finding the perfect Christmas tree. As you know, I’m all about 
