a Picture of a fruit cake on a white plate with a layer of marzipan on th top

Almond Icing (Marzipan)

This recipe is from Delia's Cakes.

Homemade almond icing is superior to the ready-made, so I’ve included it here if you have time to make it.

A one-egg mix makes 375g, so you will probably have too much, in which case use the surplus to stuff dates or make some Stollen, see recipe below, or watch how to make it in our Online Cookery School Video, just click the image to play.

Got a question on Delia's recipes? Ask Lindsey

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Decorating the Christmas Cake

Asked by: Andy K

I have made my Christmas cake (about 4 weeks ago) and have been feeding ever since. Can you advise how soon I can Marzipan and ice the cake?

Answered by Lindsey: Hello, Ideally marzipan the cake up about two weeks before Christmas and then ice it a week (or less) before. Generally you need to let the marzipan dry out before you ice it because the oils in the nuts used in the marzipan can seep through the icing and stain the surface. This is more likely if you use homemade marzipan and royal icing. When using bought natural marzipan and ready roll icing we have found that covering the cake with marzipan, followed straight after with rolled icing hasn’t been a problem. Kind regards Lindsey

Method

Begin by sifting the icing sugar and caster sugar into a large bowl, then stir in the egg.

Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and whisk for about 10 minutes, until the mixture is thick and fluffy. Then remove the bowl from the heat and sit the base in about 5cm of cold water. Whisk in the almond extract and brandy and continue to whisk until the mixture is cool.

At this point stir in the ground almonds and knead to form a firm paste on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar. Then roll out the amount needed on a clean surface dusted with icing sugar, and keep giving it quarter turns (to keep it round) between each roll. Once it is rolled to the right size, cover the top of the cake.