Christmas Cake Decorating Questions

Faith

I'm sure a few of us will have questions about decorating our cakes, so I'm making a thread just for it.

I'll start: I have a 20cm (8 inch) round cake. How much (in weight) sugarpaste will I need to cover it and a board, roughly?

Cerulean Chicken

800g-1kg should cover an 8 inch round cake, so if you buy 3 x 500g packs that would be plenty for cake, board and some small decorations.

Faith

Phew, good thing I asked, I didn't think I'd need that much at all! :eek:

Cerulean Chicken

Well like I could cover an 8 inch with 800g, depending on the type of cake, it's height, the colour of the icing, etc. But to be sure to have enough to cover a board and cake you'd need 1kg-1200g, so you might as well get the 1.5kg in case you need extra.

kathy o brien

How long do I leave almond icing dry before putting the royal icing on? Thanks

Cerulean Chicken

kathy o brien wrote: »

How long do I leave almond icing dry before putting the royal icing on? Thanks

I'd usually go for maybe 3-4 days, but 2 minimum is my preference.

kathy o brien

Thanks very much for your advice,I will take it!:)

toadfly

Have three cakes to do, where is there good value on almond paste?

phormium

Lidl

Faith

I ordered my icing from the internet because I wanted a specific colour, and it's come in packets of 250g. Do I just knead it all together first?

Cerulean Chicken

Faith wrote: »

I ordered my icing from the internet because I wanted a specific colour, and it's come in packets of 250g. Do I just knead it all together first?

Yes...instead of doing what? I don't mean that to sound rude, I'm just wondering what the other options are other than kneading them together to get the right amount. Knead 1kg together to cover the cake.

Cathmandooo

I find it easier to knead in small batches, after kneading for a while I'd pull them in half and knead them with half of a different batch. Then get them all together as one.

Putting them on a warm radiator (while in their packaging) for a while helps to make them more kneadable too. Keep an eye on them and turn them over once in a while.

Faith

Cerulean Chicken wrote: »

Yes...instead of doing what? I don't mean that to sound rude, I'm just wondering what the other options are other than kneading them together to get the right amount. Knead 1kg together to cover the cake.

I ordered what was supposed to be a 1kg block, but received 4 x 250g. I wasn't expecting to have to do anything with it . I was just making sure that it would all knead together properly and wouldn't separate or split (like bad pastry).

Cerulean Chicken

Faith wrote: »

I ordered what was supposed to be a 1kg block, but received 4 x 250g. I wasn't expecting to have to do anything with it . I was just making sure that it would all knead together properly and wouldn't separate or split (like bad pastry).

Coloured sugarpaste doesn't generally come in anything other than 250g "Retail packs" or 5kgs boxes, is it Renshaws Regalice you ordered? M&B comes in 1kg sometimes I think. Sugarpaste doesn't split or separate, it just dries out if kneaded for too long with icing sugar.

Faith

Excellent! I iced my cake last year, but it was very straight forward and I think it came in a big block... It did, actually, but it was from Brennan's Cookshop in Cork so it wasn't "commercial" as such. Yeah, it's Renshaws Regalice. I'm really excited now, can't wait to do it!

snooperella

Which to use for the Christmas cake....Instant Royal icing or make my own....any advice?:)

Jellybaby1

I've always made my own Royal Icing. One year I caved and used the bought stuff. It didn't taste anything as nice as the home made icing. Nothing is as nice as home made, if only for the fact that it is overflowing with that secret ingredient, TLC! The same goes for the almond icing - the mazipan in the shops is not quite as nice.

Just my 'umble opinion!

Faith

Threads merged.

RoseBlossom

snooperella wrote: »

Which to use for the Christmas cake....Instant Royal icing or make my own....any advice?:)

I made my own this year - I was a bit nervous because I found so many recipes mentioning glycerin and I didn't know where to find it, but in the end I used one with just icing sugar, egg white and a teaspoon of lemon juice and it worked out brilliantly (though I just did a gentle "peaked" surface on my cake rather than trying to get it super-smooth).

Animord

RoseBlossom wrote: »

I made my own this year - I was a bit nervous because I found so many recipes mentioning glycerin and I didn't know where to find it, but in the end I used one with just icing sugar, egg white and a teaspoon of lemon juice and it worked out brilliantly (though I just did a gentle "peaked" surface on my cake rather than trying to get it super-smooth).

You can get glycerine in chemists or dunnes, tesco etc. it stops the icing from drying really hard so you don't break your teeth on it!

RoseBlossom

Animord wrote: »

You can get glycerine in chemists or dunnes, tesco etc. it stops the icing from drying really hard so you don't break your teeth on it!

I must look out for it next time I'm shopping, I never noticed it before.

I don't really like icing tbh (even on cupcakes) so I never noticed how hard it gets as I always cut it off! Pretty though!

kuldeep121

you might need 1 kg sugar!
Cake with almond icing sounds yummy!

Faith

When making decorations with fondant, I keep seeing mentions of letting them dry. Is this necessary, and how long do you leave them for? Say I make a snowman out of fondant - what do I do them? And do I need edible glue to get the decorations to stick to the cake?

This is quite clearly my first time doing much with sugarpaste!

confusticated

This Christmas was my first time doing anything with sugarpaste, I made a snowman too! I let him and the icing on the cake set overnight, then stuck the head to the body and the body to the cake with a blob of royal icing. He hasn't moved - I made another one to give to my boyfriend and had to remove the snowman to transport it, it wasn't easy so the royal icing should hold it ok I'd say.

RacoonQueen

I've absolutely no idea what to do with my cake. Any advice or recommendtions? Just ice it? I've no idea so anything basic would probably be best. :pac:

Maggie Benson

Cerulean Chicken wrote: »

800g-1kg should cover an 8 inch round cake, so if you buy 3 x 500g packs that would be plenty for cake, board and some small decorations.

There is good recipe for almond and white icing with the Stork 'All in one Christmas cake' on the internet.

Cerulean Chicken

Maggie Benson wrote: »

There is good recipe for almond and white icing with the Stork 'All in one Christmas cake' on the internet.

I have no idea why you quoted my post for this?