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Christmas

Christmas cake - dilemma and decision

(35 Posts)
Jackie8693 Sat 02-Oct-21 12:08:14

It’s that time of year again and I’m making my Delia Christmas cake
I wanted to make like individual small Christmas cakes but don’t want to buy lots of small tins. Has anyone cooked a whole cake and then cut it up into portions and successfully covered it in marzipan and icing?
(square cake cut into 6 or 8 smaller squares)
Would it cut okay or would it break, does it go dry once you’ve cut it into portions?
I wouldn’t plan on cutting it up until it was time to ice as I am sure it would go dry
I don’t want to go to all that trouble for it to spoil

Yammy Wed 24-Nov-21 10:49:46

My mother made Christmas cakes or wedding cakes for all the family. She would make one the same size as the bottom tier of a wedding cake and cut it into the portions she wanted then marzipan and ice the individual pieces.
Mary Berry also has a recipe for Christmas cake portions so her recipe must stand up to being cut into small portions.

pen50 Wed 24-Nov-21 11:33:15

I've made individual Christmas cakes in deep muffin tins. Worked perfectly.

I recommend cooking rich fruit cakes overnight in a 90 - 100° oven. You could probably steam your pudding in the oven too.

cc Wed 24-Nov-21 11:41:15

Large deep muffin tins sound good, though I do have a Yorkshire pudding tin a (4" or so cavities) and wonder if sandwiching two together with marzipan, base to base might be nice? It would be a bit like a simnel cake, but with the marzipan added after baking. Personally I love marzipan and a slightly softer marzipan center would keep it moist - not to everyone's taste I know though.
I have used a 6" soufflé dish for rich fruit cake in the past, but obviously these are more expensive and I did find it less moist than a big cake.
I think the idea of cutting up a big square cake sounds best, little cakes wouldn't take the longer cooking that mellows and melds all the tastes together. Might be best to leave it in one piece and feed it for as long as possible though, then it would be easier to cut to size.

highlanddreams Wed 24-Nov-21 13:28:38

could you make your own dividers for the baking tin you have out of foil then cover in baking parchment maybe?

pen50 Wed 24-Nov-21 14:49:56

I think marzipan is quite divisive. Personally I loathe the shop bought stuff - and so does most of my family. I make my own (egg white, icing sugar, ground almonds, orange zest) which is miles nicer (well, to me, anyway.)

Anyway the point is that is that if I were to sandwich fruit cakes together I'd use something else. Maybe a spice flavoured buttercream?

GoldenAge Wed 24-Nov-21 15:39:15

Jackie8693 - Yes I do this every year with one of my 8" square rich fruit Christmas cakes to provide certain people with a gift of cake they can keep for a while but the most I have cut it into is four.
I make a rich fruit cake using a recipe from the Good Housekeeping Cook Book which involves almost 3lb of fruit and a certain degree of alcohol. I wrap the cake in tinfoil when it's gone cold after coming out of the oven, but before doing that I shave off any rising on the top to ensure it's completely flat. When I'm ready to do the marzipan I cut it up into four pieces (quarters) - there's no crumbling - I marzipan and then a couple of days later I ice them. I put a ribbon around each and they look great. You'll do that easily but I think if you try to get more pieces out it will look a bit strange as the cake will be very deep but thin.

Atqui Wed 24-Nov-21 16:20:39

www.eatsamazing.co.uk/christmas/christmas-treat-recipes/tin-can-mini-christmas-cakes

Grammy666 Fri 26-Nov-21 19:09:20

How long do I wait until I can marzipan and ice my cake ? I have been feeding it with brandy now for 3 weeks ...

annodomini Fri 26-Nov-21 20:44:33

How much have you been feeding it? If it's too damp with brandy, the icing might discolour. You could put the marzipan on and let it dry for a day or so and then it should be OK to ice it.
Good luck!