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How to marzipan a Christmas Cake - the finished cake ready to be iced.
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How to Marzipan a Christmas Cake

A foolproof way to marzipan a cake to get an even, smooth surface ready for the icing.
Course Cake
Cuisine British
Prep Time 40 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 20 cm cake
Author Susie@Everyday Cooks

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Preparation:

  • If your cake has a domed top, level it up with a sharp knife
  • Cut two pieces of clingfilm about 50cm long. Put one sheet of clingfilm on your work surface ready for the marzipan
  • Heat half the marmalade in the microwave for about 20s on HIGH
  • Brush the top only of the cake with the marmalade. Remove any bits of marmalade from the top of the cake
    (Ideally - or for a very special cake - you would sieve the marmalade first to remove the bits)

Marzipan the top of the cake:

  • Take half the marzipan and shape into a ball. Put it on the clingfilm and flatten with your hand
  • Place the spacers about 25cm apart, either side of the marzipan
    A flattened ball of marzipan on clingfilm with spacers either side
  • Put a second sheet of clingfilm over the marzipan and roll into a round-ish shape using the rolling pin on the spacers. Take away the top layer of clingfilm carefully, keeping it for the next phase
    Marzipan rolled out in to a rough circle
  • Put the cake top down on the marzipan and cut around it with a round-bladed knife - a palette knife is ideal
  • Carefully pick up the cake, trim if necessary, and put to one side

Marzipan the sides of the cake:

  • Gather up the marzipan and add to the rest. Eat or discard any that has crumbs in
  • Heat the rest of the marmalade and brush on the sides of the cake
  • If the clingfilm is intact you can use it again, otherwise, spread a new piece
  • Measure the height of your cake including the marzipan on top. This is the height to roll the marzipan for the sides
  • Place the spacers the height distance, plus about 2cm, apart. Take half the remaining marzipan and roll into a sausage shape. Place between the spacers and roll out.
    You are going to need about 60cm in total so try to make this piece at least 30cm in length
  • Remove the clingfilm and trim the marzipan to the height you need and make sure the ends are square, i.e. at right angles
  • Put the marzipan on the side of the cake. It should go round about a third to a half of the cake and up to the total height of the cake. Repeat the process once or twice until you have marzipan all around the cake, leaving a small gap between the pieces
    Large cake covered in marzipan before smoothing

Smooth the surface of the cake:

  • Take your smoother and polish the top of the cake, getting a feel for how the marzipan moves
    Don't press too hard or you'll leave dents
  • Smooth the sides, pushing the marzipan pieces together to create a single smooth piece. Where the sides meet the top. smooth round creating a rounded edge to the cake
  • Run the joint gap between your thumb and first finger round the edge to check that it's even
  • Keep polishing until you are satisfied with the surface. The cake is now ready for fondant or royal icing.
    Large cake covered in marzipan ready to be iced.

Video

Notes

Everyday Cooks notes:

  • You can use ready-made marzipan - 800g is enough, but it usually comes in 500g packs
  • Use any excess to make Marzipan Stars