Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

I’m making a 3 tiered fruit cake. The bride wants a rustic effect in royal icing ( the picture she showed me was of a cake in butter cream which isn’t practical for July or for a fruit cake). Should I Marzipan and fondant ice the cakes and apply a thinner layer of royal icing to gain the effect or should I just place a couple of layers of royal icing direct onto the marzipan. Will the royal icing crack when I place the dowels/ real flower holders? What is the best time to decorate? Would the week before be too early/late? Thanks

Hi Julie

I think that makes sense. Royal icing doesn’t have to be made so it goes brittle hard. If you add 1 teaspoon of glycerine to 450g of icing sugar/ royal icing, the consistency will be softer and should not crack when dowelling or inserting flower holders. Personally I would do those little jobs as soon as the icing is touch dry and not leave it until it is completely dry. Fruit cakes can be iced as soon as you like. Store in cake boxes to keep clean from dust and to prevent damage. Perhaps try the glycerine on a practice cake so you feel confident that it will work for you.