Decorating a Christmas Cake with Dried Fruit and Nuts
Home » COOK »All the way back on Stir-Up Sunday I made our Christmas cake and I decided that this year, instead of marzipan and icing as decoration I would use dried fruits and nuts instead. I’m so glad I did because it look spectacular and it tasted amazing! Something magical happened on Stir-Up Sunday, I’ve never made a Christmas cake so good before!
This isn’t a step-by-step tutorial as I didn’t take photographs as I went along, but it’s so simple to do! All you need is your Christmas fruit cake that you’ve been feeding with lots of alcohol over the past few weeks (it’s the key to keeping it lovely and moist!), a selection of dried fruit and nuts – pick your favourites, and a glaze made with apricot jam. You will also need a ribbon to tie around the cake for a bit more festive flair!
Decorating a Christmas Cake with Dried Fruit and Nuts
I showed you how to make an apricot glaze back on day 9 of Create Christmas 2014 and you’re going to need that glaze to stick your dried fruit and nuts to your Christmas cake, as well as to give the top a gorgeous shiny finish.
When it comes to decorating a Christmas cake with dried fruit and nuts, the varieties and the pattern are entirely up to you. I used Brazil nuts around the edge of my cake; before sticking down, I made sure I had enough to go all the way around! I also used dried apricots, walnuts, prunes, dried cherries, cranberries, sultanas and orange peel.
Brush a generous layer of apricot glaze onto the top of your Christmas cake and then lay out the pattern with the dried fruit and nuts, pressing down gently to stick into place. When you’ve finished, brush more of the glaze on top to give a nice shiny finish.
Finally, tie a thick ribbon around the cake and finish off with a bow. All done! Told you decorating a Christmas cake with fruit and nuts was easy! Once your masterpiece is complete, all that is left to do, is slice it up and enjoy it!
Create Christmas is an annual series on The Purple Pumpkin Blog where I blog each day with something to cook, craft or create for Christmas. This year I’m also sharing a round-up post with ideas and inspiration from other bloggers. If you’d like to be involved, just check out the Calling All Bloggers post here. Don’t forget to check out the blogger Create Christmas Linky too!
