Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi everyone,
Having a bit of a panic, baked and now need to decorate a fruit cake for charity. Is it absolutely essential after marzipan stage it is left before doing the icing? How long? I hadn’t factored in waiting between stages so a little worried!
Thank you

Hi Natalie

If you could wait a couple of days to allow the marzipan to dry you’ll get a better decorated finish and also minimise the risk of marzipan oils leeching into the icing. If you don’t have a couple of days, roll the marzipan out a little thinner so it crusts over more quickly. Panic over! 🙂

Thank you for this! I have a day to allow dry time thankfully! How do I store the cakes once marzipan is on them please ? At present I’ve draped tea
towels over them, cake boxes should be arriving in the post later today I assume these are the better way to store while drying?

Hi Natalie

Yes, cake box is better to ventilate the marzipan dry. Take the tea towel off as that retains moisture. If you have a mesh food umbrella that would be good. Otherwise drape it with a piece of paper towel and pop it in a cool cupboard.