Hello
Can anyone help me?
I have ended up with about 6 cakes to make in the run up to Christmas this year. Mostly they are fruit cakes which I have now made. How far in advance can I cover with marzipan? I know to leave it a few days to dry before covering with fondant - but will it dry out if I do it over a week (or 2!) in advance? Can I do anything to stop that?

Can anyone also tell me how far in advance I can cover with the foundant. I'm doing one royal-iced which I know I can do in advance, but I've never covered with fondant more than a day before.

Thanks so much in advance . I work full time and I'm studying as well - I love doing the cakes as favours / a hobby but it's hard to fiteverything in the time! Any tips much much appreciated.

Thank you,
Alix

hiya, im also from the uk and have some fruits cakes to do, if you marzipan them leave them a couple of days before you ice them so that it can dry out this can be done 2 weeks before if you like as the cake inside is fruit anyway, the nearer to cutting the cake the softer the icing will be.

Hi I did a christmas cake for a customer and I did marzipan and covered it in fondant and I put it in a box and gave it to her.

You can start now...no problem. I marzipan and let sit in a covered box for a few days, them apply the sugarpaste. We were so busy last year that we didn't cut our cake until February when my SIL visited. It was still great. Your sugarpaste will crust slightly, but it doesn't affect taste /quality.

I have only one recommendation since your cakes will be sitting awhile. DON'T use cornflour to prevent sticking. Use either Trex (US brand name Crisco) or confectioners sugar. Occasionally cornflour can react with other ingredients and cause fermenting on cakes that are around more than a few days.

Brilliant - thanks so much for your help.
That's a relief, I can have one big 'marzipanning day', then they're all done.