Gingerbreadman Christmas Cake Tutorial

First you will want to assemble all of your ingredients.  You will need one baked fruit cake. Mine is 8 inches in diameter.  You will also need some ready rolled marzipan and ready rolled fondant icing.  Don’t worry if you cannot find it ready rolled, you can either buy the stuff un-rolled and roll your own, or make your own from scratch.  I am going to give you the recipes below to make both the marzipan layer and the fondant.  You will also need 3 TBS of apricot jam, warmed with 1 TBS of water or Brandy and pushed through a sieve to make it smooth and take out any bits.  I have used three gingerbread cutters.  One largish man and two smaller ones, a boy and a girl.  But you can use any combination that you have in your house.  You will also need some ribbons to decorate the edges around the cake or a paper frill, and some candies, etc. to decorate your gingerbread men. 

Now you want to brush the marzipan all over the top and sides of the cake with more of the apricot jam mixture.  Roll the fondant icing over the top of a rolling pin to transfer it and then layer it on top of the marzipan, covering the cake completely and smoothing it out with your hands pressing it down gently around the sides also.  Trim off any excess from the bottom and discard.  Now place your cutters to where you want them on top of the cake.  Press your cutter/s through the fondant and marzipan layers and remove the icing with the cutter still inserted to help give a cleaner outline. Add the gingerbread man features to the cut out shape using either cut out and shaped pieces of white fondant or fondant water icing placed in a piping bag. Marzipan shapes and sweets can be added on to and around your gingerbread man shapes for extra decoration.

When you are ready to use, dust your work surface with more icing sugar, then roll the marzipan into a circle about 40cm/16 inches across, dusting underneath the marzipan with more icing sugar and turning it a quarter turn after every few pushes of the rolling pin. You should also have prepared your cake by brushing it all over with apricot jam which you have gently warmed and then put through a sieve. (About 3 TBS should do it. I sometimes add a bit of brandy.)

Flip the top of the circle back over your rolling pin so you can see the underside of the marzipan, then lift the pin up and lift the marzipan over the cake. Stop once you can see that the edge of the marzipan nearest you is about level with the bottom of the cake. Flop the front of the marzipan down. Smooth the paste over the cake using the palms of your hands, then trim with a sharp knife. If any cracks appear, simply pinch the paste back together and smooth. Leave to dry for at least 24 hrs, or up to 3 days, before covering with icing.

Place half of the icing sugar in a bowl and make a well in the centre.  Add the lukewarm gelatine mixture, stirring it in with a wooden spoon. Mix in sugar a little more at a time until the stickiness disappears. Knead in the remaining icing sugar until the mixture is smooth and pliable and does not stick to your hands.  If it is too sticky, add a bit more sugar.  If too dry add a few drops of water.  Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge.  Bring to room temperature prior to using, and knead again until soft.

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