Christmas is almost upon us and we should be looking to decorate the cake in within the next few days, I suspect that I’ll be aiming for Monday, although only so I can get a post up here, otherwise I might be inclined to leave it for a couple more days and either do it on the 22nd or 23rd.
Now is the time to make sure your cakes ‘rum content’ is appropriate for the time of year, or if you prefer to ensure that the cake is good and moist. Technically we’re talking about the ‘squelch test’.
To perform the ‘squelch test’ you should gently press the back of your clean hand against the top of the cake and listen for a gentle squelch and it should also feel a little moist on your hand. If, like me, you’ve neglected to feed the cake at regular intervals now is the moment (over the next few days) to make up for lost time by adding double doses of rum!
If you’re satisfied that your cake is already moist enough don’t add any more, similarly if there are little rummy riverlets streaming from the underside you may wish to leave it well alone to allow the cake to dry out a little, either way don’t worry about it … it’s still going to be delish!
Also, if you’re making your own marzipan and icing now is the time to make sure you have the ingredients, take a look at part 2 for the details. Part 1 and Part 2 can be found here and here.
Tags: baking, cake, christmas, culinary art, handmade, marzipan, royal icing
[...] Parts 1, 2, and 3 can be found here, here, and here. [...]