Christmas vanilla roll cake recipe (2024)

FAQs

What icing is best for Christmas cake? ›

Fruited Christmas Cakes are traditionally covered with marzipan followed by a layer of white icing. You may wish to Feed and Store your Christmas Cake before adding the icing layers. Traditionally the white layer would be royal icing although you could use vegan royal icing or shop bought fondant icing.

To cover in ready-to-roll icing start by dusting the work surface and rolling pin again with icing sugar. Take some ready-to-roll icing, which has been kneaded to make it more pliable and dust that with icing sugar too. Repeat the same rolling process used for the marzipan until the icing is about 1/2cm thick.

Points to remember

Score a line along the bottom of the sponge, approximately 2.5cm away from the edge. Don't cut all the way through. Using the line scored, roll the sponge up tightly and leave to cool completely. When the sponge is cool, unroll it gently.

Swiss meringue buttercream is a favorite among many cake decorators because of its smooth finish on the outside cakes and its ability to hold piping detail.

Most commercial bakeries are using a buttercream made with shortening rather than butter, because it is more stable, especially if it gets warm.

The videos below give great tips on how to trim it neatly and create the perfect base for icing your Christmas cake. Leave the Christmas cake covered in marzipan in a cool, dry place. Allow it to dry for at least 24 hours before covering with fondant icing, and at least two days before covering with royal icing.

Letting fondant air dry naturally can take up to 36 hours, depending on how thick it is.

There's no hard and fast rule about when to ice your cake, but it's best to do it between 24 hours and a week ahead of the big day.

Christmas cake is an English tradition that began as plum porridge. A traditional English Christmas cake is made with moist Zante currants, sultanas (golden raisins) and raisins which have been soaked in brandy, rum, whisky or sherry.

Even though this cake is sometimes referred to as a Christmas “pudding”, Christmas cake is a type of cake. More specifically, it is a type of fruitcake covered with thick layers of icing with candied or dried fruits, nuts, and spices, and usually contains warming spirits like brandy, wine, rum, or cognac.

What is Christmas cake called? ›

A Christmas cake is a heavy cake containing much dried fruit and usually having a covering of icing. It is made to be eaten at Christmas. It can also be called a fruitcake.

The cake was over-baked: If over-baked the cake will be a lot drier and more prone to cracks. A crack in your roll can cause the swiss roll to fall apart.

This happens when you are not gentle enough when folding the dry ingredients into the wet. A genoise sponge requires very gentle and slow folding. You need to preserve as much air in the batter as possible, otherwise it can become rubbery.

A jelly roll is indeed a US name for what we'd call a swiss roll.

Quick Christmas Cake decorations

It is a soft icing that dries so it is often better to just put it on the top of your cake. I used a long length of liquorice around mine but the decorating is up to you. You can leave the sides free of icing.

If the cake is wrapped up appropriately and kept in a cool environment it is possible the icing and marzipan would be good for a couple of months but the cake of course for much longer.

Royal icing is more likely than fondant to absorb colour from the cake, so if you don't want marzipan go for a thicker layer of icing to ensure any discolouration doesn't show through – and don't ice too far ahead. You can use a layer of fondant icing instead of marzipan if you wish.

Double icing will produce a smooth finish and still achieve sharp edges. Allow the first layer to dry for a couple of days just as you would with marzipan before the final coating. Dowel the cakes immediately after the final coating and leave to crust over before before stacking.