Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

a customer has said that i can make the christmas cake months before but im worried incase this is wrong and i thought alcohol preserved it but this is to be made for kids too i will be making it with fondent covering i have no clue about these cakes and ive got orders already just want it to be right x

I make my Christmas cakes in February/March! I use a Very Rich Fruit Cake recipe (traditional Wedding cake),
after soaking the fruit for a few days in Sherry. Cakes are then double-wrapped in baking parchment and foil. They are fed with a slurp of Brandy every month up to November. Covered in marzipan and fondant decorated they are much in demand. Unfortunately the alcohol quickly evaporates once cut so safe for children in small portions!. Good luck 🙂

Hi Annabel

Now would be a good time to bake your Christmas cake. Fruit cakes develope depth and flavour if they are left to mature for two or three months. There are quick fruit cakes recipes but, they are much lighter in flavour and do not have the keeping properties of a rich fruit cake. I make my Christmas cakes in August. Once made I wrap them up in parchment paper, then in foil and then in cling film and hide them away in airtight containers. Every two weeks or so, I feed them with a table spoon of brandy and wrap up again. There are several Q&As already which may be of help to you. Just put Fruit cake in the search box and you’ll see them. xx

Me too- I also bake mine early, normally about a dozen early October, some I use for Xmas presents but my mother-in-law gets a couple and they are eaten around Easter time (still made in October). Just keep feeding them and keeping them wrapped up.