Scandinavian Cake

This simple but stylish Scandinavian Cake would make a stunning centerpiece on your Christmas table.

Scandinavian Cake

• 20cm round Christmas cake
• 1kg white sugar paste
• 750g white marzipan
• 28cm round silver cake board

• Apricot glaze/jam
• Icing sugar for dusting
• Vodka or boiled water
• Edible glue
• Red extra paste food colouring
• 100g flower paste
• Jem reindeer and tree cutter set
• Small snowflake cutter
• Large non stick rolling pin
• Small non stick rolling pin
• Small rolling board
• Petal base
• PME wavy cutters in two sizes
• Jem rolling pad
• PME cutting wheel
• Red ribbon

1. If your cake has a raised centre, brush the top of the cake with boiled apricot glaze/jam. Knead a small amount of the marzipan and roll out a sausage length to fit around the outside top edge of the cake. Dragging the flat edge of a knife across the sausage of marzipan towards the centre will give you a flat surface. If your cake has a slight dip in the centre, brush the top of the cake with the boiled apricot glaze/jam. Knead a small amount of marzipan and shape into a flat circle to fill in the dip.
2. Knead the remaining marzipan and roll out a 40cm circle on icing sugar to approx 0.5cm thickness. Place over cake and smooth top first. Gently pull out any pleats from bottom and smooth sides working down from top edge. Trim off any excess at the bottom edge of cake.
3. Brush or spray the marzipan cake with vodka or cooled boiled water.
4. Knead sugar paste and then roll out a circle on a surface dusted with icing sugar to approx 0.5cm thickness. This circle will need to be larger than the marzipan circle to cover the cake and board all in one.
5. Place onto cake and smooth the top. Gently pull out pleats from bottom edge of cake and smooth sides of cake by starting at top edge and work down. Try not to drag icing at top edge to prevent cracking. Using your hands, smoothe down the cake whilst pulling out any pleats from the bottom as you go. A smoother/polisher tool would help if you have one, but if not, use your hands. Once you have the sides smooth, work the sugar paste onto the board and smooth, trimming off excess at the board edge.
6. Before decorating the cake, make a template by cutting a strip of parchment paper that can will wrap round the side of the cake. Fold into 6 and mark the bottom edge of the cake using the tip of a knife. (These marks will be covered by the reindeer cut outs).
7. To make the reindeer and tree cut outs, first colour petal paste with red extra paste colouring. Rub a small amount of petal base on to the small rolling board. Roll out red petal paste thinly using the small rolling pin.
8. Using the small wavy cutter, cut out shape on board but leave paste in place, removing cutter. Over the paste, position a larger wavy cutter and cut out. This will give you a thin wavy circle shape. Cut top and bottom to give you two strips. Using cutting wheel, make small cuts into the strips where shape is widest to create spurs which will look like leaves once placed on the cake. Make sure that you only make small cuts and not to cut off each spur. Put a thin line of edible glue at the bottom of the cake and attach strips around bottom edge of cake.
9. Roll out more of the red petal paste thinly but thick enough to absorb the embossed pattern on the cutter. Next, place the reindeer cutter onto the rolling pad so that the cutter is secure. Place the paste on top of the cutter and roll out again, using a sharp tool to remove the surplus bits. Allow remaining paste in the cutter to air dry for a few minutes before removing from the cutter. This prevents distortion. Attach to cake using a small amount of edible glue. Repeat to make 6 reindeer.
10. Using this method, cut out 6 trees but leave to completely dry before attaching to the cake.
11. Cut out snowflakes in the same way and attach to cake.
12. Finish cake by attaching a ribbon to the board edge.