How much fruit, marzipan and icing?
Quantities for any Christmas cake tin, and a schedule counted back from the day you need it.
Free. No signup needed.The short answer
A round 8 inch Christmas cake 3 inches deep takes about 1.1 kg of dried fruit, 750 g of marzipan and 900 g of royal icing. Enter your own tin below, and pick the date you need it for to get the bake, feed and icing dates.
How much fruit, marzipan and icing?
BakerInbox
Your tin
Dried fruit to buy
1.10 kg
Mixed fruit, peel, and cherries together
Bake time
3 hr to 3 hr 30 min
At 140 C conventional, 120 C fan, gas mark 1
Flour
352 g
Butter
352 g
Sugar
352 g
Eggs
6
Marzipan
749 g
Top and sides, with the trim allowed for
Royal icing
910 g
Two coats, flat or peaked
When to do what
- 29 OctSoak the fruitOvernight in the spirit, or up to a week ahead. Cover the bowl.
- 30 OctBakeLow and slow. Line the tin twice and collar it, then cool in the tin.
- 13 NovFeedSkewer the top and spoon over the spirit. Rewrap tightly.
- 27 NovFeedSkewer the top and spoon over the spirit. Rewrap tightly.
- 11 DecMarzipanApricot jam, then the marzipan. It has to dry before icing or it stains the icing.
- 18 DecRoyal iceFlat-ice or peak it. Two thinner coats beat one thick one.
- 23 DecDecorateRibbon and decorations once the icing is hard.
- 25 DecReadyCut on the day, or up to a week after. It keeps.
Fruit and mixture scale with the volume of the tin, so a deep 10 in takes far more than the width alone suggests. Marzipan and icing scale with the surface they cover, which is why they do not grow at the same rate. The gap between marzipanning and icing matters: marzipan needs about a week to dry, or the almond oil bleeds through and stains the royal icing yellow.
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Start free trialChristmas cake quantities by tin size
| Tin | Dried fruit | Flour | Eggs | Marzipan | Royal icing | Bake |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 in (13 cm) | 430 g15 oz | 138 g4.9 oz | 2 | 398 g14 oz | 483 g1 lb 1 oz | 2 hr to 2 hr 20 |
| 6 in (15 cm) | 619 g1 lb 6 oz | 198 g7.0 oz | 3 | 506 g1 lb 2 oz | 614 g1 lb 6 oz | 2 hr 20 to 2 hr 40 |
| 7 in (18 cm) | 842 g1 lb 14 oz | 269 g9.5 oz | 5 | 623 g1 lb 6 oz | 756 g1 lb 11 oz | 2 hr 40 to 3 hr 5 |
| 8 in (20 cm) | 1.10 kg2 lb 7 oz | 352 g12 oz | 6 | 749 g1 lb 10 oz | 910 g2 lb | 3 hr to 3 hr 30 |
| 9 in (23 cm) | 1.39 kg3 lb 1 oz | 445 g16 oz | 8 | 885 g1 lb 15 oz | 1.07 kg2 lb 6 oz | 3 hr 20 to 3 hr 55 |
| 10 in (25 cm) | 1.72 kg3 lb 13 oz | 550 g1 lb 3 oz | 9 | 1.03 kg2 lb 4 oz | 1.25 kg2 lb 12 oz | 3 hr 40 to 4 hr 15 |
| 12 in (30 cm) | 2.48 kg5 lb 7 oz | 792 g1 lb 12 oz | 14 | 1.35 kg3 lb | 1.64 kg3 lb 10 oz | 4 hr 20 to 5 hr |
For a traditional rich fruit cake 3 in deep, at 140 C conventional, 120 C fan, gas mark 1. Fruit scales with the volume of the tin, marzipan and icing with the surface they cover, which is why the two columns do not grow at the same rate. Butter and sugar match the flour weight. Marzipan and icing include the roll-out trim, so they match what you need to buy rather than what ends up on the cake.
Made with BakerInbox. Free cake tools at bakerinbox.com/tools
Quantities, timing and why they differ
Fruit scales with the volume of the tin. Marzipan and royal icing only cover the surface, so they grow far more slowly, which is why one ratio cannot be used for both.
Two different scalings
Fruit scales with volume, icing with surface
This is the mistake that leaves a baker short. A rich fruit cake is baked deep, so the mixture scales with the volume of the tin: a 10 in takes over half as much again as an 8 in, not a quarter more. Marzipan and royal icing only cover the top and the sides, so they scale with surface area and grow far more slowly. Working both from one ratio is why so many charts disagree with each other.
Marzipan first
Leave a week between marzipan and icing
Marzipan goes on with a thin layer of warmed apricot jam, and then it has to dry. Ice it too soon and the almond oil bleeds up through the royal icing and stains it yellow in patches, usually a few days after you thought the cake was finished. A week is the usual gap. The schedule in the tool counts that back for you from the day you need the cake.
Feeding
Feed every two weeks, then stop
Skewer the top and spoon over a tablespoon or two of brandy, rum or sherry every couple of weeks while the cake matures. Stop about a fortnight before you marzipan it, so the surface is dry enough to take the jam. A cake fed right up to the day you cover it stays tacky and the marzipan slides.
Sizing the cake
Work out the portions before the tin
A Christmas cake is cut in small, rich slices, closer to wedding portions than party ones, so an 8 in round goes further than it looks. Check how many portions your tin gives before you buy the fruit, and if you are working from a recipe written for a different tin, convert it first. For the low, slow bake, gas mark 1 is 140 C, or 120 C fan.
FAQ
Common questions
How much marzipan do you need for an 8 inch Christmas cake?
About 750 g for a round 8 in cake 3 in deep, rolled to 5 mm over the top and sides. A square tin of the same size takes more, because a square has more surface than a circle. Enter your tin above for the exact figure.
How much royal icing do I need for a 9 inch cake?
Around 1.1 kg for a round 9 in, which is two coats over the top and sides. Royal icing goes on thicker than marzipan, so it always takes a little more than the marzipan under it.
How long should you leave marzipan on a cake before icing?
About a week. The marzipan needs to dry out before the royal icing goes on, or the oil in the almonds seeps through and stains the icing yellow. If you are short of time, three days is the minimum worth risking.
How far in advance should I make a Christmas cake?
Traditionally eight to twelve weeks, so the fruit mellows and the spirit works through. Four weeks still makes a very good cake. Even a cake baked the week before is fine, it is just less mature, so do not let the calendar put you off making one.
How much dried fruit for a Christmas cake?
About 1.1 kg for a round 8 in tin 3 in deep, counting mixed dried fruit, peel and cherries together. Because fruit scales with the volume of the tin, a 10 in of the same depth takes roughly 1.7 kg.
What temperature do you bake a Christmas cake at?
Low and slow: 140 C conventional, 120 C fan, gas mark 1. The temperature stays the same whatever the size, and it is the time that changes. Line the tin twice and tie a collar of brown paper round the outside so the edges do not catch.
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