Can I cover traditional Christmas cake with chocolate instead of fondant icing? | Ask Nigella.com

Our response

Traditional Nigella Christmas Cake (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) is a rich, traditional fruit cake. Nigelle suggests various decorations, including Smooth Hatbox Icing, which is a layer of marzipan followed by a layer of fondant icing (ready-to-roll fondant).

We’re not sure if the chocolate coating is supposed to be chocolate flavored fondant icing, but if it is, you can use it the same way as white fondant icing. However, if it is a melted chocolate coating, we do not recommend it. When chocolate is melted and cooled, it becomes distorted. In other words, it will appear matte once cold and solid and will no longer be shiny. You can retemper the chocolate, which means it will still be shiny when set, but the chocolate will be difficult to cut cleanly once set and will tend to crack and fall out of the cake when you cut it. It may be possible to use chocolate ganache, but in our opinion it is not easy to store for a long time as the cake needs to be refrigerated once coated in ganache and the ganache will only last 3-5 days . We also find that the ganache is too rich to accompany the fruit cake and almond paste.