When you make royal icing and use it on a cake, how long does it keep. Does it go off. I have iced a novelty christmas cake with fondant and then used royal icing to make a snow scene. As it is a christmas cake it probably wont be eaten until then but I would hate it if it shouldn't be kept until then Thanks.

I'm guessing Royal icing will last a fair while, when I did my first wilton course I was told if I made my roses out of royal icing they would last for months. Plus shops sell xmas cakes royal iced and they've been in the shops since beginning of November.

royal will hold up a long time, provided it doesn't get damp. it may soften up on you a bit, however... usually, i keep my royal decorations in an airtight container (they keep for many months that way), so as for having them on the cake for that long, the only thing i would advise is to try and avoid moisture...

I've always been told RI decorations can be kept as long as they are kept dry in air tight containers to protect from moisture and dust just about forever. But cake can mold even under marzipan and fondant. RI should be stored away from moisture so wouldn't that mean not for too long on an actual cake?

A royal iced Christmas cake will easily last 6-8 weeks. Make sure it's properly covered in marzipan ind icing to seal it. I store mine in a cardboard cake box in my spare bedroom.

WOW! I didn't relize you could store a covered cake like that, that's really good to know with christmas and New Years coming!

If the cake has alcohol in it it will last years.......year ago the top fruit cake at a wedding was kept for the babys baptism/ I know people have eaten my cake up until march and said the longer it keeps it tastes even better. I make my Chrismas cakes November.......all fruit soaked in alcohol and I put brandy on when it has cooled and days later when I can be bothered marzipanned it.

I think the key here is FRUIT CAKE not a regular cake like in the US. Those cakes will go bad in under a week.

Do you all know that the top tier is frozen and eaten at the first anniversary? Does the cake still taste good?

Yes, it does, but the sugar seemed to crystalize a bit on mine. It was packed in marshmallows (mini) inside tupperware. Still tasted good, but a touch sweeter.

Zmama. It depends what you have in a Fruit Cake. If you use pineapple or apple in the recipe, yes they wont keep but other than that they do keep for months providing they are keep in a cardboard box and not in a plastic container as they will sweat. The longer they are kept the more they mature and taste better.
My concern about RI was the egg powder that was in it and wondered if you would get food poisoning if kept for too long. Salmonella?

The royal icing dries out hence is like a concrete coating....

I use meri-white in mine (meringue powder to the US) this does away with the salmonella risk

Thanks everyone. MissBaritone I used ActiWhite Meringue Powder so I am okay. Peace of mind now. Thanks.