The Cottage Smallholder

None at all - the entire British hen flock has been vaccinated against salmonella.

However, if I was inclined to worry about it, I believe it is possible to get dried egg, or even liquid egg, which has been pasteurised.

There you go then - I had a feeling there was some way round it. It's just that, when Edwina made that famous statement,  we were keeping our own hens, and I started to worry - then realised that if there was anything to be caught from them we had been in trouble long ago = so decided not to worry. I can't say we have had any upsets that I can pin down to eggs.

You are quite right to let the marzipan dry - my mother used to say at least 24 hours.  Her reason was that if the paste hadn't developed a crust, the icing would just blend with it and make a nasty mess - tasty, but aesthetically unpleasing, as they say!

Nothing particularly lovely about my icing - I am of the wild-blown snowfield class. However, it is good to have it white. Have been informed by my daughter (who goes into these things), that using raw eggs is safe in this situation, due to the high sugar content, and also because there is no air incorporated. Even so, Delia Smith gives a receipe using cooked egg, but it is quite tricky to make.  So that is something to investigate for next year, at this late stage, though I shall just continue as I have done for the last forty five years.