These are the best Christmas cake recipes to make (2024)

FAQs

Which cake is special for Christmas? ›

A Yule Log for good luck

The tradition inspired the creation of a Yule Log cake, which is served on Christmas. Our Yule Log is a modern version of this classic Christmas dessert. It is made with chocolate mousse and is layered with mixed berry compote and strawberry jelly.

Christmas cakes are also commonly made with pudding while a fruit cake uses butter, however there are Christmas cake recipes that do contain butter. The traditional Scottish Christmas cake, also known as the Whisky Dundee, is very popular. It is a light crumbly cake with currants, raisins, cherries and Scotch whisky.

Wrap the cake in greaseproof paper or baking parchment then wrap it in kitchen foil. Store cake in a second layer of foil or in an airtight tin. You can repeat the feeding process every couple of weeks for three or four feeds. However, if the cake makes the work surface damp, appears wet or stodgy, discontinue feeding.

Whoever finds the fava bean in their slice is considered to have good luck for the coming year. Additionally, a small trinket or figurine is sometimes hidden in the cake, and the person who finds it is said to be the "king" or "queen" of the celebration.

1. Panettone, Italy. Originating from Milan, Italy, this cake has become one of the most popular Christmas cakes around Europe and in many parts of the world. The panettone is a dome-shaped spongecake with a sweet, yeasty taste.

Each year, the small shop is tasked with sending out its signature white chocolate coconut bundt cakes to some of the entertainment industry's biggest names, and all because Tom Cruise decided he liked the cake once.

You can use rum, brandy or whisky for spice, or if you like citrus flavours, try an orange liqueur. Cherry brandy and amaretto will also work well if you prefer these.

The Christmas Cake originally was called the Twelfth Cake and would have more traditionally been served at parties on the Twelfth Night ending the 12 days of Christmas on the 5th of January. And these cakes started as enriched fruit cakes, something more akin to an Italian Panettone.

Some say you should make your Christmas cake 6 weeks before eating, but the advice given on Nigella.com is that 12 weeks before is the optimum time to get baking. Your Christmas cake should be fed every 4 to 6 weeks but in the meantime, after baking, it should be stored away in a secure, air tight container.

Fruitcake aficionados will tell you that the best fruit cakes are matured – or “seasoned” in fruitcake lingo – for at least three months before they are cut. Seasoning not only improves the flavor of the fruitcake, but it makes it easier to slice.

Why is my Christmas cake moist but crumbly? ›

This can happen for a variety of reasons ranging from type of flour, not enough eggs/wrong size eggs, not enough liquid or fats and even storage. 'Causes of crumbly fruit cake'.

From years of baking, I know that dry cakes happen for one of two reasons; using too much of your dry ingredients or over-baking your cake.

In the 1980s, a woman unmarried by 25 was dismissed as "Christmas cake" — thrown out on Dec. 26. These days the big number is 31, and women unmarried by that age are "New Year's Eve noodles," noodles being a typical New Year's Eve dish.

The parchment paper and brown paper linings provide some insulation against the heat of the oven, which means that the cake bakes more evenly. If the tin is not lined in this way then the outside of the cake can cook too quickly, leaving the inside undercooked.

A tree-shaped yellow cake with creme filling. Decorated with white frosting, green sprinkles, and a red frosting stripe. single serve and family pack.

There's no doubt about it—fruit cake is a staple of the holiday season. While it has spent centuries being the butt of countless jokes and often gets a bad rap, we here at Italian Bakery of Virginia still love it – and so do millions of people around the world.

Plum cake in the United States originated with the English settlers and was prepared in the English style in sizes ranging from small, such as for parties in celebration of Twelfth Night and Christmas, to large, such as for weddings.

The relation between Christmas and cake is far too old. But another connection between the two is that cake used to be the party highlight of the Twelfth Night, which took place from December 24 to January 5. Another reason is that cake was used to line the stomach after a day of fasting on Christmas Eve.