In need of some Christmas dessert inspiration? If you always serve
pie or fruitcake, give your guests (and yourself) a break with some
creative new ideas. While some of these flavors might be unexpected, all
of the cakes below have a tie to Christmas traditions in one way or
another.
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1. YULE EGGNOG CAKE
A Bûche de Noël is a Yule log cake. It is traditionally made
by rolling up a thin sheet cake to create the log. That isn't easy, but
Stella Parks at Brave Tart has a technique that works. She created this lovely and realistic Yule log cake
with a cake recipe that contains your favorite alcohol (such as rum or
brandy), custard filling, and chocolate. The "bark" is painted-on
chocolate, and the mushrooms are meringue.
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2. CHRISTMAS RIBBON CANDY RUFFLE CAKE
Darla Wireman at Bakingdom made a fancy Christmas cake
that evokes memories of traditional Christmas ribbon candy. You can use
any kind of cake, because the real secret is in the decorating. Wireman
touches on the icing technique in a different post, and recommends this video, but to get the shape and the stripes right, you should have some experience with decorator tools.
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3. JAPANESE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
Strawberry shortcake for Christmas? It's a Christmas tradition in Japan,
where they eat Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas dinner and end the
day with a romantic date. But these aren't American-style shortcakes
with strawberries dumped over cake, they're a carefully-constructed
holiday treat. Rachael Hutchings at La Fuji Mama shows us how it's made, with sponge cake, whipped cream, and artfully-arranged strawberries.
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4. CANDY CANE CAKE
The Candy Cane Cake by Annie Shannon has all kinds of good things
inside, like applesauce and coconut milk, and peppermint flavor
throughout. Plus, it's completely vegan. Get the recipe at Meet the Shannons.
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5. POMEGRANATE CHRISTMAS CAKE
Pomegranate is a traditional flavor for Christmas in Ukraine, and it can be at your table, too, with the Pomegranate Christmas Cake. Natasha Kravchuk, the "Ukranian foodie," made hers with POM pomegranate juice used in the cake, in the frosting, and in the topping.
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6. SPARKLING CRANBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE BUNDT CAKE
Lindsay Conchar added fresh cranberries to a vanilla cake, and then
topped it with white chocolate ganache and sugar-frosted cranberries.
Get the recipe and instructions for her Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Bundt Cake at Life, Love and Sugar.
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7. GINGERSNAP SPICE CAKE
Nikki at Chef in Training laced a cake with some of the traditional
flavors of Christmas: ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, and then
iced it with delicious cream cheese frosting. Learn how to make her Gingersnap Spice Cake yourself at her site.
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8. WHIMSICAL EGGNOG CHRISTMAS CAKE
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9. BACON CHRISTMAS TREE
This one really stretches the definition of "cake," but it deserves a
mention for sheer ingenuity. The Bacon Christmas Tree is assembled from
three pounds of bacon held together with cake frosting (you can also
use cream cheese). The complete instructions for making it are at Oh, Bite It! There, you can also see how it looks with candy ornaments.
