Top 5 Holiday Cakes That Will Make Christmas Deliciously Merry and Bright
We’re less than a week away from Christmas. And although there are still many of us who are rushing to do some last minute shopping or checking on the mail each day for their gifts to be delivered, there’s also the big holiday meal that happens on December 25.
We’ve already gotten you covered on how to be the best host or crafty decorator. And we’ve also shared some tips on how to stay sane while the family is over. But what if you’re the guest who doesn’t know what to bring to the soiree?
Well, who doesn’t like something sweet? We’ve already covered the cookie department, so we thought it’d be also good to offer up some solid cake recipes that will be a great end to the Christmas meal. We cover traditional recipes as well as some quirky contemporary ones. Check out our Top 5 recipes below.
5.) Festive Bundt Cake
If you’re looking for some no fuss baking, Nigella Lawson has a full-proof recipe for a cider and five-spice bundt cake. You’ll just need to incorporate all your wet ingredients, including the brown sugar, treacle (or what the British call molasses) and your favorite bottle of hard cider. Then after doing the same with the dry ingredients, put it all together and gently mix them together.
Next, take a greased bundt pan like this one. You can also have fun with the bundt style or shape like this rose tin or make mini ones with this pan. Bake in the oven at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes and serve.
4.) Croquembouche
If you’re looking for something very elaborate and makes you look like you’ve been slaving in the kitchen all day, maybe the croquembouche is the right dessert for you.
The traditional French dessert is made up a tower of choux pastry balls (the doughy stuff in cream puffs) and caramel sugar strands. The higher you pile these dough balls, the more impressed your loved ones will be.
Duff Goldman walks you through the process and shows you that no matter how elaborate it looks, you can make it, too. Just make sure that you’ve got piping bags to make the balls and their fillings!
3.) Bûche de Noël
https://youtu.be/FUT5M3HQBcA
Don’t let the name of this dessert intimidate you. The bûche de Noël has also been known as the yule log or Swiss roll. But let’s be real — how impressive will you sound when you tell your relatives that you made this bûche de Noël from scratch?
The cake is always a hit during the holidays and has been traditionally served in Belgium, France, Switzerland and Quebec. Edd Kimber has a recipe that will make you feel like you can whip up this dessert other times throughout the year.
Although he makes the sponge cake from scratch, he does give us a hack by using already whipped cream mixed with dark chocolate. Of course, you can make your own whipped cream by using one of these fun whisks. Edd also gives us another tip when it comes to rolling it up. He suggests that we pre-roll the cake with a tea towel right after it comes out of the oven. As it cools, the cake will start to take on the rolled up shape and won’t break when we add the cream inside. Once it’s rolled, you can sprinkle powdered sugar all over it. Or you can go wild and ice it up to look like an actual piece of wood.
2.) Holiday Eggnog Cake
Eggnog has become a fixture during the holidays. Although some people can guzzle glass after glass, others can’t really handle the frothy creaminess. If the latter is the case but you still love the flavor, why not turn that beverage into a cake? Tatyana’s Everyday Food has a great simple recipe on how to put this multi-layered cake together.
To make the assembly much easier, you can use a rotating cake stand while you spread out the cream between the cake layers, as well as ice the cake at the end. Tatyana also uses a squeeze bottle like this to make sure each cake layer is soaked with eggnog. If you want to add some more holiday flair, Tatyana shows you how to make snowflakes using white chocolate melts.
1.) Gingerbread Mega Cake
While each of these recipes are very tasty, they do look a little plain at the table. If you’re looking for something that’s full of color or has the WOW factor, you can bake the Gingerbread Mega Cake by How to Cake It.
Aside from making gingerbread cake from scratch, you’ll also learn how to make a vibrant cranberry buttercream that will go into each layer, which is made with fresh cranberries that you’ll cook down and whiz in a food processor. The video above will show you how to ice the cake and what fun gingerbread decorations you can make and use for the cake. By the end of it all, you’ll have a show stopping dessert that’ll be great as a table centerpiece (and equally delicious). After all the photos, you’ll be able to enjoy its gingerbread-y goodness.
What’s your favorite dessert to make for the holidays? Let us know in the comments below!
