Picking the right Christmas cake can be challenging. Hosting a big gathering means accommodating everyone’s preferences, and that inevitably turns into a balancing act. If you’re the host, how do you make sure you have something for the picky eaters, allergen-sensitive folks, stick-in-the-mud classic dessert purists, and even something you yourself like, too? We have some recommendations for Christmas cakes, from the most over the top showstoppers to easy no-bake recipes.
These Christmas Cakes Can Sweeten Your Table This Year
Campari Olive Oil Cake
Campari is the star the show in this recipe, inspired by legendary food writer Melissa Clark of NYT Cooking. We love Italian cooking at TABLE, and Campari and olive oil are two unsung heroes of Italian cuisine. They’re background elements in many dishes and cocktails that give them their character, but they’re the base that gives them the delicious and complex flavor.
Spiced Cherry Upside Down Cake
This festive upside-down down cake requires very little technique other than the maneuver of flipping it over at the end,. It uses simple grocery store ingredients like frozen cherries. Turn the flip into a fun group activity with family or friends, if you’re baking together! You can also mix tart and sweet frozen cherries to bring out a different, more complex flavor in the cake.
Stanley Tucci-Inspired by Delizia al Limone Cake
Warning: This cake is not for the faint of heart. It is a time investment. It will create a mess in your kitchen. But the result is so worth it. Limoncello syrup, limoncello buttercream, vanilla pastry cream, and lemon cream collide for a life-changing-ly zesty dessert. The Delizia al Limone cake originates on the Amalfi coast, but it’s usually smaller cakes, not a full cake. We love a challenge, so we combined it into one. For those who want to brave it, the result is delicious.
Easy Twix Cold Cake
For those of us who aren’t making that Delizia al Limone cake, here’s its polar opposite: a no-bake cake with candy you can get from the grocery store. Just mix it up, stick it in the freezer for a few hours, and you have a delicious chocolate cake. Sure, it’s not winning The Great British Bake-Off anytime soon, but it’s pretty damned good.
Melted Snowmen Cake Pops
Want something a little different for a dessert tray? Rather than a whole cake, try these Melted Snowman Cake Pops. These adorable cake pops are eye-catching, and the snowman shape is a fun project to do with family or friends to get everybody in the kitchen. Maybe get everyone to make a snowman based on their own personality? Or make snowmen of how they see other people at the party? Actually, never mind, that could end badly.
Gluten-Free Whole Grain Apple Cider Layer Cake
If you have a guest who doesn’t eat gluten, this Apple Cider Layer Cake is as delicious as any cake with wheat. There are a ton of opportunities to have fun with the garnish here, too, as you can see from the pine cones, chocolate shavings, and macarons we used. Put your own spin on it with garnishes you like!
Story by Emma Riva
Subscribe to TABLE Magazine‘s print edition
