Alternative Christmas cakes

[FondantFancy66]

Hi,

I'm just planning my Christmas baking. I'm a fruit cake hater, as are a few others in the family. Any ideas for a non-fruit festive cake? It's just the currant/raisin/sultana family I hate, other dried fruits are ok. I was thinking something gingery and spicy. Not too tricky, as although I like baking, I'm not patient enough for anything too complicated. This is the first year we'll be properly hosting Christmas so I want to impress the parents who normally do all the work!

Thanks.

[desperatelyseekingamovingdate]

Hi i am making nutella cheesecake by nigella for pudding on xmas day and buying a small christmas pud for those that eat it. Thats not really baking however.

Yule log is another festive cake but no fruit. Sorry cakes arent really my thing, i am sure someone more proficient will be along shortly.

[8dayweek]

I was thinking of doing Nigella's Guinness cake as an Xmas cake alternative. It's quite dense so similar in a way...just not sure whether to ice (cream cheese) it or not.

[Pointlessfan]

Mary Berry's spiced whole orange cake is delicious and takes about 5 mins to make in the food processor.

[IamSantaClaus]

I was thinking of just making a carrot cake all iced and decorated . Nobody in my house really likes Christmas cake and I think the ginger and cinnamon is quite Christmassy.

Guinness cake is also lovely ^^

[Sgtmajormummy]

This is not cooking but it is quite theatrical.

Buy an Italian Pandoro -cone shaped brioche, no dried fruit- and cut it horizontally into 3cm slices. Then sandwich it back together with a cream made of ricotta, icing sugar and a touch of brandy if you like. I add mixed peel but it's not obligatory. As you put it back together, twist the slices so it looks like a Christmas tree, and finish off with a dusting of icing sugar.

Well impressive!

[FondantFancy66]

They all sound lovely. I'm particularly drawn to the idea of a Guinness cake. And the Pandoro looks amazing - might keep that in mind for a fun messy Christmas activity for the children in the future!

Carrot cake would be lovely, but I'm so lazy and can't be arsed grating the carrots. Maybe somebody will bring me a posh food processor for Christmas so this is no longer a problem!

[123Jump]

I was going to suggest Mary Berry's spiced orange cake too, it looks lovely.
I'm thinking of doing her lemon drizzle tray bake and using festive stencils/icing sugar sprinkled on top. No fruit cake fans here either.

[MARGUERITE18]

Apricot cake, soak apricots in syrup before cooking and put a layer of apricot jam inbetween layers, top with marzipan :)

Fig Roulade thing

Chocolate Chestnut layer cake

Dutch apple cake

Stem ginger cake

Salted caramel or sticky toffee ginger sponge

Almond cinnamon cake