<whispers> which shop-bought christmas cake is the least awful?

[Kveta]

I know, I know, I should be making one having grown and dried the fruit myself, but have grim morning sickness, and a DH who doesn't particularly like fruit cake, so can't be arsed to cook one just for me and a toddler who will probably just pick the icing off.

However, I have never bought one before, and wondered which, if any, were worth forking out cash for? I have Tesco, Sainsburys, M+S and Waitrose local to me, but am not averse to travel for a nice cake :o

thanks :)

If you're in Teesside/North Yorks/Durham give me £15 for our local baby hospice and one will appear.

i was going to say very similar DrSeuss

i'm a bit further south and will do the same

DrSeuss; I am! Where are you selling them them for / from?

No, but I'm making a tonne of them as presents for friends and family and the shove-it-all-in nature of them makes it easy to just add another. Where are you? I'm a few miles from the Transporter Bridge and would love you to donate to Zoe's Place, Middlesbrough.

So, message me the details. Just a few queries-
Booze in the mix?
Nuts?
Marzipan?
Icing or nuts on top?
Booze in the cake after cooking?
Mixed peel?
8" or 11"?
White ready roll or royal icing made with dried egg white which is preggers safe?

ah, am in SE/E england, sadly (nearer cambridge). but that sounds like a bargain!! drat, it's too late to find a new job and move north just for a yummy christmas cake, isn't it?! :o

I just buy the family panettone which we all love.

A friends husband used to work in the bakery which supplied the major supermarkets. Apparently Aldi orders far superior ingredients for their cakes than the other shops including M&S. However Aldi's xmas cake was half the price of M&S's!

I had a taster of Costco's Christmas Cake one year and it was fab. I've also found a lot of Aldi/Lidl Christmas stuff is better than the more expensive ranges, tho not had the cake - but Nicola10 seems to confirm that.

I've found the Iceland one is the nicest.

thanks all - I will be getting pannetone as well, but need a proper fruit cake too! :o maybe I need to explore some local towns, as I clearly live in a far too middle class area, as we don't have Aldi, Lidl, Iceland, or Costco near us!

I like Aldi cake the best they have a Dundee cake with nuts on top that is just gorgeous. I daren't buy one yet because I'll just eat it all and have to go buy another one. They do a variety of shapes and sizes and they're all nice.