Festive cake that's not a fruit cake?

[snowgirl1]

I've always made and decorated a fruit cake for Christmas, but the last one was still not finished by Easter! I love decorating the cake and would love to do something fun that my DD would like - can anyone suggest a festive cake recipe that would be robust enough to stand up to fondant icing etc.? I was thinking some sort of spiced cake or spiced chocolate cake if such a thing exists.

goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/dark-sticky-gingerbread-1/

I've made this the last couple of Christmases for Christmas Eve and will be making again this year. Instead of the glaze you could put fondant on just the top and pop on a sprig of holly or something. Last Christmas I also made Mary Berry's chocolate yule log, was absolutely delish!

Thanks Discopanda that looks like a nice recipe - think I'll trial it over the weekend.