25 Christmas Cake Recipes (Festive Bundts, Layer Cakes + Fruitcakes)

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A beautiful cake is one of the easiest ways to make a Christmas table feel special. Whether you want a towering showstopper or a simple Bundt to slice with coffee, there’s a holiday cake here for you.

You’ll find peppermint and chocolate layer cakes, eggnog, rum, and spice Bundts, bright cranberry and citrus cakes, traditional fruitcakes you can make ahead, and a few easy cake-mix shortcuts. Each one has a quick ingredient list and simple steps, plus a link to the original creator’s recipe for exact amounts.

Kitchen essentials for this list

• A 12-cup Bundt pan: for Bundt cakes
• 9-inch round cake pans: for layer cakes
• A tilt-head stand mixer: for buttercream and big batters
• An angled offset spatula: for smooth frosting
• A glass cake stand with dome: for serving and storing

Note: the quick ingredients and steps below are our short guide to each dish, not the creator’s exact recipe. Follow the link under each one for exact amounts and the full method.

1. Christmas Tree Cake

Spiced green cake layers in graduated sizes are stacked and piped with buttercream to look like a frosted pine tree. It’s a true holiday centerpiece.

Quick ingredients

• Flour, granulated and brown sugar, baking powder, and salt
• Cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg
• Butter, eggs, sour cream, applesauce, and oil
• Vanilla and green gel coloring
• Butter, powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla for the buttercream

How to make it

1. Mix a spiced batter, tint it two shades of green, and bake in several pan sizes.
2. Cool, level, and stack the layers from largest to smallest.
3. Carve the stack into a cone shape and crumb coat it.
4. Pipe buttercream branches from the bottom up and decorate like a tree.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, disposable piping bags, and an angled offset spatula

👉 Get the full recipe: Christmas Tree Cake at Chelsweets (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

2. Chocolate Peppermint Cake

Moist chocolate layers are filled and frosted with a silky peppermint Swiss meringue buttercream and finished with crushed candy canes. It tastes like a peppermint mocha in cake form.

Quick ingredients

• Flour, sugar, Dutch-process cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
• Oil, buttermilk, hot water or coffee, eggs, and vanilla
• Egg whites, sugar, and butter for the buttercream
• Peppermint extract
• Crushed candy canes and sprinkles

How to make it

1. Mix the thin chocolate batter and bake in three 6-inch pans.
2. Heat egg whites and sugar over simmering water until hot and smooth (160°F), then whip into a meringue and beat in the butter.
3. Flavor with peppermint, then fill and frost the cooled layers.
4. Press crushed candy canes around the cake.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, a tilt-head stand mixer, and an instant-read thermometer

👉 Get the full recipe: Chocolate Peppermint Cake at Liv for Cake (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

3. Golden Rum Cake with Pecans

A cake-mix-and-pudding Bundt bakes over a layer of pecans, then soaks up a buttery rum glaze. It’s an old-school holiday favorite for grown-ups.

Quick ingredients

• Chopped pecans or walnuts
• Yellow cake mix and instant vanilla pudding
• Eggs, oil, and water
• Dark rum
• Butter and sugar for the glaze

How to make it

1. Grease and flour a Bundt pan and scatter the nuts in the bottom.
2. Beat the cake mix, pudding, eggs, rum, water, and oil and pour over the nuts.
3. Bake, cool briefly, and turn out onto a plate.
4. Boil butter, sugar, and water, stir in the rum, and spoon the glaze over the cake so it soaks in.

Tools you need: a 12-cup Bundt pan, a 5-speed hand mixer, and a 3-quart stainless steel saucepan

👉 Get the full recipe: Golden Rum Cake with Pecans at Wholesome Farmhouse Recipes (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

4. Snowball Cake

Doctored chocolate cake layers are covered in a coconut buttercream with marshmallow fluff, then rolled in shredded coconut. It’s a homemade spin on the classic snack cake.

Quick ingredients

• Chocolate cake mix plus buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, oil, and cocoa
• Vanilla and coconut extract
• Butter, powdered sugar, cream, and marshmallow fluff
• Shredded coconut and a drop of pink coloring

How to make it

1. Whisk the add-ins, fold in the cake mix, and bake the layers.
2. Beat a coconut buttercream and fold some of it into marshmallow fluff for the filling.
3. Fill and frost the cooled cake.
4. Press tinted shredded coconut all over the outside.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, a tilt-head stand mixer, and an angled offset spatula

👉 Get the full recipe: Snowball Cake at Baking with Blondie (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

5. Cranberry Chocolate Fudge Bundt

A dark, dairy-free chocolate Bundt studded with chopped cranberries is draped with ganache and crowned with sparkly sugared cranberries. It looks like a holiday wreath.

Quick ingredients

• Fresh cranberries, chopped and tossed in cocoa
• Flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
• Plant milk, oil, vinegar, and almond extract
• Hot coffee
• Vegan chocolate and coconut milk for the ganache
• Sugar and whole cranberries for sugared berries

How to make it

1. Whisk the dry ingredients, then add the milk, oil, vinegar, extract, and coffee.
2. Fold in the cocoa-coated cranberries and bake in a well-greased Bundt pan.
3. Melt the chocolate with coconut milk for a smooth ganache.
4. Pour over the cooled cake and top with sugared cranberries.

Tools you need: a 12-cup Bundt pan, a balloon whisk, and a wire cooling rack

👉 Get the full recipe: Cranberry Chocolate Fudge Bundt at Crumbs & Caramel (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

6. Old-Fashioned Gumdrop Cake

A tender, applesauce-spiced Bundt cake is packed with colorful gumdrops, sultanas, and walnuts. Every slice looks like stained glass, and it keeps well for days.

Quick ingredients

• Sultana raisins, soaked
• Flour, baking powder, and cinnamon
• Butter, sugar, and eggs
• Applesauce and baking soda dissolved in hot water
• Gumdrops (no black ones)
• Chopped walnuts

How to make it

1. Soak and dry the raisins, then toss them with the gumdrops and walnuts.
2. Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs, applesauce, and soda water, then add the flour mix.
3. Fold in the gumdrop mixture and spoon into a greased Bundt pan.
4. Bake low and slow until a skewer comes out clean, then cool fully before slicing.

Tools you need: a 12-cup Bundt pan, a tilt-head stand mixer, and an 8-inch chef’s knife

👉 Get the full recipe: Old-Fashioned Gumdrop Cake at Seasons and Suppers (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

7. Christmas Explosion Cake

Red and white vanilla layers are filled with peppermint cream cheese buttercream and showered with candy canes, red and white candies, and holiday sprinkles. Kids go wild for it.

Quick ingredients

• Flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
• Butter, sugar, eggs, egg whites, and vanilla
• Buttermilk, milk, and red food coloring
• Butter, cream cheese, peppermint extract, powdered sugar, and cream
• Holiday sprinkles, crushed candy canes, and red and white candies

How to make it

1. Make a vanilla batter, tint half of it red, and bake thin layers.
2. Beat a peppermint cream cheese buttercream.
3. Stack alternating red and white layers with frosting and coat the outside.
4. Press sprinkles and candies all over and keep the cake refrigerated.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, a tilt-head stand mixer, and an angled offset spatula

👉 Get the full recipe: Christmas Explosion Cake at Aberdeen's Kitchen (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

8. Pistachio Bundt Cake

Pistachio pudding mix and heavy cream make this pound-style Bundt cake rich, tender, and naturally festive green. A drizzle of glaze and chopped pistachios finish it off.

Quick ingredients

• Butter and sugar
• Eggs and salt
• Instant pistachio pudding mix
• Flour and heavy cream
• Vanilla and chopped unsalted pistachios
• Powdered sugar and milk for the glaze

How to make it

1. Cream the butter and sugar and beat in the eggs one at a time.
2. Add the pudding mix and flour in turns with the cream, then fold in pistachios.
3. Bake low and slow in a greased and floured Bundt pan, tenting with foil partway.
4. Cool, glaze, and sprinkle with more pistachios.

Tools you need: a 12-cup Bundt pan, a tilt-head stand mixer, and heavy-duty aluminum foil

👉 Get the full recipe: Pistachio Bundt Cake at Spicedblog (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

9. Sticky Walnut Cake with Orange Syrup

Ground walnuts and semolina make a moist, vegan cake that soaks up a warm orange-lemon syrup. Whole nuts and berries on top make it look festive.

Quick ingredients

• Flax eggs
• Coconut cream and apple cider vinegar
• Ground walnuts and semolina
• Coconut oil, sugar, and citrus zest
• Baking powder
• Agave, orange juice, and lemon juice for the syrup

How to make it

1. Beat the flax eggs and sugar until frothy, then mix in the remaining batter ingredients.
2. Spread in an 8-inch cake pan and bake until golden.
3. Cool, then poke holes all over with a skewer.
4. Simmer the syrup, scatter nuts on the cake, and pour the hot syrup over to soak in.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, a Microplane zester, and a 3-quart stainless steel saucepan

👉 Get the full recipe: Sticky Walnut Cake with Orange Syrup at The Greedy Vegan (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

10. Cranberry Bliss Cupcakes

Orange-scented buttermilk cupcakes hide a spoonful of homemade cranberry filling under a fluffy orange buttercream. They taste like the coffee shop bar in cupcake form.

Quick ingredients

• Flour, baking powder, salt, and orange zest
• Butter, sugar, and eggs
• Buttermilk
• Fresh cranberries, water, sugar, and cornstarch for the filling
• Butter, powdered sugar, orange extract, and cream for the frosting

How to make it

1. Mix the zesty batter, alternating the flour and buttermilk, and bake in baking cups.
2. Simmer the cranberry filling until thick, then cool.
3. Core the cupcakes and fill with cranberry.
4. Pipe orange buttercream on top.

Tools you need: a 12-cup muffin pan, disposable piping bags, and a Microplane zester

👉 Get the full recipe: Cranberry Bliss Cupcakes at Cake by Courtney (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

11. Orange Kiss Me Cake

A whole ground orange, raisins, and walnuts go into this vintage sheet cake, which is soaked with orange juice and finished with cinnamon-sugar walnuts. It’s even better the next day.

Quick ingredients

• A whole orange, juiced and the rest ground
• Raisins and walnuts
• Flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt
• Butter, evaporated milk, water, and eggs
• Sugar, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts for the topping

How to make it

1. Juice the orange, then grind the peel and pulp with the raisins and walnuts.
2. Beat the batter, stir in the ground fruit, and bake in a 9×13 pan.
3. Prick the warm cake and pour the orange juice over it.
4. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar walnuts.

Tools you need: a 14-cup food processor, a 9×13-inch metal baking pan, and a 5-speed hand mixer

👉 Get the full recipe: Orange Kiss Me Cake at The Midnight Baker (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

12. Gluten-Free Cranberry Coffee Cake

Orange-zested sour cream cake is swirled with homemade cranberry sauce and topped with cinnamon crumbs. It’s gluten-free, but you’d never guess.

Quick ingredients

• Fresh cranberries, sugar, water, and orange for the sauce
• Melted butter, gluten-free flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon for the crumbs
• Butter, sugar, and orange zest
• Eggs and vanilla
• Gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
• Sour cream

How to make it

1. Make the cranberry sauce and let it cool.
2. Rub orange zest into the sugar, cream with butter, and beat in eggs, vanilla, dry ingredients, and sour cream.
3. Layer batter and cranberry sauce in a lined 8×8 pan.
4. Top with the crumb mixture and bake until set.

Tools you need: an 8-inch square baking pan, a Microplane zester, and parchment paper

👉 Get the full recipe: Gluten-Free Cranberry Coffee Cake at Sweets & Thank You (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

13. Eggless Christmas Fruit Cake

Soaked dried fruit, mixed peel, cherries, and nuts fill a dark, molasses-spiced cake made without eggs. Feed it with a little rum or juice for a richer flavor.

Quick ingredients

• Dried fruit soaked in rum, brandy, or orange juice
• Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
• Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger
• Milk soured with cider vinegar
• Butter, dark brown sugar, molasses, and vanilla
• Mixed peel, glacé cherries, and chopped nuts

How to make it

1. Soak the fruit ahead of time.
2. Cream the butter and sugar with molasses, then add the flour and soured milk in turns.
3. Fold in the fruit, peel, cherries, and nuts and spoon into a lined springform pan.
4. Bake slowly until a skewer comes out clean, then cool and ice or feed as desired.

Tools you need: a 9-inch springform pan, parchment paper, and a tilt-head stand mixer

👉 Get the full recipe: Eggless Christmas Fruit Cake at Mommy's Home Cooking (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

14. Spiced Eggnog Cupcakes

Small-batch cupcakes flavored with eggnog, nutmeg, and rum extract are topped with a swirl of eggnog buttercream. They’re festive without the fuss of a layer cake.

Quick ingredients

• Butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and rum extract
• Flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon
• Eggnog
• Butter, powdered sugar, nutmeg, and more eggnog for the frosting

How to make it

1. Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs and extracts.
2. Add the dry ingredients and eggnog in turns.
3. Fill lined cups two-thirds full and bake until a tester shows a few moist crumbs.
4. Cool and pipe with eggnog buttercream.

Tools you need: a 12-cup muffin pan, disposable piping bags, and a medium cookie scoop

👉 Get the full recipe: Spiced Eggnog Cupcakes at Baked by Rachel (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

15. Orange Chocolate Marble Bundt

Orange and cocoa batters are swirled in a Bundt pan and the cake gets a glossy dark chocolate glaze with a splash of orange liqueur. Dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks make it look like a wreath.

Quick ingredients

• Eggs and cane sugar
• Vegetable oil, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla
• Flour, baking powder, and salt
• Unsweetened cocoa
• Dark chocolate and heavy cream for the glaze
• Orange liqueur (optional)

How to make it

1. Beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy, then add the oil, zest, juice, and vanilla, and fold in the flour.
2. Split the batter and stir cocoa into half.
3. Spoon both batters into a greased Bundt pan, swirl, and bake.
4. Cool and pour warm chocolate glaze over the top.

Tools you need: a 12-cup Bundt pan, a 5-speed hand mixer, and a Microplane zester

👉 Get the full recipe: Orange Chocolate Marble Bundt at SugarLoveSpices (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

16. Rich Eggnog Bundt Cake

A buttery from-scratch Bundt is made with full-fat eggnog, nutmeg, and a splash of dark rum, then finished with a rum-scented eggnog glaze. It’s dense, tender, and very festive.

Quick ingredients

• Cake flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg
• Sugar and butter
• Eggs, vanilla, and dark rum
• Eggnog and lemon juice
• Powdered sugar, rum extract, and more eggnog for the glaze

How to make it

1. Brush the Bundt pan with a butter-flour paste.
2. Cream the butter and sugar well, then add the eggs one at a time and the rum and vanilla.
3. Add the dry ingredients in turns with the eggnog mixture and bake.
4. Cool completely, then drizzle with eggnog glaze.

Tools you need: a 12-cup Bundt pan, a tilt-head stand mixer, and a silicone pastry brush

👉 Get the full recipe: Rich Eggnog Bundt Cake at Bakes by Brown Sugar (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

17. Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cake

Chocolate layers flavored with hot cocoa mix are frosted with peppermint buttercream, dripped with ganache, and topped with marshmallows and candy canes. It’s a mug of cocoa in cake form.

Quick ingredients

• Hot cocoa powder whisked into milk
• Flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
• Oil, eggs, vanilla, and hot water
• Butter, powdered sugar, peppermint extract, and milk for the buttercream
• Chocolate chips and cream for the ganache
• Marshmallow creme, mini marshmallows, and crushed candy canes

How to make it

1. Mix the cocoa milk into a thin chocolate batter and bake the layers.
2. Beat a peppermint buttercream, saving some for a marshmallow filling.
3. Fill and frost the cake, then pour on a chocolate drip.
4. Top with mini marshmallows and crushed candy canes.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, a tilt-head stand mixer, and an angled offset spatula

👉 Get the full recipe: Peppermint Hot Cocoa Cake at Sugar & Sparrow (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

18. Holiday Spice Cake with Cinnamon Frosting

Spice cake layers are stacked with a cinnamon buttercream, drizzled with caramel, and topped with sugared cranberries. Using boxed mix keeps it easy for a busy week.

Quick ingredients

• Spice cake mix, eggs, oil, and water
• Butter, powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and cream for the frosting
• Caramel syrup
• Fresh cranberries, sugar, and water for sugared cranberries

How to make it

1. Bake the spice cake in three 9-inch pans and cool completely.
2. Beat a fluffy cinnamon frosting.
3. Stack and frost the layers, then drizzle with caramel.
4. Roll simmered cranberries in sugar, dry, and arrange on top.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, a tilt-head stand mixer, and disposable piping bags

👉 Get the full recipe: Holiday Spice Cake with Cinnamon Frosting at Simplistically Living (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

19. Chocolate Cherry Fudge Bundt Cake

Devil’s food cake mix, cherry pie filling, and chocolate chips make a super moist Bundt that’s finished with a glossy chocolate glaze. It’s a five-minute mix with big holiday flavor.

Quick ingredients

• Devil’s food cake mix
• Oil, eggs, and water
• Cherry pie filling
• Chocolate chips
• Cream, corn syrup, and semisweet chocolate for the glaze

How to make it

1. Beat the cake mix, oil, eggs, and water.
2. Stir in the pie filling and chocolate chips and pour into a well-greased Bundt pan.
3. Bake, cool a little, and turn out.
4. Heat the cream and corn syrup, stir in the chocolate, and drizzle over the cooled cake.

Tools you need: a 12-cup Bundt pan, a 5-speed hand mixer, and a 3-quart stainless steel saucepan

👉 Get the full recipe: Chocolate Cherry Fudge Bundt Cake at Cooking With Carlee (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

20. Easy Vegan Pomegranate Cake

A soft vanilla cake made with vegan butter and applesauce is topped with ruby pomegranate arils and sparkling sugar. It’s simple, pretty, and bright on a holiday table.

Quick ingredients

• Cake flour, baking powder, and salt
• Vegan butter and cane sugar
• Applesauce and plant milk
• Vanilla
• Pomegranate arils, patted dry
• Sparkling sugar

How to make it

1. Seed the pomegranate and dry the arils on a towel.
2. Beat the vegan butter and sugar, then mix in the applesauce, milk, vanilla, and dry ingredients.
3. Spread in a lined pan and press arils lightly into the top.
4. Bake hot briefly, then lower the heat and bake until a tester comes out clean.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, a 5-speed hand mixer, and parchment paper

👉 Get the full recipe: Easy Vegan Pomegranate Cake at The Simple Sprinkle (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

21. Cranberry Orange Upside-Down Cake

Fresh cranberries caramelize in butter and sugar in the bottom of the pan, then get flipped onto an orange-scented butter cake. The glossy red top is gorgeous.

Quick ingredients

• Flour, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt
• Butter and sugar, divided
• Orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla
• Eggs and whole milk
• Fresh cranberries

How to make it

1. Melt butter in a 9-inch pan, whisk in sugar and vanilla, and add the cranberries.
2. Beat the butter, sugar, zest, and vanilla, then the eggs.
3. Add the dry ingredients with the milk and juice and spread over the cranberries.
4. Bake, rest briefly, and invert onto a plate while warm.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, a Microplane zester, and a 5-speed hand mixer

👉 Get the full recipe: Cranberry Orange Upside-Down Cake at Pook's Pantry (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

22. Rich Fruit Christmas Cake

This traditional British Christmas cake is dense with brandy-soaked currants, sultanas, raisins, and cherries, plus ground almonds and black treacle. Bake it ahead and feed it until Christmas.

Quick ingredients

• Currants, sultanas, raisins, and glacé cherries
• Orange zest and juice
• Brandy, rum, or whiskey
• Self-raising flour, mixed spice, and salt
• Cold butter, ground almonds, and dark brown sugar
• Eggs and black treacle

How to make it

1. Soak the fruit overnight in brandy and orange.
2. Rub the butter into the flour and spice, then stir in the sugar and almonds.
3. Mix in the fruit, eggs, and treacle and spoon into a double-lined deep tin.
4. Bake low and slow until a skewer comes out clean, then wrap and store.

Tools you need: a 9-inch springform pan, parchment paper, and a digital kitchen scale

👉 Get the full recipe: Rich Fruit Christmas Cake at Traditional Home Baking (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

23. Mint Chocolate Bundt Cake

A chocolate yogurt Bundt hides a ribbon of green mint cheesecake inside, all draped with chocolate ganache. It’s a showstopper slice for mint lovers.

Quick ingredients

• Cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
• Eggs, sugar, peppermint extract, oil, and Greek yogurt
• Cream cheese, sugar, an egg, peppermint, and flour
• Green food coloring
• Chocolate and heavy cream for the ganache

How to make it

1. Whisk the chocolate batter and pour half into a greased Bundt pan.
2. Mix the mint cheesecake layer, tint it green, and spoon it over the batter.
3. Add the rest of the batter and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Cool, then pour warm ganache over the top. Refrigerate leftovers.

Tools you need: a 12-cup Bundt pan, a balloon whisk, and a wire cooling rack

👉 Get the full recipe: Mint Chocolate Bundt Cake at Simply Bake (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

24. Hazelnut Nutcracker Cake

Brown sugar spice layers are filled with a hazelnut praline buttercream and topped with crunchy candied hazelnuts. It’s a sophisticated, nutty Christmas cake.

Quick ingredients

• Flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg
• Butter, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla
• Eggs, an egg yolk, oil, and milk
• Sugar, water, cream of tartar, and toasted hazelnuts for praline
• Egg whites, sugar, and butter for Swiss meringue buttercream

How to make it

1. Bake three spiced brown sugar layers.
2. Cook sugar to amber, stir in hazelnuts, and spread to harden. Careful, hot sugar burns.
3. Grind some praline into powder and beat it into Swiss meringue buttercream.
4. Fill and frost the cake and top with praline pieces.

Tools you need: 9-inch round cake pans, a tilt-head stand mixer, and a silicone baking mat

👉 Get the full recipe: Hazelnut Nutcracker Cake at The Cake Blog (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

25. Peppermint Mocha Cake

A chocolate espresso snack cake is soaked with a sweet coffee milk, then topped with a white chocolate peppermint mascarpone frosting. It’s a coffee-shop favorite you can make at home.

Quick ingredients

• Flour, Dutch-process cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
• Butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and peppermint extract
• Buttermilk and hot coffee
• Espresso, milk, condensed milk, and cocoa for the soak
• Butter, mascarpone, white chocolate, peppermint, and powdered sugar for the frosting

How to make it

1. Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs and extracts, then add the dry ingredients, buttermilk, and coffee.
2. Bake in a lined 9×9 pan.
3. Poke the warm cake and pour the mocha soak over.
4. Chill, then spread with the white chocolate mascarpone frosting. Keep refrigerated.

Tools you need: an 8-inch square baking pan, a 5-speed hand mixer, and an angled offset spatula

👉 Get the full recipe: Peppermint Mocha Cake at In Bloom Bakery (exact amounts, full method, and the creator’s tips)

FAQ

Which Christmas cakes can I make ahead?

Fruitcakes are made weeks ahead and get better with time. Bundt cakes like rum, eggnog, gumdrop, and pistachio keep 3 to 4 days well wrapped. Layer cakes can be baked, wrapped, and frozen, then frosted the day before.

Can I freeze cake layers?

Yes. Cool them completely, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and then foil, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the wrapping so they stay moist.

How do I keep a Bundt cake from sticking?

Grease every crevice with soft butter or baking spray, dust with flour (or cocoa for chocolate cakes), and let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning it out.

Do frosted Christmas cakes need to be refrigerated?

Cakes with cream cheese frosting, mascarpone, whipped cream, or a cheesecake layer should be refrigerated. Buttercream cakes are fine at cool room temperature for a day, then go in the fridge.

What is a traditional Christmas cake?

In the UK and Ireland, it’s a rich fruitcake packed with dried fruit soaked in brandy or rum, baked weeks ahead and ‘fed’ with more spirits until Christmas.

Whichever cake you choose, it’s sure to be the star of the holiday table. Want more Christmas baking? Browse our Christmas cookie recipes, find more showpieces in our Christmas desserts roundup, or make a batch of easy peppermint bark for gifting.

You might also like: sugared cranberries, homemade eggnog, and no-bake Christmas treats.