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Christmas Cakes
 British-Style Christmas Cake © Denzil Green Christmas Cakes can be either light or dark cakes with fruit in them that may or may not be iced or glazed.
Most British Christmas Cakes are first covered in marzipan, and then iced with Royal Icing on top of that. Most North American cakes tend to be just left plain.
Christmas Cakes are a lot of work, with a lot of chopping and some very heavy stirring to be got through.
Australians devised a method of boiling the fruit first before baking the cake. Given that Christmas comes at high summer in Australia, women wanted to reduce the amount of time the oven was on during sweltering temperatures.
During the Second World War in Britain, many resourceful people made their Christmas Cakes with carrots to sweeten them, as sugar was of course rationed.
Many other cultures also make Christmas cakes, but if it's anything other than a North American or British style cake, it will usually be described as such: e.g. "German" Christmas Cake, etc.
History
Christmas Cakes are quite recent. Up until the end of the 1800s, puddings were made for Christmas, and the cakes were made for Twelfth Night. The transition to the cakes being for Christmas began sometime around 1870 or 1880.
See Also
Christmas Pudding, Marzipan, Pet No-Bake Festive Fruitcake, Royal Icing, Twelfth Night Cake
Other entries for Cakes
Aboukir, Alaska Florida, Apple Potato Cake, Baked Alaska, Banbury Cakes, Boston Cream Pie, Boston Favorite Cake, Cheesecake, Chocolate Cake, Christmas Cakes, Clafoutis, Coconut Squares, Coffee Cake, Cupcakes, Eccles Cakes, English Madelines, Fairy Cakes, Flan, Frosting, Genoa Bread, Genoa Cake, Jaffa Cakes, Kugelhopf Cakes, Lamingtons, Marzipan Potatoes, Melton Hunt Cake, Mustacae, Napolitain Cakes, Pasta Margherita, Pasta Paradiso, Pet No-Bake Festive Fruitcake, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, Pound Cake, Sheath Cakes, Sheet Cakes, Simnel Cake, Slab Cake, Sponge Cakes, Tipsy Parson, Torte, Tranche Napolitaine, Twelfth Night Cake, Twinkies, Upside-Down Cakes, Whirlin Cakes, Yule Log
Other entries for Desserts
Aboukir Almonds, Angel Delight, Applesauce, Bananas Foster, Bangbelly, Belgian Waffles, Bhapa Doi, Bizcocho Borracho, Blancmange, Cassata Gelata, Cassata, Cassatelle di Ricotta, Cherries Jubilee, Chiboust Cream, Compote, Cookies, Cream Tea, Crème d'amandes, Crème Plombières, Cumberland Rum Butter, Custard, Doughnuts, Dream Topping, Dream Whip, Dutch Crunch Topping, Eton Mess, French Toast, Fürst-Pückler-Eis, Halvah, Ice Cream Cones, Marshmallows, Meringue Italienne, Meringue Powder, Meringue, Mishti Doi, Moonpies, Nanaimo Bars, Nun's Tummies, Orange à la Norvegienne, Pastry Cream, Pies & Tarts, Poor Knights of Windsor, Poutine au Pain, Poutine à Trou, Puddings, Spumoni, Syllabub, Timbale Brillat-Savarin, Tiramisù, Tortoni, Trifle, Vark, Waffles, Wagashi, Warabi Mochi, Zuccotto
Other entries for Dishes
Dumplings, Salads, Savoury Dishes
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