Christmas Cakes, Cookies & Confections

The chocolate drip cake has been one of the biggest cake hits of this year and its fun, whimsical look has made its way into christmas cake decorating this season too.

Marianne Stewart created the sublime Black Forest Cherry cake above left (gluten free and dairy free), as featured in Cakes & Sugarcraft. Peggy Porschen’s pastel perfection chocolate drip cake above right is one of the many fabulous confections in her Crystal and Candy holiday collection this year.

Pastels continue to be the chic colour choice for Christmas cake decorating this year, including Makiko Searle’s stunning christmas bauble cakes below, or temari cakes as they are known in their country of origin, Japan.

Woodland foliage, berries, deer and rustic themes also feature heavily in some of the most beautiful holiday cake designs below, and we even have a seasonal take on another of this year’s huge cake trends, the buttercream wreath cake, to finish from Alice Cakes.

(Where tutorials are mentioned below, you’ll find the links to the full tutorial at the end of this feature.)

Christmas bauble cake or temari cakes by Maki's Cakes — Exquisite Christmas bauble cakes or temari cakes with lace trimmings by Maki’s Cakes

Christmas cookies by Peggy Porschen left and Natasha Collins right via Cakes and Sugarcraft — Pretty pasteel Christmas cookies by Peggy Porschen (left) and Christmas stocking cookies decorated with printed wafer paper and non pareils by Natasha Collins (right) via Cakes and Sugarcraft

A fun themed melting snowman cake tutorial by Juniper Cakery left, christmas bauble cookies by Peggy Porschen right — Melting snowman cake tutorial by Juniper Cakery left, and novelty christmas bauble cookies by Peggy Porschen right

Novelty christmas cakes by Natasha Collins left and Mark Tilling right via Cakes and Sugarcraft — Natasha Collins of Nevi Pie Cakes makes beautifully artistic use of printed wafer paper to decorate her novelty Christmas cake right, with gingerbread men, candy canes and christmas trees making a cute composition on this naked cake by Mark Tilling left (via Cakes & Sugarcraft)

Rudolph reindeer cake pops tutorial from Juniper Cakery left, rustic chocolate christmas cake by Tortasticarnica right

Rustic christmas cake by De La Rosa Cupcakes — Rustic christmas cake by De La Rosa Cupcakes and pretty, feative packaging too

Naked christmas cake by Erica O Brien, Brooke Allison Photography

Christmas Tree Cupcakes tutorial by Juniper Cakery left, stag's head cake by Miso Bakes right — Christmas Tree Cupcakes tutorial by Juniper Cakery left, stag’s head cake by Miso Bakes right

Rustic christmas cake with pinecones and foliage lef via Klitze Kleines blog left, reinder cake by Jelly Cake right — Rustic christmas cake with pine cones and foliage left via Klitze Kleines blog left, reinder cake by Jelly Cake right

Sparkling cranberry christmas cake by Style Sweet left, stag's head cake by Zoe Burmester via Cakes and Sugarcraft Magazine — Sparkling cranberry christmas cake by Style Sweet left, stag’s head cake by Zoe Burmester of Darcey Oliver Cake Couture via Cakes and Sugarcraft

Christmas candle cake by Jeanne Winslow left, Narnia cake by Candytuft Cakes right — Christmas candle cake by Jeanne Winslow left, and a Chronicles of Narnia inspired cake by Candytuft Cakes right

Knit sweater cake by Tran Lin left, reindeer cake right by Cakes 2 Kreate — A wonderfully textured knit sweater cake by Tran Lin left, and an elegant antique style cake right with festive deer by Cakes 2 Kreate

gingerbread house cake by Zoe Clark left, via Pinterest uncredited right — A fun and fantastic gingerbread house cake by Zoe Clark left, and a magnificent gingerbread construction via Pinterest uncredited right

Christmas tree cookie tutorial by Sugarbelle, chistmas mitts cookies by Erica O'Brien right — Christmas tree cookie tutorial by Sweet Sugarbelle, christmas mitts cookies by Erica O’Brien right

Malteser christmas pudding by Two Little Cats Bakery, elf cupcake tutorial by Lynlee North Beckett

Christmas cake decorating ideas via Woman's Way left, BBC Good Food right — Christmas cake decorating ideas via Woman’s Way left, BBC Good Food right

Christmas cookies by The Wildflower Bakery — Novel Christmas cookies by The Wildflower Bakery

Gingerbread house tutorial by Juniper Cakery — Gingerbread house tutorial by Juniper Cakery in one of their favourite shades, exquisite jade green

Sparkling christmas cookies by Eat Cake Be Merry

Chocolate pomegranate bread twist by Style Sweet left, crushed candy cane christmas cake by Sweet and Saucy

Buttercream christmas wreath cakes by Alice Cake left, chocolate ganache christmas cake by Cakes and Crafts by Kass right — Buttercream christmas wreath cake by Alice Cake left, chocolate ganache christmas cake by Cakes and Crafts by Kass right

You’ll find links for the tutorials and some of the recipes mentioned above here:

For more on Christmas cake decorating see our features below:

For more on winter wedding cakes, see our features on:

img.wp-smiley,img.emoji{display:inline !important;border:none !important;box-shadow:none !important;height:1em !important;width:1em !important;margin:0 .07em !important;vertical-align:-.1em !important;background:none !important;padding:0 !important;}@-webkit-keyframes bgslide{from{background-position-x:0;}to{background-position-x:-200%;}}@keyframes bgslide{from{background-position-x:0;}to{background-position-x:-200%;}}.wpp-widget-placeholder{margin:0 auto;width:60px;height:3px;background:#dd3737;background:-webkit-gradient(linear,left top,right top,from(#dd3737),color-stop(10%,#571313),to(#dd3737));background:linear-gradient(90deg,#dd3737 0%,#571313 10%,#dd3737 100%);background-size:200% auto;border-radius:3px;-webkit-animation:bgslide 1s infinite linear;animation:bgslide 1s infinite linear;}.flickity-enabled{position:relative;}.flickity-enabled:focus{outline:0;}.flickity-viewport{overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:100%;}.flickity-slider{position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;}.flickity-enabled.is-draggable{-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;user-select:none;}.flickity-enabled.is-draggable .flickity-viewport{cursor:move;cursor:-webkit-grab;cursor:grab;}.flickity-enabled.is-draggable .flickity-viewport.is-pointer-down{cursor:-webkit-grabbing;cursor:grabbing;}.flickity-prev-next-button{position:absolute;top:50%;width:44px;height:44px;border:none;border-radius:50%;background:#fff;background:hsla(0,0%,100%,.75);cursor:pointer;-webkit-transform:translateY(-50%);transform:translateY(-50%);}.flickity-prev-next-button:hover{background:#fff;}.flickity-prev-next-button:focus{outline:0;box-shadow:0 0 0 5px #09f;}.flickity-prev-next-button:active{opacity:.6;}.flickity-prev-next-button.previous{left:10px;}.flickity-prev-next-button.next{right:10px;}.flickity-rtl .flickity-prev-next-button.previous{left:auto;right:10px;}.flickity-rtl .flickity-prev-next-button.next{right:auto;left:10px;}.flickity-prev-next-button:disabled{opacity:.3;cursor:auto;}.flickity-prev-next-button svg{position:absolute;left:20%;top:20%;width:60%;height:60%;}.flickity-prev-next-button .arrow{fill:#333;}.flickity-page-dots{position:absolute;width:100%;bottom:-25px;padding:0;margin:0;list-style:none;text-align:center;line-height:1;}.flickity-rtl .flickity-page-dots{direction:rtl;}.flickity-page-dots .dot{display:inline-block;width:10px;height:10px;margin:0 8px;background:#333;border-radius:50%;opacity:.25;cursor:pointer;}.flickity-page-dots .dot.is-selected{opacity:1;}.slideout-menu{position:fixed;left:0;top:0;bottom:0;right:auto;z-index:0;width:256px;overflow-y:auto;-webkit-overflow-scrolling:touch;display:none;}.slideout-menu.pushit-right{left:auto;right:0;}.slideout-panel{position:relative;z-index:1;will-change:transform;}.slideout-open,.slideout-open .slideout-panel,.slideout-open body{overflow:hidden;}.slideout-open .slideout-menu{display:block;}.pushit{display:none;}.rp4wp-related-posts ul{width:100%;padding:0;margin:0;float:left;}.rp4wp-related-posts ul>li{list-style:none;padding:0;margin:0;padding-bottom:20px;clear:both;}.rp4wp-related-posts ul>li>p{margin:0;padding:0;}.rp4wp-related-post-image{width:35%;padding-right:25px;-moz-box-sizing:border-box;-webkit-box-sizing:border-box;box-sizing:border-box;float:left;}.site-header{background-image:url("https://cdn-cclhl.nitrocdn.com/ShwlnPixvLgMRSmAUCQeLGlljhbcBFOd/assets/static/optimized/rev-4a1e895/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/peony-header-smaller-resolution.png");}.site-header.nitro-lazy{background-image:none !important;}.ios7.web-app-mode.has-fixed header{background-color:rgba(194,228,249,.88);}