Do I Need To Have A Christmas Cake?

It may be traditional, but the old-style Christmas cake is too heavy for some tastes. That said, a slice of a really well-made one is a fantastic thing. Still, there are all kinds of variations assuming you want to have some sort of festive cake. Yule log is also traditional, though tricky to make. It's also quite OK to make an ordinary family fruit cake, which is much lighter than Christmas cake, and put icing on it (leftover mincemeat can be used in the filling.) Of course, you could go the other way, and have something totally unseasonal and much lighter, such as a classic Victoria sponge (you could replace the jam with buttercream filling and some luxurious out-of-season fruit like blueberry, if you can get it.) Chocolate cake is always a winner. Finally, if you have the time and inclination, there's nothing like hot cakes –brownies or muffins – late on Christmas afternoon. Or just get an assortment of small ones and let everybody help themselves.