The best Christmas baking inspiration for everyone and every occasion

The Christmas season is the perfect time to get a little creative in the kitchen. With festivities, feasting, and friends and family at the fore, there’s plenty of fun to be had exploring new approaches to baking and decorating cakes and treats. We’ve listed some of our top ideas for your favourite people, events and celebrations.

Best for kids under 5

This
Gingerbread House is both magical and fun to make. You’ll need to supervise youngsters with the construction of this traditional edible characterful cottage, but its charming features will inspire young imaginations and is well worth the time and effort. Youngsters will have enormous fun breaking into it – once it has been suitably admired, of course.

Best for big kids

Everyone of any age loves a lollipop and these bite-sized bauble cake pops

make beautiful additions to any seasonal banqueting table. They make wonderful party favours as part of a colour-themed place setting, or you can stick them into oranges on a dessert buffet so guests can help themselves. The fun comes in making the decoration decisions, while the edible glitter and gold dusting will infuse your special event with magic, making them a great talking point.

Best for Father Christmas

Give St. Nick a break from mince pies and cookies and instead accompany the traditional glass of sherry with a sumptuous slice of this delicious
mulled wine fruit Bundt cake. The booze content and zesty, spicy tones, completed with marzipan holly leaves, make this cake a tasty alternative to the usual Christmas Eve fare.

Best for that special someone

Your nearest and dearest will be charmed when they open a box of these exquisitely
stenciled Christmas bauble cookies. The golden detailing on these immaculately-iced cookies are certain to speak volumes of your careful crafting and affection. Give them gift-wrapped in clear film with a pink, purple or gold ribbon, or serve them with a warming seasonal tipple for extra homeliness.

Best for the big day itself

This red and green, double-tiered traditional Christmas cake is enhanced with beautiful character decorations. There’s something for everyone on this Christmas feast centerpiece with the smaller cakes surrounding the main, each furnished with an immaculate miniature Christmas character. Completed with an impressive two-colour icing ribbon, this charming cake is sure to excite and enchant everyone on Christmas day. Here’s how to craft the
robin, snowman and choirboy figures and the tree, penguin and Santa decorations.

The best for Boxing Day

If you’re tired of Christmas cake and fancy something else for your afternoon tea, dessert or festive entertaining, this
Yuletide marzipan log is a delicious alternative. Simple to make and even easier to eat, the most challenging thing about this bake is how much you can get through in one sitting. Serve with a glass of port or a warm milky drink for ultimate comfort eating.

Best for the big knees up

Imagine these
star biscuits suspended around your home in magical clusters for guests to help themselves to. Star motifs transcend the Christmas party and make it happily all the way to New Year, so these gold and silver marzipan morsels are sure to inspire guests to snack upon them. Have fun making them as tree decorations, or suspend them on ribbon unevenly along a mantelpiece for maximum impact.

Best of the rest

There are many more ideas to choose from, so why not explore our other Christmas recipes for seasonal inspiration?