53 Christmas Cakes For A Showstopping Holiday

By

Alana Al-Hatlani

Updated on December 1, 2023

Buche De Noel — Photo: Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Ana Kelly Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke

This holiday season, let there be cookies and trifles and tarts. But please, oh please let there be cakes.

There's nothing more festive than an awe-inspiring cake, and this collection of Christmas cake recipes includes all of our very best ways to end your holiday meal. These seasonal showstoppers will wow your holiday crowd (that's right, even Grandma with the impossibly high standards and ultra-picky Aunt Sue!). From cheesecake to Bundts and towering layer cakes, these Christmas cakes will sweeten any holiday. We have festive favorites that incorporate the flavors of the season, like Chocolate Peppermint Cake. We have cheery confections like Spiked Eggnog Bundt Cake and indulgent treats like our Sea Salt-Caramel Cake.

No matter which recipe you choose, sugar plum fairies will be dancing while you are devouring one—or more—of these showstopping Christmas cakes. These heavenly holiday desserts will earn you a spot on the nice list.

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Coconut Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting

Coconut Cake with Coconut Cream Frosting — Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Torie Cox

If you bake anything this holiday season, let it be this. Not only is this 2020's Big White Cake from the December cover, but it's our 25^th annual Big White Cake!

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Chocolate Peppermint Cake

Chocolate Peppermint Cake — Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Kathleen Varner

The Italian meringue frosting on top of this minty-chocolatey dream is fluffy and festive. Crushed soft peppermint candies are a sweet garnish.

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Spice Cake with Cranberry Filling

Spice Cake with Cranberry Filling — Photo: Hector Sanchez

Cranberry filling contrasts with white cake layers to keep the holiday theme. Pipe a ring of frosting around the cake layer, just inside the top edge, to keep the filling from oozing out.

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The Redbird Cake

Southern Living The Redbird Cake sliced on a cake plate to serve — Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Torie Cox; Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell

Inspired by our classic Hummingbird Cake, the Redbird Cake is a holiday nod to bringing family together—and remembering those who are no longer with us.

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Red Velvet Bundt Cake

Southern Living Red Velvet Bundt Cake sliced on a cake plate ready to serve — Caitlin Bensel, Food Stylist: Torie Cox

Red velvet Bundt cake has all the look of a Christmas cake, and it happens to be one of the most popular cakes at the holidays. Win-win!

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Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake

Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake — Hector Sanchez

Don't worry if your cheesecake cracks; the light and fluffy layer of whipped cream will cover it. The minty flavor builds with peppermint in the filling and whipped cream and crushed peppermints on top.

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Cranberry-Apple-Pumpkin Bundt

Cranberry-Apple-Pumpkin Bundt — Iain Bagwell; Styling: Heather Chadduck

Cranberry, apple, and pumpkin merge for a scene-stealing dessert. The topping on this Bundt—a maple glaze with sugared pecans and pumpkin seeds—will make your guests ooh and ahh.

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Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake — Jim Franco

Let this elegant chocolate cheesecake be the centerpiece of your holiday tablescape featuring a gorgeous White Chocolate Snowflake in the center.

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Tennessee Jam Bundt

Tennessee Jam Bundt Cake — Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Heather Chadduck

The best way to enjoy this blackberry and caramel confection is with friends—it makes 12 satisfying servings. Jam and toasted pecans make this spice cake extraordinary.

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Mama's German Chocolate Cake

Mama's German Chocolate Cake — Photo: Jennifer Davick

Pure Southern perfection! Layers of moist German chocolate cake and sweet-and-nutty Coconut-Pecan Frosting will make this dessert an instant favorite.

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Marbled Pumpkin Praline Cake

Marbled Pumpkin Praline Cake — Iain Bagwell

Beneath the wintry white frosting is a marbled pumpkin-pecan cake layered with praline filling. Sugared pecans, kumquats, and bay leaves garnish the spiced whipped cream topping.

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Sugar-and-Spice Cake

Sugar-and-Spice Cake — Jennifer Davick; Styling: Buffy Hargett

Make a classic white cake for Christmas this year. This recipe starts with a boxed mix, then adds a few key ingredients to make the end result light, fluffy, and totally delicious.

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Buche de Noel

Buche De Noel — Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Ana Kelly Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke

Classic yule log cakes are a labor of love, but you should absolutely make one this year. A mixture of hot coffee and sugar keeps the cake moist and enhances the chocolate flavor.

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Spiked Eggnog Bundt Cake

Spiked Eggnog Bundt Cake — Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

This ultra-rich cake combines your favorite holiday drink with a sweet glaze on top. Substitute heavy cream for the bourbon for a non-alcoholic version.

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Snowy Vanilla Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream

Snowy Vanilla Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream — Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Torie Cox

We topped this Big White Cake with our adorable Cake Ball Ornaments. It's sure to impress at any gathering.

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Red Velvet Cheesecake-Vanilla Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Red Velvet Cheesecake-Vanilla Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — Hector Manuel Sanchez

That's right—we combined red velvet cheesecake and vanilla cake and then topped it with cream cheese frosting. A crumb coat of frosting prevents the red cake from showing through.

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Eggnog Spice Cake with Bourbon Custard Filling and Eggnog Buttercream

Eggnog Spice Cake with Bourbon Custard Filling and Eggnog Buttercream — Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke

This eggnog-flavored cake with boozy filling is a reader favorite, and we have a feeling it will quickly become a tradition in your home.

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Red Velvet Peppermint Cake

Red Velvet Peppermint Cake — Caitlin Bensel

Classic red velvet cake gets a holiday-ready makeover with the addition of peppermint and cream cheese icing.

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Sea Salt-Caramel Cake

Sea Salt-Caramel Cake — Greg DuPree; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

The caramel frosting on this tender layer cake is the true star of this beautiful recipe. Repeat for special occasions long after the holidays.

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Cassandra's "Light" Fruitcake

Cassandra’s “Light” Fruitcake — Caitlin Bensel; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food Styling: Anna Hampton

This fruitcake will change your opinion about the holiday tradition for good. Filled with dried fruit and nuts, this bourbon-doused cake isn't light on flavor.

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Bourbon-Chocolate Cake with Browned Buttercream Frosting

Bourbon-Chocolate Cake with Browned Buttercream — Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop styling: Lydia Pursell

This layer cake is appropriate for celebrations year-round, but this boozy dessert feels especially festive for the holidays.

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Homemade White Cake

Best White Cake — Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Christina Lane; Food Styling: Torie Cox

If you've been baking from a box, try out this easy, classic white cake recipe. Whatever your experience level, you can wow guests with this cake that you can dress up or down.

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Peppermint Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting

Peppermint Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting — Hector Manuel Sanchez

We filled this layer cake with a pink peppermint buttercream for a fun surprise. Crushed peppermints add flavor and a playful garnish.

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Buttermilk-Chocolate Cake

Buttermilk-Chocolate Cake — Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas: Food Styling: Torie Cox

A decadent chocolate cake topped with silky Swiss meringue buttercream—what could make this dessert better? Gorgeous magnolia and camellia flower cake toppers, that's what!

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Baklava Cheesecake

Baklava Cheesecake — Southern Living

We love a dessert mashup more than anyone, and this silky smooth cheesecake that includes a serving of baklava in each slice is the best combo we can imagine.

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Coffee Baba au Rhum

Coffee Baba au Rhum — Photo: Hector Sanchez

This old-fashioned Christmas dessert is for all the coffee lovers in your life. Infused with rum and coffee, enjoy slices even more the next day.

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Chocolate-Gingerbread-Toffee Cake

Chocolate-Gingerbread-Toffee Cake — Jennifer Davick

If you're unsure if you should make this cake, read what one staffer said about it: "It tastes like all the wonderful flavors that come tumbling from a stocking: milk chocolate Santas, gingerbread men, and buttery toffee candy."

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Butterscotch-Bourbon Lava Cakes

Butterscotch-Bourbon Lava Cakes — Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Lydia Pursell

Looking for something a little more grown-up than peppermint or sugar cookies? Try these photo-worthy, boozy lava cakes.

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Spice Cake with Citrus Filling

Spice Cake with Citrus Filling — Jennifer Davick/Styling: Lydia DeGaris Pursell & Marian Cooper Cairns

With frosting this fluffy and swirled, you don't even need to add toppings to this layer cake. Lightly brown the edges of the swirls with a kitchen torch for even more drama.

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White Chocolate Poinsettia Cake

White Chocolate Poinsettia Cake — Hector Manuel Sanchez

Leaf cookie cutouts make a festive poinsettia topping for this snowy white cake. The white chocolate flavor is carried through the moist cake, mousse, and buttercream frosting.

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Rudolph's Chocolate Truffle Cake

Rudolph's Chocolate Truffle Cake — Lee Harrelson; Styling: Mindi Shapiro

Your family full of chocolate lovers will rave about this cake for weeks. They'll request this memorable chocolate cake with truffle filling and smooth ganache for holidays from here on out.

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Coconut-Almond Cream Cake

Coconut-Almond Cream Cake — Photo: Beth Dreiling Hontzas; Styling: Rose Nguyen

Any coconut fanatics in your family? In this recipe, coconut cake layers are stacked with coconut-almond filling and topped with coconut-cream cheese frosting.

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Homemade Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes

Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes — Southern Living

Looking for an afternoon baking project to try with the kids? This copycat recipe tastes even better than the real thing, but don't tell Little Debbie.

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Mini Red Velvet Cakes

Mini Red Velvet Cakes — Southern Living

Mint leaves and fresh raspberries make for a festive green and red topping on these mini cakes.

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Bourbon-Praline Cheesecake

Bourbon-Praline Cheesecake and Vanilla Custard with Bourbon-Caramel Sauce — Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop styling: Lydia Pursell

Graham crackers, pecans, butter, and brown sugar make the crust for this dessert, and it only gets better from there.

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Mint Chocolate Chip Cake

Mint Chocolate Cake — Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Kathleen Varner

Your favorite ice cream flavor in cake form. Instead of mint extract, this homemade cake gets its flavor from fresh mint leaves.

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Icebox Fruitcake

Icebox Fruit Cake — Micah Leal

Just like the icebox cakes you love in the summertime, this holiday dessert doesn't require any baking. It's filled with your favorite holiday flavors—currants, pecans, apricots, dates, cherries, and ginger.

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Gingerbread Cake Roll with Eggnog Cream

Gingerbread Roulade and Eggnog Cream — Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

This spiced roulade is the ultimate make-ahead dessert for the holiday season. Molasses-rich gingerbread surrounds a creamy filling. Serve with homemade eggnog cream.

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Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Caramel Buttercream

Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake with Caramel Buttercream — Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Torie Cox

This beautiful layer cake has rich chocolate layers, fluffy caramel buttercream, and a layer of decadent chocolate ganache.

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Molten Red Velvet Cakes

Molten Red Velvet Cakes, red velvet cake recipe — HECTOR MANUEL SANCHEZ

Personal desserts mean you don't have to worry about sharing. You can make the chocolate mixture and whipped cream a day in advance.

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White Cake with Bourbon Buttercream and Seven-Minute Frosting

White Cake with Cranberry Filling and Orange Buttercream — Photo: Hector Sanchez

Bourbon-spiked buttercream gives a basic white cake some holiday flair. Top this cake with Sugar-Coated Orange Slices and Sparkling Cherries.

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Acadian Syrup Cake with Roasted Pears and Caramel Sauce

Roasted Pears — Hector Sanchez

A Cajun classic, this spice cake (aka Gateau au Sirop) gets much of its sweet flavor from a Southern staple: cane syrup. We love Steen's 100% Pure Cane Syrup, made in Louisiana. If you can't find pure cane syrup, don't sub a blended syrup; use honey instead. To dress up the cake for serving, we used a fleur-de-lis stencil to create a powdered sugar design atop this glorious, dark, and deeply delicious cake.

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Hummingbird Cake

Christmas Dessert Recipes: Hummingbird Cake — Photo: Lee Harrelson

This ultimate recipe is the most requested in Southern Living magazine history and frequents covered dish dinners all across the South, always receiving rave reviews.

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Red Velvet Cheesecake

Red Velvet Cheesecake — Lee Harrelson; Styling: Jan Gautro

If you love both red velvet cake and cheesecake, this perfect sweet-meets-rich-meets-creamy concoction is bound to be your new favorite dessert.

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Pecan Spice Cake with Caramel-Rum Glaze

Pecan Spice Cake with Caramel-Rum Glaze — Jennifer Davick; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas

An easy and delicious holiday cake? Sign us up! The spice cake requires only 30 minutes of hands-on time. Adjust the thickness of the rum glaze from sheer to thick, depending on your preference.

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White Cake with Cranberry Filling and Orange Buttercream

white cake with cranberry filling — Courtney West/Southern Living

Moist white cake gets the holiday treatment with cranberry filling and orange buttercream. The filling can also be used as a pretty red cake topping.

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Pink Champagne Cake

pink champagne cake — Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Ali Ramee; Prop Styling: Christine Kelly

Toast the holidays with this positively pink champagne dessert. Boxed cake mix makes it super easy, and pink champagne and freeze-dried strawberries create a natural soft pink color.

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Japanese Fruitcake with Lemon-Coconut Frosting

Japanese Fruitcake Recipe — Hector Manuel Sanchez

Fruitcake skeptics will love this pecan-studded spice cake. There’s no candied fruit in the filling. It’s been a reader favorite since it was first published in the November 1990 issue of Southern Living.

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Apple Butter Pound Cake with Caramel Frosting

Apple Butter Pound Cake with Caramel Frosting — Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Mary Clayton Carl Jones; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

Pound cakes are always a good choice, and apple butter and caramel make the perfect match. Use a Bundt pan for a pretty holiday presentation.

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Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake — Alison Miksch; Prop styling: Mary Clayton Carl; Food styling: Mary-Claire Britton

Every holiday gathering needs more than one cake, and a simple classic chocolate cake should make the cut. Mayonnaise may be a confusing ingredient, but don’t let it keep you from making this delicious dessert.

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Butter Toffee-Pecan Layer Cake

Butter Toffee-Pecan Layer Cake — Greg DuPree

This cake delivers. Toffee frosting with browned butter and toasted pecans covers a white cake filled with chopped pecans and toffee pieces. A sprinkle of flaky sea salt is the finishing touch.

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Mama's Rum Cake

Mama Dip's Rum Cake — Peter Frank Edwards

The mama in this recipe name is Mama Dip, known for her Chapel Hill, North Carolina, restaurant. There’s rum in the cake and in the glaze, so you know it’s going to be good.

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White Cake with Peppermint Frosting

White Cake with Peppermint Icing — Photo: Hector Sanchez

This pretty package will tie up your holiday gathering perfectly. Garnish with a fondant bow or peppermint meringue cookies.

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