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Home » All Recipes » Christmas » Easy Christmas Cake Traybake

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Easy Christmas Cake Traybake

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A classic Christmas cake… in traybake form! This Easy Christmas Cake Traybake is easy to make, easy to decorate and easy to cut – perfect for Christmas entertaining and practically foolproof.

Easy Christmas Cake Traybake

This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!

 

Christmas cake in traybake form!

This Easy Christmas Cake Traybake is everything you’d expect from a traditional British Christmas cake – a richly spiced fruitcake packed full of juicy sultanas, raisins and currants, plus glacé cherries and sherry (though you can also use brandy, whisky, rum or even gin!), all topped off with marzipan and fondant icing.

However, it has one key difference… this Christmas cake comes in traybake form!

Why is that so great?

Because this makes it easier to make, easier to decorate and easier to cut. It’s just perfect for all your Christmas entertaining needs.

Overhead shot of Easy Christmas Cake Traybake

 

How to make Christmas Cake Traybake

The first thing that is great about this Easy Christmas Cake Traybake is how simple it is to make. It’s even easier to make than my more standard shaped Easy Peasy Christmas Cake (A recipe that’s been in my family for decades and is hugely popular with Easy Peasy Foodie readers too!) but still tastes just as good.

Basically, I took my traditional family recipe and simplified it even further.

All you have to do is beat together butter and sugar, then add eggs, flour, spices, dried fruit, glacé cherries and bake!

It’s really that simple.

Cake mix in a bowl, yellow silicon spoon, broken eggshells and 1 egg in a yellow eggbox

Cake mix in a bowl with glace cherries on top and in pots next to the mixing bowl

 

No need to soak the dried fruit overnight…

Most Christmas cake recipes require you to soak the dried fruit overnight, but not this one! All you need to do is place the dried fruit in a large saucepan, along with the sherry (or whatever tipple you prefer), orange juice and some water. Then bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes – by which time the fruit will be juicily plump and infused with gorgeous flavours.

Honestly, once you’ve tried this method, you’ll never bother soaking the dried fruit overnight again – it’s so easy peasy!

(And if you want to make this booze free, simply use apple juice instead of the alcohol.)

Mixed dried fruit in a saucepan, next to a chopping board with a knife and orange halves and a bottle of sherry

 

Less time in the oven…

Because this Christmas cake is traybake shaped, it’s flatter than a traditional Christmas cake, which means it takes much less time to bake. My Traditional Christmas Cake takes 3 hours in the oven, but this Easy Christmas Cake Traybake takes just 1 hour and 15 minutes – how awesome is that?

And thanks to the easy prep, this whole cake takes just 1h45 from start to finish – perfect for all your Christmas cake emergencies ?

The shorter cook time also means it’s much easier to get right (no sinking middles or burnt edges!) In fact, I’d go so far as to say this recipe is practically fool-proof!

Cake mix in a lined traybake pan, ready to go into the oven

 

No need to feed…

Because this cake is already stuffed full of boozy, plump and juicy fruit, there’s no need to feed this cake with alcohol. It tastes amazing, just as it is. (Though if you want to feed it, that’s totally fine too – see below.)

 

How to feed a Christmas Cake

This cake tastes great, just as it is. But if you want to feed it with alcohol here’s how…

  1. Leave the cake to cool completely.
  2. Make several small holes in the top of the Christmas cake, using a skewer or knitting needle (or similar).
  3. Spoon approximately 4 teaspoonfuls of brandy over the top of your cake. (If you don’t like brandy, gin, whisky and rum also work well.)
  4. Carefully wrap the cake in a layer of baking paper and two layers of foil.
  5. Repeat once a week, up to a maximum of 4 times.
  6. Ensure you re-wrap your cake carefully each time after feeding.
  7. Leave at least a week after the last feed before you ice your cake.

Easy Christmas Cake Traybake - cooked but uniced

 

How to decorate Christmas Cake Traybake

Another advantage of making your Christmas Cake in traybake form is how easy it is to decorate.

Now, I will be honest with you. I am not that great at decorating cakes… but even I can’t mess this one up!

  1. Roll out shop-bought marzipan to roughly the shape of the top of the cake.
  2. Brush the cake with slightly warmed apricot jam (shred-less marmalade will also work.)
  3. Place the marzipan on top of the cake and trim any overhanging edges.
  4. Roll out shop-bought white fondant icing to roughly the shape of the top of the cake.
  5. Brush the marzipan layer with a very small amount of cold water.
  6. Place the fondant on top of the cake and trim any overhanging edges.
  7. Roll out the remaining fondant icing and cut out a variety of different sized stars.
  8. Place these stars at random on top of the cake, using a little cold water on the back of each star to stick them down.
  9. As an optional extra you can use gold edible spray or edible glitter spray to colour the stars before placing them on the cake. (I used this one*.)

Christmas cake keeps better un-iced, so if you make the cake in advance, wait until just before you need it before you decorate. However, if you want to make and decorate this cake all in one day, you can totally do that! (I did for the cake in these photographs). Just make sure the cake is COMPLETELY cold before you start to decorate.

Conventional wisdom says you need to wait 24 hours between applying the marzipan layer and topping with fondant. However, if you are in a hurry, you can do the fondant icing right after the marzipan… it doesn’t make a huge amount of difference unless you are a real perfectionist. I did them both on the same day for the cake in these photographs and it was totally fine! (This may vary according to brand, of course.)

Easy Christmas Cake Traybake covered in marzipan (top only, not the sides)

Easy Christmas Cake Traybake covered in fondant icing - on top of the marzipan (top only, not the sides)

 

Easier to slice…

The final advantage to making your Christmas cake traybake shaped is that it is so much easier to cut! I always find with traditional shaped Christmas cakes that I make a totally mess when cutting them. Not so with this cake! It cuts very easily into 24 perfect sized portions – great for Christmas parties, school bake sales, boxing day buffets, New Year’s Eve celebrations… or just ensuring everyone gets a fair share on Christmas day!)

Easy Christmas Cake Traybake with one slice cut and pulled away from the rest of the cake, slightly

 

How to store homemade Christmas cake?

When this cake is completely cold, wrap first in a layer of baking paper and then a layer of foil. Ideally you would then put the cake in an airtight tin. However, if you can’t find a cake tin the right size, simply wrap in a second layer of foil.

Once decorated, this cake should ideally be kept in an airtight tin to stop it going stale. It can be tricky to find a cake tin the right size, which is why I recommend this super cool traybake cake pan* as it comes with a lid – perfect for storing your cake before and after decoration!

 

How long will homemade Christmas cake last?

Un-iced, and correctly stored, a homemade Christmas cake will last for up to 6 months, though I recommend eating within 3 months for the optimal flavour and texture.

Once iced, a homemade Christmas cake will only last for a few weeks – a month at most. But for optimal flavour, I recommend eating within 2 weeks.

However, this cake is so delicious, I doubt it will even last that long. (It doesn’t in this house!)

Easy Christmas Cake Traybake on baking paper and a chopping board

 

Can you freeze Christmas Cake?

Amazingly yes! You can freeze the un-iced cake. First wrap in baking paper and a double layer of foil – as explained above, then pop it in your freezer, where is will keep for up to a year.

Defrost at room temperature and decorate as above.

I wouldn’t recommend freezing an iced Christmas cake, however. The marzipan and fondant icing do not fare well in the freezer.

 

How to line your traybake pan – the easy peasy way!

I have a super easy way to quickly and easily line cake pans. Simply cut a piece of baking paper the width of your cake pan and quite a lot longer than the length. Then cut a piece of baking paper the length of your cake pan and quite a lot longer than the width.

Next, grease the base and sides of your cake pan with butter (I use an offcut of the baking paper to spread the butter). Then place one of your pre-cut pieces of baking paper across the base of your pan and up two of the sides (you should cut it long enough so it covers the base and two sides and sticks up above the sides a bit).

Grease the base of your pan again (it help the paper stick), then place the other piece of baking paper the opposite way so that it covers the base and the other two sides and sticks up above sides a bit too.

Finally grease the base and sides again, just for good measure (in theory, cake shouldn’t stick to baking paper – in practice, an extra layer of butter really does help the cake come off the paper better!)

Not only is the cake pan now beautifully lined (without any complicated maths or measuring!), but the overhanging baking paper will serve as sort of ‘handles’ to help you lift the cake out of the tin and onto the cooling rack – so no more tipping the cake up-side down and back again!

Traybake pan, lined with baking paper

 

If you like this recipe…

…you might also like:

  • Last Minute Emergency Christmas Cake
  • All-In-One Christmas Cake
  • Easy Christmas Loaf Cake
  • Easy Mincemeat Christmas Cake (The BEST Christmas Cake Hack!)
  • Christmas Cake Cheesecake (No Bake)
  • Small Round Christmas Cake

 

Easy Christmas Cake Traybake
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5 from 4 votes

Easy Christmas Cake Traybake

A classic Christmas cake… in traybake form! This Easy Christmas Cake Traybake is easy to make, easy to decorate and easy to cut – perfect for Christmas entertaining and practically foolproof.
Prevent your screen from going dark
Course Christmas Baking, Dessert, Pudding, Snack
Cuisine British
Prep Time 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes
Total Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes
Servings 24 slices
Calories 500kcal
Author Eb Gargano

Equipment

  • A large saucepan
  • Baking paper
  • A large mixing bowl
  • 2 wooden spoons
  • A traybake pan measuring approximately 33 by 23cm (13 by 9ins)
  • A wire cooling rack (You can improvise with a grill rack or oven shelf if you don’t have one)
  • A rolling pin
  • A sharp knife
  • Star shaped cutters of various sizes

Ingredients

Metric - US Customary

For the cake…

  • 1 kg mixed dried fruit (ideally including mixed peel – see note)
  • Juice of 3 oranges
  • 100 ml sherry (or brandy / whisky / gin / rum - or use apple juice if you want this to be alcohol free)
  • 250 ml boiling water
  • 300 g butter softened (plus extra for greasing)
  • 300 g soft dark brown sugar (or muscovado sugar)
  • 4 large eggs
  • 300 g self-raising flour (US - self-rising flour)
  • 4 teaspoons mixed spice (or pumpkin spice)
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 400 g glacé cherries halved

To decorate…

  • 500 g marzipan
  • 1 kg white fondant icing
  • Icing sugar (US - confectioner's sugar) (for rolling out the marzipan and fondant icing)
  • Apricot jam (or shred-less marmalade) (for sticking the marzipan to the cake)
  • Edible gold spray paint or edible glitter spray (optional)

Instructions

For the cake…

  • Place the dried fruit in a large saucepan. Squeeze over the juice of the 3 oranges and pour over the sherry and boiling water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. Leave to stand until needed.
  • Preheat your oven to 160C / 140C fan / gas mark 3 / 325F. Grease and line your traybake pan with baking paper (see above).
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar thoroughly.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture until smooth after each one.
  • Gently fold in the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon until fully incorporated.
  • Add the glacé cherries and the dried fruit, plus any remaining liquid from the saucepan. (There should be very little liquid left, as most of it will have soaked into the fruit or evaporated.) Stir gently until the fruit is evenly distributed.
  • Tip the cake mixture into your prepared traybake pan and get it straight into the oven. Bake for 1h15 minutes or until a skewer, inserted into the middle of the cake, comes out clean.
  • Leave to cool for 1 hour in the tin, then remove and allow to fully cool on a wire cooling rack.

To decorate…

  • Dust your worksurface with a icing sugar. Roll out the marzipan to roughly the shape of the top of the cake.
  • Brush the cake with a thin layer of slightly warmed apricot jam (shred-less marmalade will also work.)
  • Place the marzipan on top of the cake and trim any overhanging edges with a sharp knife.
  • Roll out half the white fondant icing to roughly the shape of the top of the cake.
  • Brush the marzipan layer with a very small amount of cold water.
  • Place the fondant on top of the cake and trim any overhanging edges with a sharp knife.
  • Roll out the remaining fondant icing and cut out a variety of different sized stars.
  • Place these stars at random on top of the cake, using a little cold water on the back of each star to stick them down.
  • As an optional extra, you can use gold edible spray or edible glitter spray to colour the stars before placing them on the cake.

Video

Notes

  1. Ideally you want the dried mixed fruit to be a mix of sultanas, raisins, currants and candied mixed peel. You can usually find this ready mixed in supermarkets. I have used both this one and this one in the past. If you can't find it ready mixed, buy the ingredients individually and go for these proportions: 40% sultanas / 30% raisins / 20% currants / 10% candied mixed peel.
  2. Suitable for freezing.
  3. Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition Facts
Easy Christmas Cake Traybake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 500 Calories from Fat 135
% Daily Value*
Fat 15g23%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Cholesterol 54mg18%
Sodium 110mg5%
Potassium 383mg11%
Carbohydrates 88g29%
Fiber 6g25%
Sugar 65g72%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 393IU8%
Vitamin C 9mg11%
Calcium 96mg10%
Iron 1mg6%
* % Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet
Tried this recipe?I'd love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comments below.

 

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Disclosure

*This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!

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21 Comments

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Comments

  1. Kat (The Baking Explorer) says

    28th November 2020 at 7:38 am

    Such a fab idea! This definitely makes Christmas cake decorating less intimidating

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      30th November 2020 at 10:51 am

      Aw, thanks Kat. Oh yes, soooo much easier! 😀

      Reply
  2. Kerry Levene says

    23rd December 2020 at 6:24 pm

    I made it as a traybake yesterday and had some batter left so made a few cupcakes. So yumny, I made it again today and now have another batch of christmas cake cupcakes!! Thanks so much.
    How long do you think they will last in air tight tupperware?

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      30th December 2020 at 9:51 am

      Thanks for this lovely comment, Kerry. So happy you enjoyed this so much. And I love that you used the mix to make cupcakes too! In an airtight tupperware container your cupcakes should last a couple of weeks at least. (If you can resist them for that long!) Eb 🙂

      Reply
  3. Helen says

    4th January 2021 at 9:34 pm

    Finished eating your traybake Christmas cake yesterday. Fabulous recipe, I will be making it again and probably not waiting till Christmas ?Might just about hold out till Easter

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      5th January 2021 at 10:40 am

      Aw, thanks so much for this lovely comment Helen. I am so happy you enjoyed it so much! Eb 🙂

      Reply
  4. kimy says

    4th December 2022 at 8:56 pm

    Hi can you use a disposable foil tray lined with baking parchment?

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      5th December 2022 at 8:54 am

      I have not personally tried that, but my understanding is that is possible. You might like to check out this article for tips on how to do well and safely >>> https://bakinghow.com/bake-in-aluminum-foil-pans/ Hope that helps… and do let us know how you get on! Eb 🙂

      Reply
  5. Rosie Thomas says

    27th November 2023 at 2:57 pm

    I’m delighted to find this recipe. I haven’t yet made it, but it’s similar to a recipe that I used for years, but somehow misplaced the instructions.
    I’ve used my version for many occasions, altering it a bit by adding sliced apple, perhaps dates etc, sometimes with a little sherry and not ‘feeding’ it, if not, using fruit juice.
    I even used a version to make my own short notice wedding cake (with plentiful alcohol) – it was a huge success and so moist.
    Hopefully this recipe will be as popular, I’m pretty sure it will be x

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      27th November 2023 at 4:05 pm

      That’s so great to hear! Let me know how is goes 😀

      Reply
  6. Pearl says

    17th December 2023 at 4:50 pm

    Hi, I am planning on making this tomorrow, but I just wanted to ask about bringing the fruit and alcohol to the boil, ( I always thought you should not boil alcohol??)

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      18th December 2023 at 7:51 am

      The reason people say not to boil alcohol is because you will boil the alcohol off. But that is not a problem in this recipe as we are using the alcohol for flavour, not alcohol content. In any case, this cake is then going in the oven at a much hotter temperature than boiling point! If you do want this cake to be boozy, you’ll need to ‘feed’ the cake after it’s cooked (and cooled). Follow the instructions above the recipe for how to do this. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂

      Reply
  7. Elaine Hindson says

    9th January 2024 at 1:30 pm

    My second year of making this lovely Christmas Cake traybake. It’s so easy and delicious that I’ll never go back to a traditional Christmas cake recipe. Everyone loved it so much that we got through two of them, shared with our family and friends. Lots of requests for a second slice. I also purchased the Wilton traybake tin with a fitted lid, and it’s super for transporting your cakes to events. Many thanks for such a great recipe!

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      9th January 2024 at 2:08 pm

      Aw, yay – I am so happy to hear this! Thank you for this lovely review… and especially the 5* rating! 😀

      Reply
  8. Linda watkins says

    16th May 2024 at 6:44 pm

    Can you please tell me if double wrapped in foil how long is safe to store this tray bake .

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      17th May 2024 at 8:24 am

      Hi Linda, as per the advice above I recommend the following… When this cake is completely cold, wrap first in a layer of baking paper and then a layer of foil. Ideally you would then put the cake in an airtight tin. However, if you can’t find a cake tin the right size, simply wrap in a second layer of foil. Stored as per these instructions (either the tin or double foil version), this cake will last for up to 6 months, though I recommend eating within 3 months for the optimal flavour and texture. If you need to store longer, you can freeze the cake. Full instructions for how to freeze the cake are given above the recipe card. Once frozen, this cake will keep for a year. Hope that helps! Eb 🙂

      Reply
  9. Marie says

    27th November 2024 at 7:33 pm

    I haven’t made this yet but was wondering instead of boiling the fruit in the alcohol and orange juice, could the fruit be soaked overnight to get the same affect but retain the alcohol?
    Many thanks

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      28th November 2024 at 8:54 am

      Yes, you absolutely can. However, the alcohol will still get cooked off in the oven. So personally I don’t see an advantage in doing it overnight. (Either way, you still get the flavour of the alcohol, which is the purpose of using alcohol at this stage.) If you want to have actual alcohol in your Christmas cake, then you need to add the alcohol AFTER the cake has been cooked. To do that, follow the instructions above for ‘How to feed a Christmas Cake’. Hope that helps, and let me know how it goes! Eb 🙂

      Reply
  10. Helen Watkin says

    14th December 2024 at 4:27 pm

    Just made this scrummy cake for the third year running. My absolute favorite. I might have to follow Elaine Hindson’s example and make a second one as it is so popular. 😀

    Reply
    • Eb Gargano says

      16th December 2024 at 9:07 am

      Aw, that’s so great to hear! Thank you for this lovely review and 5* rating 😀

      Reply
      • Eb Gargano says

        16th December 2024 at 9:08 am

        And yes, a second cake sounds like a great idea. You can never have too much Christmas cake 😉

        Reply

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Hi and welcome to Easy Peasy Foodie! I’m Eb – a professional blogger, busy mum and passionate foodie and it is my mission in life to make cooking EASIER and MORE DELICIOUS! READ MORE

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