Christmas Cake: History and a Simple Recipe

Published October 24, 2026 · GiveOwl

A rich fruit cake with marzipan and icing is a fixture of the British Christmas table, but its history is not what many people say. Here is what the sources show, and a simple fruit cake to bake.

From Twelfth Night to Christmas

• Twelfth Night cake: Twelfth Night is 5 January, the last day of Christmastide. Historic UK describes the Twelfth Night cake as laden with fruit, more like bread than cake. A dried bean or pea was baked inside, and whoever found it became "king" or "queen" for the night.
• A Georgian showpiece: The food historian behind British Food: A History describes the Twelfth cake as a rich fruit cake covered in hard royal icing and decorated with sugar figures. As Twelfth Night faded, the celebration moved to Christmas Day, and the cake moved with it.
• The Cromwell story: A popular tale says that Oliver Cromwell banned the Twelfth Night cake and so people put its marzipan on the Christmas cake instead. British Food: A History calls this "sadly untrue". The Christmas cake with marzipan and royal icing is an 18th-century invention, and its writer traces the first such recipe to Elizabeth Raffald in 1769, for a "Bride's Cake".
• With cheese: The same author notes that in Yorkshire it is popular to eat Christmas cake with a nice cheese such as Wensleydale or Cheddar.

Simple Christmas fruit cake (alcohol-free)

Makes one deep 20 cm round cake. Our own recipe; we have not kitchen-tested it. Without alcohol, a cake keeps less well than a traditional "fed" one, so bake it closer to the day, or wrap it well and freeze it.

Ingredients

• 600 g mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants, glacé cherries, mixed peel)
• Zest and juice of 1 orange
• 175 g butter, softened
• 175 g dark muscovado sugar
• 3 eggs
• 200 g plain flour
• 1 tsp mixed spice and ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 50 g chopped almonds
• 1 tbsp black treacle

Method

1. Soak the dried fruit in the orange zest and juice overnight, covered.
2. Heat the oven to 140°C (120°C fan). Grease and double-line a deep 20 cm round tin with baking parchment.
3. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each to stop it curdling.
4. Fold in the rest of the flour, the spices, the almonds, the treacle and the soaked fruit with any juice.
5. Spoon into the tin, level the top and make a slight dip in the middle.
6. Bake low and slow, roughly 2¾ to 3¼ hours, until a skewer comes out clean. Cover the top with foil if it browns too fast.
7. Cool in the tin, then wrap in parchment and foil. Decorate if you like with apricot jam, marzipan and icing, or simply serve it plain.

This is our own simple recipe with everyday ingredients – we have not kitchen-tested it, so treat times and temperatures as a guide and adjust for your oven. Allergens: depending on the recipe it contains gluten (flour, breadcrumbs), milk (butter), eggs and nuts or almonds, and dried fruit may contain sulphites. Check every label before you cook for other people.

Equipment

Ad: Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The price is the same for you. Prices and availability change – see the current price on Amazon.

🎂 MasterClass deep round cake tin, 23 cm (amazon.co.uk) ↗ (ad). The recipe above is written for a 20 cm tin; in a wider tin the cake will be shallower, so start testing with the skewer earlier.

Related: Christmas pudding recipe and Stir-up Sunday and Mince pies: history and a simple recipe. Overview and dates 2026: Christmas in the UK: traditions and recipes.