Christmas Spiced Gingerbread Cake + Autumn-Winter Update (2025)

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but didn't manage to get this finished yesterday, so am posting today instead. :)

As with previous years, I'm doing a double post, sharing what I baked for Christmas and my last quarterly update of the year (autumn-winter). (Last year I didn't bake anything for Christmas, so shared what I baked for New Year instead). Scroll down if you just want to read the update. :)

 

Christmas Spiced Gingerbread Cake

For Christmas (2025) I baked a spiced gingerbread cake. The recipe is from Sally's Baking Addiction: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/gingerbread-cake-recipe/

It can be made as a single layer cake or a 3 layer cake and in various sizes. I made the single version. I used treacle instead of molasses, which I often do with ginger things, since it's more accessible in the UK. I also used mixed spice instead of cloves because I didn't have any and mixed spice has cloves in it.

The recipe has a cream cheese frosting which is one of my favourite icings/frostings, especially with ginger cakes! This frosting has spices in it, so I used ginger, cinnamon and mixed spice again. 

The cake was quite nice. It goes well with evaporated milk too. One of the suggestions for decorating it is festive Christmas sprinkles. I couldn't get any red and green sprinkles, so I used some multicoloured ones instead. Here's a pic:  

New Year Gingerbread Cookies + Autumn-Winter Update (2024)

As with previous years, I'm doing a double post about what I baked for Christmas/New Year and my last seasonal update (autumn-winter) of the year (2024). Scroll down if you just want to read the update. :)

New Year Gingerbread Cookies

I'd planned to bake something for Christmas but I was going through a bit of a stressful time and also had problems with my cooker. So, I ended up buying a Christmas fruitcake. However, I was able to bake for New Year. I made gingerbread cookies (or biscuits as we call them in the UK).  The recipe is from Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons: https://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.com/gingerbread-cookies/

They have a cream cheese frosting and sprinkles on top. I used rainbow sprinkles from Tesco. They were quite nice. Here's a pic: 

 

Shifting into Winter + Yule/Christmas Links

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but was a bit behind with this post, so it's on a Tuesday instead. :)

Winter is starting or has already started, depending on whether you go by the meterological or astronomical start. Earlier this year I wrote two posts about moving into the next season, Easing into Spring and Easing into Autumn. I didn't write one for summer this year but last year I did a post called Shifting into Summer, so this post will be the seasonal equivalent of that one. :) 

Note: If summer is starting where you are, you can see the Shifting into Summer post here (or click on the link above): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/06/shifting-into-summer.html

 

As I've mentioned before, I find moving from winter into spring an easier transition than going from summer into autumn, because summer is my favourite season. I feel sad to see it ending and I find the colder weather of autumn and winter depressing. 

And I find the time of year when we move from autumn into winter quite sad because autumn is a beautiful time with all the leaves changing and different colours. Also, it's not too cold and bleak yet. But although winter is my least favourite season there are still good things about it, such as Yule/the Winter Solstice and Christmas, and "cosy vibes"!

Back in 2017 I wrote a post called Getting Ready for Winter. You can see it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/getting-ready-for-winter.html

In that post I mentioned that there are two "official" starts to winter- 1st December and around 20th December, which is the day of the Winter Solstice. The exact date varies each year. 

Christmas Funfetti Sheet Cake + Autumn-Winter Update (2023)

I was planning to do a post about the cake I made for Christmas and since I haven't done my autumn-winter update yet, I decided to do a double post (like previous years). I started it last week, but I was also working on a post on my entertainment blog Star Sparkle Blog that took  lot of time. So I'm posting today instead.

Scroll down to read the update. :)

Christmas Funfetti Sheet Cake

For Christmas (2023) I baked a Christmas funfetti sheet cake. The recipe is from Handle the Heat: https://handletheheat.com/christmas-funfetti-sheet-cake/

This type of cake is called funfetti because of the sprinkles that go in the batter on top and is also called a confetti cake. In 2014 I made some funfetti cake batter "no-churn" ice cream, which I had for Litha that year.

I couldn't get any red and green sprinkles, so used the usual multicoloured ones instead. It would have been nice to have "Christmas themed" ones but never mind! When I first made a Christmas vanilla roll cake in 2013,  I used Sainsbury's Festive sprinkles, which were red, white and green. (Also put them on top of Easter biscuits the following April.) If I make this again, I'll try to get something similar.

I also just used plain flour because I didn't get round to getting cake flour as well. (Plain flour is the nearest equivalent to all-purpose flour in the UK, although they seem to be a bit different.) I couldn't get buttermilk so just used whole milk. Tessa (the recipe creator) suggests using whole milk instead of a buttermilk substitute. 

The cake was quite nice, although a bit dense. I think this is due to not using buttermilk (as Tessa noted, it changes the texture) so if I were to make it again, I'd do it with buttermilk. Overall though, I liked it. Here's a picture:

 

Christmas Brown Butter Pecan Cake + Autumn-Winter Update

I wanted to do a post about the cake I made for Christmas and since I haven't done my autumn-winter update yet, I decided to make this a double post. (Like last year's.) Scroll further down if you just want to read the update. :)

Christmas Brown Butter Pecan Cake

For this Christmas (or rather Christmas 2021 now!) I baked a brown butter pecan sheet cake. The recipe is from Handle the Heat: https://handletheheat.com/butter-pecan-sheet-cake/

I normally make the cake on Christmas Eve and then ice it on Christmas Day. But in this case the glaze needs to be done when it's warm so I did it all on Christmas Eve. It came out quite nice, except the glaze melted into the cake, so it didn't look quite like the pictures!

I still liked it. I had some with leftover condensed milk (that I had used for Christmas Eve crockpot hot chocolate, see below) and also some evaporated milk another time. Here's a picture:

 

 

Yule Round-up + Yule/Christmas Baking

 

Yule/the Winter Solstice, is almost here. This year it's on Tuesday 21st December. The actual (scientific) time of the Winter Solstice (see below for more on that) will be 10.59am EST/15.58pm GMT. Find the time in your country here: https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/winter-solstice.html

 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it's almost time for Litha aka Midsummer/the Summer Solstice. Here are my Litha celebration ideas posts:

Litha/Midsummer Celebration Ideas (also a post about no-yeast dinner rolls): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/06/baking-no-yeast-dinner-rolls-and.html

Celebrating Litha/Summer: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/06/celebrating-litha-summer.html

Litha Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/06/litha-inspiration_17.html

Litha + Summer Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/06/litha-summer-inspiration.html

Litha Round-up: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/06/litha-round-up.html

 

The past few years I've written celebration and inspiration posts for Yule. During 2021 I've written round-up posts for the sabbats, featuring my past posts and articles from other sites. So here is Yule's. I've also included a Yule/Christmas baking section at the end. :)

 Update 14/12/25: Updated/replaced links.  

 

Yule, also known as Midwinter and the Winter Solstice, is the final sabbat of the calendar year. It's either the 1st or 2nd sabbat on the Wheel of the Year, depending on whether you consider Samhain as the end of one year and the start of the new year, or Yule as the beginning of the new cycle. I've written about this before in my Celebrating Yule/Christmas post. Opinion varies on this and some people also celebrate the Pagan New Year at Imbolg/Imbolc in early February (which is the first sabbat of the new calendar year). I consider Samhain the end of one year and the start of the new one, but it's up to you. :) 

Christmas Ginger Poke Cake + November/December Update

I hadn't written my November/December update yet and I was also planning to write about the ginger poke cake I made for Christmas, so I decided to do a double post. (Rather than two weeks apart). Also did that last year). If you just want to read the update, scroll further down. :)

Christmas Ginger Poke Cake

For this Christmas (or Christmas 2020 now!) I decided to make a recipe based on a gingerbread poke cake. It's from Fantastical Sharing of Recipes: http://www.fantasticalsharing.com/2020/12/gingerbread-poke-cake.html

The recipe uses a cake mix which I thought was easier after a stressful year! I called it a "ginger poke cake" because I couldn't find an actual gingerbread cake mix. So, I used Wrights ginger cake mix. 

I hadn't made a poke cake before but I've come across them online. I think they're more popular in America. You make the cake then poke holes in it with a wooden spoon, and pour condensed milk and caramel sauce over the top to soak in. I couldn't find a caramel sauce either, so I just used condensed milk. 

The recipe uses Cool Whip but I don't think we have that in the UK. So, I made a cream cheese icing using a recipe from Nigella Lawson. It goes with her Guinness chocolate cake. (I haven't baked the cake but it looks very nice!). I previously used cream cheese frosting instead of Cool Whip when I made a gingerbread cake for Madron 2015. It was Betty Crocker's ready-made frosting in that case.

I liked the cake, although I do think it could have been a bit nicer, the flavour and texture. Here's a pic:

 

Christmas Gingerbread Sheet Cake + December Update

I'm combining my usual Christmas baking post with my monthly update post. So scroll down for the December update. :)


Christmas Gingerbread Sheet Cake

For Christmas this year (or last year now!) I baked a gingerbread sheet cake using a recipe from Handle the Heat. You can find the recipe here: https://www.handletheheat.com/gingerbread-sheet-cake/

It came out quite nice, although perhaps a bit heavy on the spices! Here's a picture:

Christmas Vanilla Roll Cake + New Year Gingerbread

This Christmas (or rather Christmas 2018 now since we're in a new year!) I baked a Christmas vanilla roll cake, which I first made in 2013. The recipe is from a trEATS affair (formerly Roxana's Home Baking). You can find the recipe here: http://atreatsaffair.com/christmas-vanilla-roll-cake-recipe/

You roll it up like with a  chocolate Yule log or Swiss roll. (Roll cake is just another name for Swiss roll, really). I don't think the cake itself came out as nice this time, but never mind! The buttercream was nice. This time I used multicoloured sprinkles. And I ate it with Nestle Carnation topping (evaporated milk) again because it can be a bit dry. I made the roll on Christmas Eve and the topping on Christmas Day. Here's a pic:

Celebrating Yule/Christmas

Yule, also known as Midwinter and the Winter Solstice, is nearly here. It's on 21st December (Friday) this year. (The date varies but is always around the 21st). The Winter Solstice is when the North Pole is furthest away from the sun, and the actual time it will happen this year will be around 10.23pm UK time (GMT). To find the time in your country visit this link: https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/winter-solstice.html


It's the final sabbat of the calendar year, but the 1st/2nd in the Wheel of the Year seasonal cycle. I say 1st and 2nd because while Samhain is the end of the old year, it's also thought to be the start of the new. Some people start with Samhain as the beginning of the Wheel, others start with Yule. I tend to think of Samhain as both really (the last harvest festival of the year but also the start of a new cycle) and list it first. You can read more about it here: http://paganism-wicca.yoexpert.com/sabbats-and-holidays-13108/is-it-true-that-samhain-marks-the-witches-new-year-36057.html

Update 13/12/21: Original link not working, but here is another article: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/teaaddictedwitch/2019/12/yule-pagan-new-year/

And here is an interesting article about how the celebration of New Year varies: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/panmankey/2013/11/happy-pagan-new-year/
 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it will soon be Litha aka Midsummer/the Summer Solstice. Here are my Litha celebration ideas posts:

(Also a post about no-yeast dinner rolls): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/06/baking-no-yeast-dinner-rolls-and.html

https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/06/celebrating-litha-summer.html


Last year I did a post about Yule celebration ideas which you can read here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/yule-celebration-ideas.html


This year I thought I'd write about celebrating both Yule and Christmas, similar to the Celebrating Beltane/May Day and Samhain/Hallowe'en posts, since I enjoy celebrating both. :)

White Chocolate Christmas Cake + New Year Biscuits

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but since this year those days were New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, I'm posting today instead. :)

For Christmas I made a white chocolate Wonderland cake. The recipe is from British blogger and YouTuber Tanya Burr's book Tanya's Christmas. The recipe was featured in OK! magazine. I can't actually find the recipe online but here are a couple of other white chocolate cake ones:

http://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/easiest-ever-white-chocolate-fudge-cake/

 http://www.bakewithstork.com/recipes/white-chocolate-cake-with-strawberries

The Wonderland cake has white chocolate in the sponge but not in the icing itself, that's just buttercream. I think the second recipe is a bit more similar to it than the first one. The recipe has white chocolate stars on top but I just grated some on top and added hundreds and thousands. It was quite nice, although I think it got better a couple of days later. I baked it on Christmas Eve and did the icing on Christmas Day. Here's a picture:

Christmas and New Year 2016/2017

For Christmas this year I made a frosted vanilla cookie cake. It was adapted from this recipe: http://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/2015/11/19/baileys-frosted-vanilla-cookie-layer-cake/

The original recipe uses Bailey's coffee creamer (Frosted Vanilla Cookie flavour). While I do like Bailey's (although I haven't had it for ages) I wasn't keen on having it in a cake and I'm also not sure if we can get that flavour coffee creamer in the UK. In the end I used some creamer from Sainsbury's. I don't have creamer often but I used it the other year when I made an iced coffee. I realised afterwards that the Bailey's creamer seems to be a powder whereas the one I got was liquid, but it worked out ok. :)

The original cake has 3 layers but I cut it down to 2 so it was less complicated! lol. The recipe uses shortening which is vegetable fat, I think. My mum suggested I use lard but the only one we had was pork fat and we decided I shouldn't use it because she made a birthday cake for my 7th birthday with lard in the icing which was horrible! lol. In the end I used Stork which I had already in the house and that worked. Shortening is sold under Trex, Flora White and Cooken here, so maybe another time I'll try one of those. Probably Flora White.

The filling is made of sugar cookie crumbs.  For Oestara 2015 made my own sugar cookie bars but I couldn't be bothered to make them on top of the cake! lol. The nearest I could find in the shops were Sainsbury's shortbread rounds (I wanted something soft and sweet). The creamer goes in the filling as well as the cake and it's also in the frosting.

I wasn't sure how the cake would come out because I substituted ingredients but it was nice. Because it only used egg whites (I think this type of cake is called a "white cake" in America, although maybe not exactly because it had all purpose flour aka plain flour, not cake flour in), it made a fluffier, lighter sponge. I cut up some biscuits and put them on top of the cake with sprinkles.


Here are a couple of pictures:

Outside of the cake

Yule 2016 + Origins of Father Christmas

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays, but since it's Christmas Day on Sunday this year, I decided to do a post today and then maybe write one about Christmas on Boxing Day (Monday).

It was Yule on Wednesday (21st December). I usually buy a chocolate Yule log although two years ago I made one. This year I bought one again, this time from Asda. I've had Sainsbury's most often but more recently it hasn't been as nice. Last year I had a Tesco one. Asda's was quite nice, it was Belgian chocolate. Here's a picture:

White Chocolate Fudge

As I mentioned in my Yule 2015 post, this year I made white chocolate fudge for Christmas. In 2014 I made both a chocolate Yule log for Yule and a Red Velvet Buche de Noel (another type of Yule log) for Christmas but this year (or last year now, lol) I wanted to make something different, so decided on the fudge.

I'd had the recipe on my Pinterest Recipes To Make board for ages, so it was good to have an excuse to make it! lol. The recipe is from this site: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/white-chocolate-fudge

I made it without the pecans because I wasn't that keen on having them in it. It was quite nice, bit of a different texture to the average fudge but nice once you get used to it. The only downside was that it didn't seem to last that long. I made it on Christmas Eve and it tasted good on Christmas Day but when I had some more on Boxing Day (day after Christmas) it seemed to have gone off slightly. I kept it in the fridge because it's got cream cheese in it and that can go off quite quickly. It was covered in foil but maybe it wasn't covered enough. Anyway, it's worth making for a change. :)

Here's a picture.

Red Velvet Buche de Noel

I made a Red Velvet Buche de Noel for pudding on Christmas Day. Buche de Noel is the French name for a Yule log. This one is like a Red Velvet cake. The recipe is similar to the one for the chocolate Yule log I made for Yule but I found it easier, even though the other recipe was for kids! lol. The Yule log recipe was a fatless sponge but this has butter in it, so it was easier to mix.

The original buche had boozy cranberries but I wasn't bothered about the cranberries or the alcohol, so I left them out. The buttercream was made of white chocolate, cream cheese and marscapone (an Italian cheese). I got the recipe from Tesco magazine. Here's a link to the online version: https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/red-velvet-buche-de-noel.html


This is the buche before I put the buttercream on:

And after:

Christmas Vanilla Roll Cake

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas! :)

I made a Christmas vanilla roll log for Christmas, using  this recipe: http://www.roxanashomebaking.com/christmas-vanilla-roll-cake-recipe/

It's basically like a Swiss roll, a rolled up cake with buttercream in and similar to the Yule log.

Mine was nice but it was quite dry, so I ate it with Nestle Carnation topping (evaporated milk). The buttercream was nice. I couldn't use the batter bits that were in the recipe because I don't think we have them over here. There are also red and green sprinkles in the recipe but I used Sainsbury's Festive ones, which are red, white and green. Here's a picture of the cake:

One of my Christmas presents was Sam Stern's latest book Sam Stern's Cookery Course (formerly Virgin To Veteran), so I'll be making some recipes from that next year.

Happy New Year! :)

Yule

Yesterday (21st December) was Yule, the Wiccan/pagan sabbat. The sabbats are also known as The Wheel of the Year, a cycle of seasonal festivals that happen every year. Yule is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. It represents the rebirth of the sun because after the shortest day and longest night, the days gradually get longer and the nights shorter, until the Summer Solstice (around 21st June). At Yule (Midwinter) the Goddess gives birth to the God (he's the reborn sun). A Wiccan belief is that the Holly King has ruled over the darkening year since Litha (Midsummer/Summer Solstice), and now he gives way to the Oak King, who rules over the lighter half of the year. The date of Yule varies but is celebrated around the 21st. It was kind of like a pre Christmas and has similar traditions.

It's traditional to have a Yule log for this sabbat.  It's a wooden log and you can light it as part of a ritual. Also these days you can have a chocolate Yule log. It would be more traditional to make one but the past few years I've had one from Sainsbury's! lol. (Luxury chocolate yule log). I do plan to make one in the future. I put 3 candles in it (for each person celebrating) and then you can blow it out and make a wish for the coming year. Here's a picture of my log:

I  had green and red candles for Yule (the colours of Yule, along with gold and white) as decoration. Here they are:

Hope you had a good Yule. Merry Christmas! :)


For more on Yule, visit these links:

http://twopagans.com/holiday/Yule.html

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=2079 (redirects)

Update 16/12/22: Links are now gone but here is another one: https://www.almanac.com/content/what-yule-log-christmas-traditions