Image credit: Saga Magazine
There's nothing like a slice of Christmas cake during the festive season with a cup of tea or a glass of something stronger.
If you bake your own, they are traditionally made at the end of November and left to mature, before being topped with marzipan and icing ready for the Yuletide celebrations.
But if you've left it too late or don't have the time or inclination to make your own, which of the supermarket and big brands Christmas cakes are best and which should be left on the shelf?
We've tested the big brands to find out.
In our test we included big cakes designed to serve a gathering, mini Christmas cakes for one or two people and Christmas cake slices to take away.
Our testing panel was comprised of people who enjoy eating Christmas cake every year, both home made and shop bought. Our testers shop at a variety of supermarkets, some are self-confessed gourmets and others say good value is most important to them.
Our unanimous winner was the Aldi Specially Selected Rich Iced Christmas Cake. It felt luxurious and was a well-balanced moist, richly spiced cake, with a good taste of marzipan and a sweet icing.
Our best mini cake was Morrisons The Best All Butter Christmas Star Fruit Cake and our favourite slice, although the panel wasn't blown away by any of the slices, was Lidl's Favorina Top Iced Christmas Bar.
We've also been putting other festive food to the test, including best mince pies, best festive champagne and sparking wine, and best Christmas pudding, stollen and gingerbread.
907g RRP: £8.49
Our panel thought this cake looked the part. Described as hand decorated, our team noted the detailing and the fabric ribbon encircling it.
On cutting, the cake looked dark and rich, there were obivous layers of marzipan and icing and it didn't crumble.
"It's almost like a Christmas pudding," one of our testers remarked.
The cake was very moist and rich, with a lot of fruit crammed into it. Taste-wise it was well balanced. The cake tasted of fruit, spices and had a hint of alcohol, while the icing was soft and sweet and the marzipan taste came through.
It was the unanimous winner, with all testers saying they would go out and buy this cake for their families.
900g RRP: £11.50
The Sainsbury's cake was lighter than Aldi's. It felt softer when it was being cut and although the ingredients list was the same as the Aldi cake, it tasted different.
Testers said it was a sweet cake, the fruit came through, but the spices and alcohol weren't apparent. It was slightly.
Our panel didn't like the hard bits of peel in the cake nor how there were obvious layers within the cake. The marzipan taste did come through and the icing was sweet.
"I've had a lot worse," said one tester. The panel agreed, it was a nice enough cake, but not as nice as our winner.
907g RRP: £10.50
The Tesco offering looked very similar to the other two cakes, but it's ribbon was foil rather than fabric.
It was crumblier to cut and the cake itself was lighter in colour and didn't have as much fruit as the Aldi and Sainsbury cakes. There was also less icing surrounding it.
"I can taste ginger," one of our panel commented. The cake was quite dry and floury to taste, it had the least fruity taste and very little marzipan taste. Testers said it tasted of ginger and sugar and not much else.
835g RRP: £8
The Marks and Spencer cake wasn't fully iced like the others, so our testers thought it may not be as moist as the others. But in fact the Tesco cake was drier.
Testers liked the festive decorations and the shaping of the cake. It wasn't as dark as our winner and tasted more like a fruit cake than a rich Christmas cake. Testers struggled to taste any spice and there was no alcohol taste. There was also less fruit than our two favourite cakes.
"Bland and sweet" was the conclusion of our panel.
1.5kg RRP: £19
The Waitrose cake was the biggest and most expensive in our test. Our panel expected this to be a rich and luxurious cake, but unfortunately they were disappointed.
The cake itself looked the part, nicely decorated and with a real fabric ribbon.
However, when it was cut, it wasn't as dark as our two top cakes, it was crumbly to the touch and had air pockets within the cake mixture.
"It's a bit tasteless," said one of our testers. "You can't taste the fruit, where's the spice and the alcohol?"
It was an opinion shared by the rest of the panel. Testers concluded it was too dry and sweet.
Christmas cakes started in the Middle Ages as a plum porridge which was used to break the religious fast on Christmas Eve. The 'porridge' was made of boiled beef, fruit and spices, and thickened with bread and oats - it was more like a soup or broth.
It wasn't until the 16th century that the beef, bread and oats were replaced by butter, flour and eggs and it started to resemble the cake we eat today - richer families would also wrap their cake in marzipan.
147g RRP: £3.50
The Morrison's mini cake looked really quite sweet. Our panel was pleasantly surprised at how moist this cake was. Testers liked that they could taste the fruit and spice but would have appreciated a hint of alcohol to it.
The marzipan came through and it had a nice icing on top. It was another unanimous winner as our best mini/individual cake.
150g RRP: £2.49
This cake didn't look like a Christmas treat. It crumbled as it was cut in half, it was pale in colour and dry to taste.
"I can taste the spice and the marzipan but that's it," one of our testers commented.
It wasn't a popular cake.
150g RRP: £3
"Waitrose isn't doing very well today," one of our testers commented.
The mini cake looked nice enough and had a firm icing, but it was dry and crumbly. Our testers said it tasted like a fruit cake not a Christmas cake. No spice or alcohol came through and there was only the merest hint of marzipan taste.
200g RRP: £2.49
The Lidl Christmas cake bar is the right size for anyone who thinks a full-sized version would be too big. At 400g it was bigger than the minis and half the size of the 900g cakes.
The cake was dark and looked like a Christmas cake, it wasn't as dry as some of the others but it split opinion. Some thought it was okay but a few felt it tasted burnt.
It won our best slice, even though it divided opinion.
100g RRP: £1.60
Gregg's Christmas cake bar is a great idea. A slice to take away and have with your morning coffee, but unfortunately its name was its only link to a Christmas cake.
The cake part was very pale, with no obvious fruit, it was dry, very sweet and tasting of marzipan and not much else. Naming it something else might help. Our panel wasn't keen.
252g RRP: £2
The Mr Kipling slices are made up of fruit cake, with an almond topping and white icing. Our testers could taste the almond and the sugar, they agreed there was some spice coming through too.
But they complained that they tasted of flour and were claggy.
"I really don't want to eat this," said one of our panel.
Our test was of the most popular Christmas cakes but there are other options for those who are vegan or gluten intolerant.
For vegans, fruit cake is one of the more difficult cakes to source. A poll of our team found that Waitrose has the most popular choice, with its Plant Living: Iced Christmas Cake (760g £10).
Waitrose is also popular for those who are gluten intolerant, with its Free From Milk & Gluten Free Christmas Cake (480g RRP £6.80), and Sainsbury's also got a recommendation for its Free From Iced Fruit Cake Slices (210g £2.75).
A big thanks to Goytre Hall, in Abergavenny, for hosting our tasting session.
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