While there are some excellent small and online bakers offering Christmas cakes, most of us will be sourcing this festive treat from well-known retailers, which makes finding the best supermarket Christmas cake in 2021 an important undertaking.
That’s because most of the supermarket Christmas cakes are reasonably priced and packed with rich fruit, glace cherries, fondant icing, and many do well in various taste tests.
To find the best supermarket Christmas cakes for 2021, we looked for traditional Christmas cake recipes that offered plump vine fruits to impress whether after Christmas dinner, or to entertain family and friends with a cuppa!
Alongside Waitrose, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, other supermarket cakes to impress came from Lidl and Aldi Specially Selected offerings.
There’s also a trend to offer not just rich fruit cakes and iced Christmas cakes but also salted caramel and sponge cake alternatives.
Most supermarket Christmas cakes have nice decorations, including a traditional Christmas tree, Santa or a snowflake design.
The bottom line is that the Christmas cakes available from supermarkets in the UK for 2021 are very impressive and very tasty.
Tesco Finest Rich Fruit Cake
Tesco has some great Christmas cakes this year, but here at Christmas.co.uk we were really taken by their Finest Rich Fruit Cake.
It costs just £10 and will serve 12 people, and this is a hand-decorated fruit cake to impress.
This is a cake that is packed with plump vine fruits, festive spices and glace cherries and lashed with brandy and cognac. It’s a tasty offering, with a deep flavour – and a hint of citrus.
The rich fruitcake has been encased in white icing and marzipan and then finished with a hand placed golden snowflake and gold stencilling.
For the money, the Tesco Finest Rich Fruit Cake really does hit the spot, but Tesco also offers a top iced fruitcake and a lovely ‘Very Merry Go Round’ Christmas cake that serves 18.
M&S Collection Night Before Christmas Smash Cake
While M&S offers some great Christmas cakes for 2021, we were really taken with their Collection Night Before Christmas Smash Cake.
It’s something of a showstopper and it’s not a fruit cake either – it’s a fluffy, light Madeira sponge cake that is filled with a vanilla and raspberry jam buttercream.
The smash cake has an edible dome that is smashed to reveal a range of Christmas sweet treats.
It’s an unusual and eye-catching creation that it’s ideal for young families or those who want something a bit different on the big day.
Another alternative is the M&S Collection Sticky Toffee Pudding Crown which is covered with a salted caramel sauce and a Madagascan vanilla custard. It’s delicious.
Morrisons Christmas Royal Iced Fruit Cake
Morrisons is a supermarket that offers an excellent range of festive foods and their Royal Iced Fruit Cake is a real delight.
It costs £8 and offers a very tasty Christmas cake that is packed with glace cherries, plump vine fruits as well as citrus peel. This cake is also suitable for vegetarians.
It should serve 14 but if you serve small slices, then you’ll be guaranteed to be needing seconds!
We also really liked their top iced fruit cake that costs £5 and serves 16 people which has a rich, fruity flavour.
There’s also their fully iced tree cake which costs £7 and will serve 14 people.
Again, it’s packed with fruit and is a stylish offering for family and guests.
Iceland Top Iced Christmas Cake
Another popular choice for Christmas supermarket food is Iceland and their Top Iced Christmas Cake is a cracker.
It costs just £6 and has great reviews on their website.
This is a very rich fruitcake and is packed with glace cherries and sultanas and then topped with soft icing and marzipan.
It has also been hand finished with a star-shaped edible decoration.
Again, this is a cake that is suitable for vegetarians and is great value for money.
If you want a rich fruit cake for your Christmas cake, then this is a very fruity and not overly sweet creation that is good to eat at any time.
We also really enjoyed the Iceland Luxury Christmas Cake that weighs in at 1kg and costs just £8.
It has won a vote of approval from the Good Housekeeping Institute and is another popular choice with customers.
There’s also the smaller, Luxury Rich Iced Fruit Cake that costs £3 with a nice taste of cognac and brandy.
Aldi Luxury Iced Fruit Cake
Another popular supermarket destination for Christmas goodies is Aldi and their Luxury Iced Fruit Cake is a very tasty creation.
This brandy-infused offering is packed with vine fruits and has a sweet marzipan and a hand-finished icing topping.
The marzipan is fairly thin, but this is a great offering that doesn’t detract from the excellent selection of fruits in the cake.
The Christmas.co.uk team also like the Rich and Fruity Iced Fruit Cake that costs £2.69 and is a smaller offering.
Again, it’s packed with lots of fruit with a sweet marzipan and icing topping.
ASDA Extra Special Brandy-Soaked Fully Iced Fruit Cake
Asda doesn’t disappoint at Christmas time and their Extra Special Brandy-soaked Fully Iced Fruit Cake is a dream.
It costs £9 and will serve 14 people with a cake that’s made with raisins and sultanas, along with candied citrus peel, glace cherries, split almonds as well as chopped walnuts. There’s also a detectable amount of French brandy and the soft icing and marzipan really is a standout creation. The sugar decorations are edible, and this is an eye-catching offering.
Again, it’s a popular choice with customers who have left rave reviews for a Christmas cake that is also suitable for vegetarians.
One of the attractions is that this is a moist offering without being too sweet and is packed with fruit to delight.
There’s a smaller, cheaper version of a similar cake which costs £3.50 and will serve six people.
It’s still a very tasty brandy-soaked iced fruitcake to impress.
Sainsbury’s Free From Iced Christmas Cake
Of the Christmas cake range from Sainsbury’s, we like their Free From Iced Christmas Cake offering from their ‘Taste the Difference’ range.
It’s a gluten-free fruit cake that costs £5 and has been finished with a large splash of brandy.
This is a rich offering with plenty of fruit including glace cherries, raisins and sultanas and nicely finished with marzipan and icing.
There’s a very nice gold snowflake decoration and this is an ideal Christmas cake to serve up with a cup of tea with friends.
There’s also a smaller version, the Free From Iced Fruit Cake bar that costs £2.50 and is a very tasty Christmas cake to enjoy.
Lidl Favorina Top Iced Christmas Cake
Not everyone wants to spend a small fortune on a Christmas cake which is where the Lidl Favorina Top Iced Christmas Cake scores well.
It costs just £4.49 and weighs in at 907g but it’s a very tasty creation that doesn’t have as many plump vine fruits as some rivals do.
The icing is also a tad thicker than on other cakes, but some people really like icing!
It’s a flavoursome creation with a striking design on the surface.
Again, there’s a smaller version available, the Favorina Top Iced Christmas Bar which costs £1.99, and this is also packed with flavours.
