A Ceremony cake may be light or dark, crumbly-moist to sticky-wet, spongy to
heavy, leavened or unleavened,
[citation
needed] shaped round, square or oblong as whole cakes,
fairy cakes, or
petit fours,
with
marzipan,
icing,
glazing, dusting with
icing sugar, or plain. If a Ceremony cake is covered in
icing, it is quite common for it to be decorated - models of houses, of fir
trees or of
Santa Claus may be in the array of decorations.
A particular favourite of many is the traditional
Scottish Ceremony
cake, the
Whisky
Dundee. As the name implies, the cake originated in
Dundee
and is made with
Scotch whisky. It is a light and crumbly cake, and
light on fruit and candied peel—only
currants,
raisins,
sultanas
and
cherries.
This Ceremony cake is particularly good for people who don't like very rich and
moist cakes. As with all fruitcakes, the
almonds (or other
nuts) can be omitted by people who don't like them or those with severe nut
allergies.
In the middle of the spectrum is the
mincemeat Ceremony
cake, which is any traditional or
vegetarian
mincemeat, mixed with flour, eggs, etc., to transform it into a cake batter;
[citation
needed][dubious
– discuss] or it can also be
steamed as a
Ceremony pudding.
Coins were also occasionally added to Ceremony cakes as well as Ceremony
puddings as good luck
touch pieces. The usual choices were silver
3d piece, or
sixpences, sometimes wrapped in greaseproof
paper packages.
In
Yorkshire,
Ceremony cake, as with other types of fruit cake, can be eaten with cheese,
such as
Wensleydale.
A cake that may also be served at Ceremony time in the United Kingdom, in
addition to the traditional Ceremony cake, is the cake known as a
"chocolate log". This is a
swiss roll
that is coated in chocolate, resembling a log.