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 ] 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.