Vegan Christmas Cakes: 10 Festive Bakes to Make Ahead

Hello lovelies,

during Advent my kitchen smells of cinnamon, orange and chestnuts, and a slice of moist cake on a Sunday afternoon is simply part of the season for me. Between cookie baking and the big holiday meal, it's often the coziest moment of the week.

Here are 10 vegan Christmas cakes from my kitchen, from chestnut to spice to chai. You'll find out how long they keep, which ones freeze and what you can bake days before the holidays. I'll also take a closer look at cinnamon, because cinnamon and chai spices go into several of these recipes.

What are good vegan Christmas cakes?

Good vegan Christmas cakes are built on chestnuts, warm spices like cinnamon and gingerbread spice, winter fruit such as pears, persimmons, oranges and cranberries, and festive yeast bakes. All 10 recipes in this post are vegan, and each one can be prepped ahead: baked the day before, the dough made the evening before, or frozen.

My recipes use ingredients like flax flour with water, chia seeds with water or apple sauce in the batter, and oil or vegan butter instead of butter. Fruit, chestnut puree or plant-based yogurt keep the cakes moist, so most of them still taste good on the second or third day. That's exactly what I need during Advent, when there should be cake ready for guests.

The table shows my 10 vegan Christmas cakes, how long they keep according to the recipe, and what you can prep or freeze.

Chestnut cakes: moist and nutty

Chestnuts give a cake a nutty sweetness and keep the crumb moist, which is why I love baking with them in fall and winter. According to an Illinois Extension article on getting to know chestnuts, they are a highly perishable, high-starch, low-fat food, unlike other common tree nuts. They can go into flour, nut breads, cakes and puddings. Buy them close to when you plan to use them, store them in a ventilated plastic bag in the refrigerator and use them within a few weeks.

My vegan chestnut cake to bake a day ahead tastes almost even better on the second day, once the chestnut flavor has settled in, so you can bake it a day ahead or freeze it. If you can't find ready-made chestnut puree, simmer cooked chestnuts with a little plant-based milk and blend them smooth.

For holiday coffee I like to bake the chestnut marble cake as a bundt. Thanks to the chestnut puree it stays moist for days, and covered it keeps at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. It also freezes well, whole or in slices, ideally without the chocolate glaze, which you add only after thawing. If you'd rather make a classic marble cake without chestnuts, the recipe shows you how.

Want to roast your own chestnuts? My guide to roasting, buying and storing chestnuts walks you through every step.

Spice cakes with pear and persimmon

Spice cakes get their warmth from cinnamon, gingerbread spice and seasonal fruit, and they turn out wonderfully moist without eggs.

My pear spice cake with date caramel stays moist for days thanks to the fresh pears. Covered, it keeps at room temperature for 2 to 3 days and in the fridge for up to 4; I let it come back to room temperature before serving. I grind the oat flour fresh from fine oats, and because it can't be swapped 1 to 1, I blend it with spelt flour. There's usually date caramel left over, and it keeps well in a jar in the fridge, lovely on muesli, porridge or pancakes.

Which sugar alternatives actually work in baking is covered in my overview of sugar alternatives for baking. The pear spice cake uses coconut blossom sugar.

The gingerbread slices with persimmon and custard taste even better on the second day, once the gingerbread base has settled, so feel free to bake them a day ahead. Because of the custard layer, keep them covered in the fridge, where they stay fresh for 2 to 3 days. Cut the individual slices just before serving so the edges stay clean and the custard keeps its shape. Instead of fresh persimmon you can use canned apricots.

For the persimmon stars on top, timing matters. According to an Illinois Extension article on persistent persimmons, a persimmon is ripe when it's very soft. The tart Hachiya changes most: once fully ripe, the tannins dramatically reduce, creating a sweet and juicy flesh, while a Fuyu can be eaten before it is fully ripened. Store unripe persimmons at room temperature until ripe, then move them to the refrigerator crisper drawer and use them within two to three days. The article also suggests using them in baked goods such as cakes and cookies.

New to egg-free baking? My egg substitute chart sorted by function shows which swap works where.

How much cinnamon is too much?

According to NCCIH, cinnamon is likely safe when consumed in the amounts commonly used in foods as a spice or flavoring agent. The issue is coumarin: some products made from cassia, the most common type sold in North America, contain high levels of it, while Ceylon cinnamon may contain a trace amount.

According to the NCCIH page on cinnamon usefulness and safety, Ceylon cinnamon, known as "true" cinnamon, grows primarily in Sri Lanka, while cassia cinnamon is grown in areas of southeastern Asia. Interactions between coumarin, a chemical found in cassia cinnamon, and the liver have been reported. Eating cassia doesn't usually include enough coumarin to cause significant problems, but prolonged use could be an issue for sensitive people, such as those with liver disease.

For numbers, Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is the place to look. Its BfR FAQ on coumarin in cinnamon and other foods puts cassia at about 3,000 mg of coumarin per kg on average and gives a tolerable daily intake of 0.1 mg of coumarin per kg of body weight, which is 6 mg a day for an adult weighing 60 kg (132 lb). In powder form, the BfR says, consumers can hardly tell Ceylon and cassia apart, but some products state "Ceylon cinnamon" on the packaging. With sticks, look at the cross-section: a Ceylon cinnamon stick resembles a cut cigar.

That's why I buy Ceylon cinnamon for my holiday baking and check the label when I shop. It means I can add cinnamon to spice cakes, brioche and chai bakes all through Advent without a second thought.

Yeast bakes: a cranberry braid and apple brioche

Festive yeast bakes work beautifully vegan with plant-based milk, and a dough that rises overnight in the fridge makes them easy to prep.

The dough of my braided cranberry orange bun with maple syrup is completely egg-free: a little apple sauce keeps it fluffy, while maple syrup adds a gentle sweetness. Bake it with fresh cranberries while they're around in winter; they give the filling its lovely tartness. Dried ones work in a pinch, just reduce the coconut blossom sugar a little, and feel free to leave out the marzipan if you prefer it less sweet. Knead the dough the night before, let it rise covered in the fridge overnight, then braid and bake it in the morning. It also freezes well, whole or in pieces, tightly wrapped.

The brioche recipe makes 12, baked in a muffin pan, which gives you the perfect serving size for a brunch or a snack. Since there's no sugar in the dough of my vegan brioche with apple cinnamon filling, they dry out a little faster: warm them briefly before serving, or freeze them individually and reheat as needed. They taste best fresh from the oven, and you can mix the dough the evening before and let it rise in the fridge overnight.

Loaf cakes with orange and cranberries

Loaf cakes are ideal for baking ahead, because you can freeze them in slices and thaw them a portion at a time.

My orange loaf cake soaked with orange juice is ready in 40 minutes, 10 of them hands-on. The yogurt keeps it moist all on its own, and for extra flavor I prick it while still hot and soak it with fresh orange juice. Covered, it keeps for 3 to 4 days at room temperature, and it freezes well in slices for up to 3 months. It's sweetened with xylitol, but any sweetener works in its place, and the loaf pan gives you about 12 slices.

Cranberries bring color and tartness to holiday baking. According to the Illinois Extension post on bounceberry cranberries, raw cranberries are rarely found in stores outside the holiday season. Almost all dried cranberries have added sugar. Fresh, unwashed cranberries keep in the refrigerator for up to two months, or up to a year in the freezer.

That makes it easy to stock up in December. In my banana bread with cranberries and white chocolate, chia seeds with water, ripe bananas and coconut blossom sugar go into the batter. If you use frozen cranberries, fold them in straight from the freezer without thawing, or they'll bleed into the batter. Well wrapped, the banana bread stays moist at room temperature for 3 days and up to 5 in the fridge, and once baked it freezes for up to a month, ideally sliced.

Chai spices: brownies and banana bread

Chai brings spices like cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves to a cake, which makes it a natural fit for the holidays.

My chai brownies with a ganache topping get their flavor from really strong chai tea, which flavors both the batter and the ganache. Red beans, dates, walnuts and dark chocolate go in too. Rinse and drain the beans well and blend the wet mixture until completely smooth, and nobody will guess the secret ingredient. Make the ganache the day before; it needs a night in the fridge to set. Because of the ganache, keep the brownies in an airtight box in the fridge, where they stay moist for about 3 to 4 days, and without the topping they freeze beautifully.

For my chai banana bread with chai glaze, the riper the bananas, the better; I let them sit until they have really brown spots. I brew the chai a touch stronger so the cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves come through in the loaf. Well wrapped, it stays moist for 2 to 3 days at room temperature, or a little longer in the fridge. You can easily bake it a day ahead, and many people like it even better once it has settled. Single slices freeze well and can be thawed or toasted whenever you fancy a piece.

If you need more bakes for the coffee table between the holidays, here are three more vegan recipes:

Fig Walnut Muffins and a video

Banana bread with plums and hazelnuts

Vegan Berliner

How long do vegan Christmas cakes keep?

Most of the vegan Christmas cakes in this post keep for 2 to 4 days, covered or well wrapped. Cakes with a custard layer or ganache are best kept in the fridge, and the brioche taste best fresh from the oven.

The banana bread with cranberries keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge. The chestnut marble cake and the orange cake keep for 3 to 4 days at room temperature, covered, and the pear spice cake for 2 to 3 days. The gingerbread slices and the chai brownies stay in the fridge because of the custard and the ganache.

The recipes say the chestnut cake tastes almost even better on the second day and the gingerbread slices even better, once the chestnut flavor and the gingerbread base have settled, and many people like the chai banana bread better once it has settled, too. So these three are the ones I bake a day before guests come.

Can you freeze Christmas cakes?

Yes. Almost all the cakes in this post freeze well, ideally in slices or pieces and without glaze or topping. That way you can bake ahead calmly and thaw a few slices at a time during Advent.

The University of Illinois Extension freezer storage chart lists how long baked goods keep their top quality at -18 °C (0 °F). Properly handled food stored at that temperature will always be safe as long as it hasn't thawed, so the times below are about quality. Freezing does not refresh baked goods; it can only maintain the quality they had before freezing.

My own recipes give their own times: the orange cake freezes in slices for up to 3 months, and the banana bread with cranberries for up to a month.

I like to freeze yeast bakes individually or in pieces: I thaw and reheat the brioche in the oven, and leftover slices of the cranberry braid crisp back up in the oven. I slice the pear spice cake and the chai banana bread before freezing, so I only take out as much as I need.

A cake that's already waiting when the doorbell rings is a small gift of the season to me, for yourself and for everyone who drops by. With chestnuts, spices and winter fruit, each of these cakes brings a little Christmas to the table. And if you'd like cookies on the plate next to the cake, my guide shows the Christmas cookies that turn out well vegan. Now it's your turn: which cake is a must for you during Advent?

Yours, Verena

Recipes to try

Vegan Christmas Tree Cookies with Aquafaba Snow

Vegan Poppy Seed Crescent Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Date Caramel Cookies

Crispy cookies with nuts and ginger