Duff Goldman Holiday Baking: 12 Jaw-Dropping Christmas Showstoppers Worthy of the Holiday Baking Championship

Duff Goldman holiday baking is all about one thing: the moment people gasp when the cake hits the table. The Detroit-born cake artist became famous on Ace of Cakes, the Food Network series about his Baltimore bakery, Charm City Cakes, where his team built cakes shaped like everything from stadiums to a Black Hawk helicopter. Today fans know him as a judge on Holiday Baking Championship, Spring Baking Championship and Kids Baking Championship, where he looks for flavor first and wow factor a close second. This gallery gathers twelve Christmas showstoppers in that spirit, from a snowy red velvet layer cake and a peppermint bark tower to a croquembouche, a Norwegian ring-cake tree and a candy-covered gingerbread house. These are our own home-baker versions inspired by the show, not recipes from Duff himself, and every one can be made in a normal kitchen..

Red Velvet Snow Cake, the Duff Goldman Holiday Baking Classic

If one cake captures the spirit of Duff Goldman holiday baking, it is a towering red velvet cake hiding under drifts of cream cheese frosting. The outside looks like a snowbank, then the first slice reveals three crimson layers that make the whole table go quiet. Sugared cranberries and little rosemary sprigs on top look like berries and pine in fresh snow, and they take ten minutes to make. Bake the layers a day early, wrap them well, and frost on the morning of the party for clean, confident swoops..

You will need: 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 cups oil, 1 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons red food coloring, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 16 oz cream cheese, 1 cup butter, 6 cups powdered sugar, 1 cup cranberries, extra sugar, rosemary sprigs.

How to make it: 1. Whisk the dry ingredients, beat in oil, buttermilk, eggs, color, vanilla and vinegar, and bake in three 8-inch pans at 350F for 25 minutes. 2. Roll damp cranberries and rosemary in sugar and let them dry on a rack. 3. Beat cream cheese, butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. 4. Stack and frost the cooled layers with big swoops, then crown with the sugared berries and rosemary.

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Layer Cake

This is the cake for anyone who hoards the peppermint bark every December. Three dark chocolate layers are filled and frosted with pale pink peppermint buttercream, then a glossy ganache drip runs down the sides. The crown is homemade peppermint bark, snapped into shards and pushed into the top so it stands up like a jagged winter skyline. It looks like a bakery cake but uses simple techniques, and the bark can be made a week ahead. Judges on baking shows love a clear flavor story, and this one is pure candy cane. Think of it as Duff Goldman holiday baking in candy-cane form.

You will need: 1 chocolate layer cake (three 8-inch layers), 1 1/2 cups butter, 5 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract, a drop of pink food coloring, 6 oz dark chocolate, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 8 oz white chocolate, 4 oz dark chocolate for the bark, 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies.

How to make it: 1. Melt the dark bark chocolate in a lined pan, top with melted white chocolate and crushed candy, chill and snap into shards. 2. Beat butter, powdered sugar, milk, extract and color into a fluffy buttercream. 3. Fill, stack and frost the cake, then chill 20 minutes. 4. Pour warm ganache (chocolate melted in hot cream) around the top edge so it drips, then stand the bark shards on top.

Yule Log With Meringue Mushrooms

The French buche de Noel is the original Christmas showstopper, and the meringue mushrooms are what make guests lean in for a closer look. A thin chocolate sponge is rolled around whipped cream, covered in chocolate frosting and dragged with a fork to look like bark. Little meringue mushrooms, piped and baked low and slow, are scattered around it with a snowfall of powdered sugar. It is the kind of detail Duff Goldman holiday baking fans adore, and the mushrooms keep for a week in a tin. For more bakes you can finish the night before, browse our make-ahead Christmas desserts.

You will need: 4 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, pinch of salt, 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 3 tablespoons powdered sugar, chocolate frosting, 2 egg whites, 1/2 cup sugar for meringue, cocoa and powdered sugar for dusting.

How to make it: 1. Whip eggs and sugar until thick, fold in flour, cocoa and salt, and bake in a lined sheet pan at 375F for 10 minutes; roll up warm in a towel. 2. Pipe meringue caps and stems, bake at 200F for 90 minutes and stick them together with a dab of frosting. 3. Unroll the cake, spread with whipped cream, roll again and chill. 4. Frost, drag a fork for bark lines, add the mushrooms and dust with powdered sugar snow.

Croquembouche Cream Puff Tower

A croquembouche is a cone of cream puffs stuck together with caramel, and in France it is served at weddings, christenings and big celebrations. It is also a classic baking-competition challenge because it tests choux pastry, filling and sugar work all at once. At home, build it around a paper cone lined with parchment, dip each filled puff in amber caramel and stack in rings, smallest at the top. Decorate with sugared almonds, berries or spun sugar. Bring it out whole, then let guests pull off their own puffs. Few desserts say Duff Goldman holiday baking drama quite like a tower of cream puffs.

You will need: 1 cup water, 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup flour, 4 eggs, pinch of salt, 3 cups vanilla pastry cream, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup water for caramel, sugared almonds or fresh berries to decorate.

How to make it: 1. Boil water and butter, stir in flour until it forms a ball, then beat in eggs one at a time. 2. Pipe small mounds and bake at 400F for 25 minutes until crisp; cool and fill with pastry cream. 3. Cook sugar and water to amber caramel, then carefully dip each puff and stack in rings around a parchment-lined cone. 4. Remove the cone, tuck in decorations and serve within a few hours.

Christmas Star Cookie Tree for Duff Goldman Holiday Baking Fans

This edible tree is just stacked star cookies, but it looks like it came out of a professional pastry case. Cut vanilla sugar cookies into stars in graduating sizes, pipe a thin green icing edge, and stack them from biggest to smallest, rotating each one so the points fan out like branches. A shower of powdered sugar turns it into a snowy fir. Kids can help with every step, which is exactly the kind of family project the Kids Baking Championship celebrates. Guests break off a branch to eat. It is Duff Goldman holiday baking made simple enough for a Saturday afternoon.

You will need: 1 batch vanilla sugar cookie dough, set of star cutters in graduating sizes, 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons meringue powder, 4 tablespoons water, green gel coloring, silver sugar pearls, powdered sugar for dusting.

How to make it: 1. Roll the dough 1/4 inch thick and cut two stars of each size; bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes and cool. 2. Beat powdered sugar, meringue powder and water into icing and tint it pale green. 3. Pipe a thin icing edge on each star and add a few sugar pearls. 4. Stack largest to smallest with a dot of icing between layers, rotating each star, then dust with powdered sugar.

Candy-Covered Gingerbread House Worthy of Duff Goldman Holiday Baking

No holiday baking competition season is complete without a gingerbread build, and this cheerful cottage is a great first project. Sturdy gingerbread walls are glued with royal icing, then the roof gets snowy icing drips and a mosaic of gumdrops, peppermints and colorful candies. Set it on a board spread with icing snow so it looks like it sits in a winter yard. The trick judges always point out is structure: let the walls set for an hour before adding the roof, and the house will stand all season. Every Duff Goldman holiday baking season deserves at least one edible house.

You will need: 1 batch construction gingerbread dough, paper template for walls and roof, 4 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons meringue powder, 1/2 cup water, gumdrops, round peppermints, assorted small candies, a cake board.

How to make it: 1. Roll the dough on parchment, cut the walls and roof pieces from your template and bake at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes. 2. Beat powdered sugar, meringue powder and water into stiff royal icing. 3. Glue the four walls on the board and let them set for an hour, then add the roof. 4. Pipe icing icicles and snow, then press in candies while the icing is wet.

Kransekake Ring Cake Tree

Kransekake is the towering ring cake of Norway and Denmark, served at Christmas, New Year’s Eve and weddings. It is made from a simple almond paste dough rolled into ropes, shaped into eighteen or more rings of shrinking size and baked until chewy inside and crisp outside. Stacked with zigzags of white icing, the rings become a golden tree that looks impossible but is really just patient work. It is gluten free when made with almonds and egg whites alone, and it stays fresh for days under a cover. Any Duff Goldman holiday baking spread looks taller and grander with one of these.

You will need: 1 lb almond flour, 1 lb powdered sugar, 3 egg whites, 1 teaspoon almond extract, kransekake ring pans or a paper template, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1 egg white for icing.

How to make it: 1. Knead almond flour, powdered sugar, egg whites and extract into a firm dough and chill 1 hour. 2. Roll into finger-thick ropes and shape rings of decreasing size on parchment or in ring pans. 3. Bake at 400F for 10 to 12 minutes until golden and cool completely. 4. Stack from largest to smallest, piping zigzags of icing on each ring to hold the tower together.

Sticky Gingerbread Cake With Warm Caramel Sauce

Not every showstopper needs to be tall. This dark, moist gingerbread cake is all about flavor, the thing baking judges always say comes first. Molasses, fresh ginger, cinnamon and cloves make the kitchen smell like Christmas morning, and a warm caramel sauce poured over each wedge turns it into a restaurant dessert. Bake it in a round pan or a bundt pan, and serve it warm with a spoon of whipped cream. It is one of the easiest bakes in this Duff Goldman holiday baking lineup, and it tastes even better the next day.

You will need: 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 cup molasses, 1 egg, 1 cup hot water, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup cream plus 3 tablespoons butter for caramel.

How to make it: 1. Whisk the flour, soda and spices; beat butter and brown sugar, then add molasses, egg and fresh ginger. 2. Stir in the dry mix and hot water and bake in a greased pan at 350F for 40 to 45 minutes. 3. Melt sugar in a heavy pan until amber, then whisk in cream and butter off the heat. 4. Serve warm wedges drenched in caramel sauce.

Caramelized Pear Upside-Down Cake

Upside-down cakes are the great magic trick of home baking: you build the pretty part on the bottom of the pan, then flip it at the end for a big reveal. Fanned pear slices are laid over buttery brown sugar, a spiced vanilla batter goes on top, and out of the oven it turns into a glossy, jewel-like crown. Add a handful of cranberries between the pears for Christmas color. It is the kind of bake that would land well in a holiday baking competition round about family traditions with a twist. Fans of Duff Goldman holiday baking will love the flip-and-reveal moment.

You will need: 4 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 ripe pears sliced, handful of cranberries (optional), 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla.

How to make it: 1. Melt butter with brown sugar in a 9-inch pan and fan the pear slices on top, adding cranberries in the gaps. 2. Beat butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla, then fold in the dry ingredients and milk. 3. Spread the batter over the fruit and bake at 350F for 40 minutes. 4. Rest 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge and flip onto a plate.

Santa and Teddy Bear Cupcakes, a Duff Goldman Holiday Baking Favorite for Kids

Cake decorating is where Duff Goldman built his name, and these cupcakes are a gentle introduction to working with fondant. Chocolate cupcakes get a smooth dome of frosting, then a disc of tinted fondant becomes a jolly Santa face with a white beard or a cocoa-brown teddy bear in a Santa hat with a holly sprig. Cut the shapes with simple round cutters and stick them on with a little water. They are perfect for a classroom party or a kids’ decorating afternoon, and every face comes out with its own funny personality.

You will need: 12 chocolate cupcakes, 2 cups buttercream, 12 oz white fondant, red, brown and green gel coloring, round cutters, a small star or leaf cutter, black edible marker or melted chocolate for eyes.

How to make it: 1. Frost each cupcake with a smooth, slightly domed layer of buttercream. 2. Tint fondant red, brown and green, keeping some white, and roll it thin. 3. Cut circles for faces, half circles for hats, and beards, noses and holly leaves. 4. Press the shapes onto the frosting, attach small pieces with a dab of water and draw on eyes.

Southern Lane Cake With Coconut Pecan Filling

Lane cake is an old Alabama Christmas tradition, famous enough to be mentioned in To Kill a Mockingbird. Fluffy white layers are stacked with a rich custard filling of coconut, pecans and raisins, then covered in snowy frosting or whipped cream. It was a prize-winning cake when Emma Rylander Lane created it, and it still feels like a blue-ribbon bake today. The classic version adds a splash of bourbon to the filling, but orange juice works beautifully for a family table. Make it a day ahead so the flavors settle. It brings old-fashioned Southern charm to a Duff Goldman holiday baking table.

You will need: 1 white layer cake (three 8-inch layers), 8 egg yolks, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup sweetened coconut, 1 cup raisins, 1/3 cup bourbon or orange juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 cups whipped cream or fluffy white frosting.

How to make it: 1. Cook yolks, sugar and butter over low heat, stirring, until thick enough to coat a spoon. 2. Stir in pecans, coconut, raisins, bourbon or juice and vanilla, then cool. 3. Spread the filling between the cake layers and over the top. 4. Finish the sides with whipped cream or white frosting and chill until serving.

Christmas Pavlova Piled With Fruit

In Australia and New Zealand, Christmas falls in summer, and the pavlova is the star of the holiday table. A big meringue disc is baked until crisp outside and marshmallow-soft inside, then piled with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Raspberries around the edge, mango and passion fruit in the center, and a few mint leaves make it look like a holiday wreath. It is naturally gluten free and lighter than most showstoppers, which makes it a welcome finish after a big dinner. Assemble it right before serving so it stays crisp. It is the lightest showstopper in this Duff Goldman holiday baking collection.

You will need: 4 egg whites, 1 cup superfine sugar, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 2 cups raspberries, 1 mango diced, 2 passion fruits, mint leaves.

How to make it: 1. Whip egg whites to soft peaks, then add sugar a spoonful at a time until thick and glossy; fold in vinegar, cornstarch and vanilla. 2. Spread into a 9-inch circle on parchment and bake at 250F for 75 minutes, then cool in the oven with the door ajar. 3. Whip the cream and spread it over the meringue. 4. Ring the edge with raspberries, fill the center with mango and passion fruit and add mint.