KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — Christmas is all about the familiar: fruitcakes perfumed with spirits, citrus-bright rolls, chocolate-laden centrepieces.
Yet each year brings a handful of bakers who take these traditions and tilt them ever so slightly, offering something recognisably festive but refreshingly new.
Take Cake Tella’s Christmas Rum Fruitcake, for instance. This is not the polite, sit-quietly-in-a-tin sort, but a full-bodied celebration of rum-steeped fruit and buttery spice.
At its core is a voluptuous Orange-Rum Custard that melts into the crumb, giving the whole loaf a warmth that lingers. It is the kind of fruitcake that anchors the table rather than simply occupying it.
For those who prefer their indulgence frozen and a little dramatic, Cake Tella’s other seasonal offering — the Martell Raisin Ice Cream Cake — offers an icy detour with cognac-soaked raisins folded into a soft vanilla ice cream centre, wrapped in sponge, all encased in a snowfall of white chocolate.
Another wintry confection is the traditional Yuletide log, though this often leans heavy — rich ganache, dense sponge, chocolate on chocolate.
Fortunately Flourysh Bakes takes a different path with its Hojicha Pomelo Roll Cake, a gentle balance of roasted tea and citrus.
The roll spirals around hojicha cream, lemon cream and pockets of fresh red pomelo, giving each slice a refreshing lift. A whisper of citrus cream on the exterior ties it together, making this a Christmas-exclusive that soothes rather than overwhelms.
When the season calls for something unabashedly indulgent, you can’t go wrong with choux artisan Pǐn’s new Butter Sand Cookies.
Each box holds seven cookies in flavours ranging from original and Earl Grey to strawberry, chocolate and matcha — each hiding its own centre of ganache, curd, buttercream or jam. They are small, but certainly not shy.
Pǐn’s festive staples make their return too. The choux-crafted Christmas Tree stands as intricate as ever, dressed with fondant stars, while their Christmas Wreath — a ring of choux — now features petite butter sand cookies nestled between each pastry. A wreath to admire, and then dismantle deliciously.
Some desserts revel in richness, and Baker Next Door’s Midnight Cherry Noel does so without apology.
This chocolate-and-cherry creation plays on contrasts: a dark chocolate filling, deep and velvety, set against a vivid sour cherry compote, all enclosed in a crisp pastry shell.
The top is crowned with fresh cherries and strawberries, gleaming like a constellation. Available in 7-inch and 9-inch sizes, it is intended not merely as a dessert, but as the centrepiece of the table — a Christmas night translated into chocolate and fruit.
For something truly Malaysian, Floccus Floccus presents a Christmas Kuih Set that blends nostalgia with whimsy.
The café, tucked along Jalan Sultan in the middle of Chinatown, is known for its miniature reinterpretations of Malaysian kuih — from the Sushi Angku filled with gula Melaka, sweetened mung bean and coconut, to the goldfish-shaped Kingu Chai Kuih hiding savoury jícama.
Their seasonal nine-piece set gives these familiar forms a Christmas costume: three kuih each in mung bean, matcha and hojicha flavours, arranged like a tray of tiny, edible ornaments. Charming, playful, and unmistakably local.
This year’s Christmas table is shaped by contrasts: the boozy and the delicate, the cold and the molten, the expected European origins and the emphatically Malaysian twists.
What ties them together is a quiet intentionality — an understanding of what makes the season feel special, without relying on the usual tropes.
Whether you lean towards rum-steeped decadence, citrus-forward lightness, chocolate-laden drama or the comfort of familiar kuih in festive dress, Christmas offers a place for all of it — side by side, and joyfully shared.
Flourysh Bakes: IG
