Can You Have Your Christmas Cake and Eat It Too? Damn Right You Can!
- Alastair Hunt
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
It’s that time of year when - if you celebrate a Western Christmas - marzipan is plentiful, raisins are soaked in booze and the house smells like cinnamon and butter. But as we tuck into our favourite festive treats, many of us also hear that nagging inner voice “Is this bad for me?” A 2023 (and thoroughly tongue-in-cheek) study published in The BMJ asks that very question, using recipes from none other than The Great British Bake Off.
The researchers behind the article, aptly titled “Champagne Problems”, set out to determine whether the ingredients in Bake Off Christmas desserts are more likely to harm or help our health, based on the current landscape of nutritional science. But before we dive into the mince pies and data, one thing must be clear:
As ever, please talk to your doctor or medical practitioner most familiar with your medical history before implementing any changes in diet, exercise or lifestyle, especially if you are under treatment. Links to all studies / resources at bottom of page.
What Did the Study Do?
The authors analysed 48 Christmas dessert recipes from The Great British Bake Off website. These recipes included traditional cakes, biscuits, puddings, and pastries, and contained a total of 178 unique ingredients. To make sense of the data, the ingredients were grouped into 17 broader categories, such as fruit, sugar, alcohol, nuts, coffee and butter.
Rather than conducting original research, the authors searched for umbrella reviews - essentially studies of other studies - that summarised how these ingredient categories are linked to risk of death or disease. In total, they reviewed 46 umbrella reviews, yielding 363 associations between specific ingredients and health outcomes.
What Did They Find?
The results may surprise you. Of the 363 associations examined, 149 were statistically significant. Among those, 110 (74%) showed a reduced risk of death or disease, while only 39 (26%) showed an increased risk. So despite all the indulgence, many of the ingredients used in Bake Off Christmas recipes might actually be doing us more good than harm.
Among the health-promoting ingredients, fruit was the standout, appearing in 44 positive associations. Coffee and nuts followed, linked with 17 and 14 health benefits respectively. These ingredients were most often associated with lower risks of cancer, neurological disorders and heart disease.
Learn more about the many health benefits of fruit.
Aren't nuts fatty? How many can one enjoy? Learn more here.
By contrast, alcohol and sugar were most frequently associated with harm. Alcohol appeared in 20 of the 39 harmful associations - more than half - and was linked to higher risks of colon and gastric cancers, liver disease, gout, and atrial fibrillation. Sugar had fewer harmful links, though it was still associated with conditions like gout and metabolic disorders.
The Bake Off Breakdown
Several specific desserts were examined in more detail. Prue Leith’s chocolate yule log, for instance, contained alcohol that remained in the unbaked cream filling. The researchers joked that this “festive spirit” came with a health cost, including increased risks of cancer and heart rhythm disorders. In contrast, Paul Hollywood’s Stollen, rich in dried fruit and almonds, had overwhelmingly more health-positive associations. Even Rav’s Frozen Fantasy Cake, despite its sugary buttercream, scored well thanks to ingredients like almonds and passion fruit.
The point? Even in rich desserts, ingredients like nuts and fruit can tip the balance toward health, at least on paper.
Should We Believe the Hype?
Not entirely. And the authors themselves acknowledge this. Most of the “significant” findings were based on weak evidence. Only 1% of the associations were classed as “convincing,” while over 85% were deemed weak. This is a common problem in nutrition research, especially when studies rely on self-reported food diaries or attempt to isolate single ingredients from broader eating habits.
People rarely eat just one ingredient in isolation, especially in complex desserts. Diet is also deeply intertwined with other factors like lifestyle, income, and education. So while an association might be found between a food and a health outcome, it’s difficult to prove causation.
Additionally, the researchers didn’t assess portion sizes. A recipe with a tiny amount of dried fruit was counted equally alongside one packed with it. Likewise, a heavy use of butter or sugar wasn’t “weighted” more heavily than a trace amount, purely because the review didn’t include dosage data.
What Can We Take from This?
While the science behind it may be a little soft in the middle, this review offers some genuinely useful insights, particularly if you're looking to make your festive baking just a little healthier.
For example, using fruit generously in cakes and puddings can add fibre and antioxidants, while nuts like almonds or hazelnuts offer heart-friendly fats and a satisfying crunch. Even coffee, often used in chocolate-based desserts or tiramisu-style dishes, was associated with protective effects against chronic illness.
What happened when Harvard's School of Nutrition was asked to create a healthy dessert? The delicious 3 Pleasures was born!
On the flip side, it’s worth being mindful of alcohol, especially when it’s not baked off during cooking. If you're serving a dessert with raw or added alcohol - such as cream fillings or icings - consider reducing the quantity or swapping it for flavourful alternatives like coffee or vanilla. While sugar didn’t fare as poorly as expected, keeping added sugars below 25g (around six teaspoons) per day is still the public health recommendation.
Inspiration and Enjoy!
Ramsay..
And Oliver...
Final Thoughts
This joyful and cleverly festive review reminds us that dessert doesn’t have to be a guilty pleasure. Even rich bakes from The Great British Bake Off contain ingredients that may have health benefits. While we mustn't over-interpret weak associations in nutritional studies, the message here is surprisingly encouraging: there’s room in a balanced lifestyle for sweet indulgence.
So this Christmas, enjoy your fruit-studded Stollen, that coffee-flavoured mousse and, maybe, go easy on the Irish cream. After all, food is more than fuel: it’s tradition, pleasure, and celebration.
Changing health for the better is about consistent progress, not perfection, and even small changes can make a meaningful difference over time. The best health strategy is one you can stick with - one that fits your personal lifestyle profile. Improving health is about finding motivation, prioritising self-care and taking action.
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Merry Christmas!
Alastair
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Related Resources and Studies
Wallach J D, Gautam A, Ramachandran R, Ross J S. Association of health benefits and harms of Christmas dessert ingredients in recipes from The Great British Bake Off: umbrella review of umbrella reviews of meta-analyses of observational studies BMJ 2023; 383 :e077166 doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-077166
Tarts (in image), purchased from Fredo's Bakery, Singapore
Other
Abdulan IM, Popescu G, Maștaleru A, Oancea A, Costache AD, Cojocaru DC, Cumpăt CM, Ciuntu BM, Rusu B, Leon MM. Winter Holidays and Their Impact on Eating Behavior-A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2023 Sep 28;15(19):4201. doi: 10.3390/nu15194201. PMID: 37836485; PMCID: PMC10574044.
Vedel-Krogh S, Kobylecki CJ, Nordestgaard BG, Langsted A. The Christmas holidays are immediately followed by a period of hypercholesterolemia. Atherosclerosis. 2019 Feb;281:121-127. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2018.12.011. Epub 2018 Dec 19. PMID: 30658187.
Díaz-Zavala RG, Castro-Cantú MF, Valencia ME, Álvarez-Hernández G, Haby MM, Esparza-Romero J. Effect of the Holiday Season on Weight Gain: A Narrative Review. J Obes. 2017;2017:2085136. doi: 10.1155/2017/2085136. Epub 2017 Jul 4. PMID: 28744374; PMCID: PMC5514330.
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