The festive cakes from around the world that these Australians bake over the holidays

There are many reasons we love the holiday season in Australia — precious time spent with family and loved ones, the exchange of gifts, and the supreme joys of having some time off to enjoy the sun.

But for many families, it's all about the food — and specifically the cakes and other baked goods that become the delicious tentpole of festive traditions. Here are three for Christmas and the new year you might like to try.

A Yule log for Noël

Heather Smith and her baker husband Jean-Marc from Melbourne/Naarm lived in Provence for 15 years before moving to Australia with their French-born kids in 2004. 

"Christmas in France, or Noël, is a very special time in Provence, with so many traditions going back centuries" she says.

"We had a patisserie in a small Provence village, Puget-Ville. Every Christmas, Jean-Marc would make Pompes à l'Huile and Bûches de Noël, as well as marrons glacés (candied chestnuts) and handmade chocolates.We would sell over 300 Bûche de Noëls both on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas morning."

The traditional Bûche de Noël (Yule log) is a rolled sponge, with vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate, or other more exotic flavours, decorated with little Christmas trees and other figurines.

Since arriving in Australia, Heather and Jean-Marc have tried to keep many of their Provencal Christmas traditions, and encourage their now adult children to continue them.

"[Jean-Marc} still makes a Bûche de Noël every year for the family, which we prefer to Christmas pudding or cake, but obviously now [without the patisserie, they] are much more home-made".

A Napoleon for the New Year

"Every family has a cake and Napoleon is ours," says Melbourne/Naarm-based food writer and broadcaster Alice Zavlavsky.

A Napoleon could be described as the Russian version of a French mille-feuille ("one thousand layers") or the Aussie vanilla slice, featuring many many layers of cream and pastry.

"Napoleon is the cake that Mum makes as a celebration — my dad travels a lot, to conferences around the world, and he'd come back, and there was always a Napoleon waiting for him. It's what I request for birthdays, any celebration"

Alice celebrates three holidays over December and January — Christmas with her in-laws, Hanukkah with her family and also Novy God, which is often known as Russian New Year. She describes the Napoleon as the "canonical" dish for the celebration.

"The reason why it makes such a good celebration cake is because it's actually better the next day," she says.

"As opposed to say a mille-feuille or a vanilla slice, you want the puff pastry to absorb and become soft from the creme patissiere."

Alice says that serving a Napoleon in the Southern Hemisphere only slightly deviates from tradition.

"It's more likely that we just have a lot of fresh fruit [in it] because it's like the best time of year for it. So cherries and nectarines and all those things."

A New Year's king's cake

Vasilopita is a New Year's Day treat that is traditional to Canberra/Ngunnawal Country author and screenwriter Peter Papathanasiou's Greek culture and heritage.

He describes it as being halfway between bread and cake.

"The aspect that gets everyone excited is the presence of a hidden coin or trinket that is slipped into the dough before baking. The recipient of the coin is said to be granted good luck for the next 12 months if it ends up in their slice," he says.

"As a young child, I always remember being super excited if the coin ended up in my slice!"

The name "Vasilopita" comes from βασιλεύς "king" + πίτα "cake"; in other words, the king's cake, but it can also be interpreted as "Basil's cake" and is associated with Saint Basil's Day, which falls on January 1.

"My mum always makes the Vasilopita and adds the coin, wrapped in aluminium foil, to the dough before it's baked. But even she doesn't know where it's hidden when slices are cut," Peter says.

Traditionally, when the Vasilopita is cut, the sign of the cross is etched with a knife across the top.

A piece is sliced for each member of the family and any visitors present at the time, by order of age from eldest to youngest.

"Food is central to Greek culture and traditions, and is a sign of love. When Greeks give food, they are expressing their love and hospitality."