I know, I know, it’s seems a little early for Christmas. But on the Sunday before American Thanksgiving this year I have been asked to help make a presentation on Christmas dessert recipes from around the world.
I’ve done some Googling and there are tons of websites that address this idea. But with Dopers from around the world, instead of relying on what a magazine or blog says is authentic, I thought I’d also ask here what are real favorites, or are truly typical of a given countrie’s favorite Christmas dessert.
I’ve already thought about sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies from the USA, along with (don’t laugh) fruitcake. Then there is stollen from Germany. I have a good recipe for that from a German lady who was the mother of a former boss.
It doesn’t have to be just Christmas but part of the season. I’ve read about St. Lucia’s Day in Sweden, and recipes for December 6th, St. Nicholas Day.
If Dopers from all over can tell me what goodies they think are most representative, or favorites, of their own cultures or country I’d sure appreciate it. I hope, in addition to making samples of a few of the recipes, to also print up a booklet to pass out at the presentation, with recipes and links.
Iced & decorated sugar cookies are the thing that if I don’t have on Christmas, it’s not really Christmas.
Other than that:
Pumpkin Pie
A selection of other types of cookies besides sugar cookies; it’s VERY common around here to see big plates of sugar cookies, peppermint cookie balls, candy-cane shaped cookies, ginger or spice cookies, gingerbread men, etc etc. at Christmas
Growing up, my family typically had a fruit-filled coffee cake to nibble on while opening presents on Christmas day, but I think that’s more of a family tradition than a standard American Christmas thing
Traditionally, Scots don’t celebrate Christmas as much as Hogmanay, but one desert is crannachan - cream, honey, whisky, oats, and raspberries. Those who had access to ice houses could freeze raspberries.
My research in the past has revealed that traditional European recipes for Christmas tend to feature dried and candied fruit in cakey bread with icing on it. With many variations.
My grandmother, a great baker of German-Swiss heritage, went all out for Christmas and made staggering amounts of cookies and special breads. The ones I remember are
Schnitzbrot
Sugared walnuts
Iced decorated sugar cookies
Stollen
Pfefferneusse
Fingerklatschen
Springerle
Linzer cookies
“mexican wedding cakes”
but there were at least five or six more she made dozens of every year, and only at Christmas.
Poppy seed/nut roll, which is the go-to dessert for every meal in every Slavic home, from Poland to Ukraine to Slovenia. You’ll see it all year but it’s a must-have for holidays. That and kolachke.
Thanks for all the comments so far. I know a couple of folks I’m going to ask. My cousin’s husband is of Danish extraction, I’m sure they have some good stuff.
When the time gets closer I will let folks know about which recipes I choose.
We’re in the Southern Hemisphere, so in addition to traditional stuff like Christmas Pud and trifle, we also do summer desserts like pavlova, ice cream cassata, summer pudding and the like. For a typical Christmas, we have:
Traditional Xmas pudding with coins Malva Pudding with custard
Cassata with same fruit mix as the Xmas pud
Berry Pav
Raspberry Jelly Fluff pudding
I don’t know that they are traditionally a Christmas treat, but our Scottish neighbor used to bring over a tin of homemade empire biscuits every Christmas Eve.
The nut roll page on Wikipedia lists a lot of variants. I was going to mention povitica, which appears to be a Serbian/Croatian version. (Baker, there is even a povitica bakery in Kansas City, if you were interested in checking it out.)
In my family’s culture, it’s all about the cookies. But I can’t single out any particular kind of cookie: The tradition is basically that everyone makes a few kinds of cookies, and everyone gives each other cookies, and then anyone entertaining guests puts out a tray with samples of all of the cookies, both the ones they made themselves and the ones given to them by friends, neighbors, and relatives. Thus, for instance, a cookie tray at Gramma’s house would always include kolachke, not because anyone in our family made them, but because Gramma had friends who did. And it’d also include rice krispie treats, and peanut butter buckeyes, and [del]ginger[/del]molasses snaps, and cutout cookies (with and without icing and/or colored sugar crystals), and those things with Hershey’s kisses in the middle, and jam thumbprints, and so on.
I used to be the baker at a health food store in New Jersey. One of my favorite desserts I made there was Risalamande, a.k.a. Danish Almond Rice Pudding with Cherry Sauce. It takes a little extra effort to make, but that effort is worth it! I won’t reprint the recipes here, but there are links in my post.
Here is the general sequence of how to make the dish:
Oh, I also veganized the recipe by using almond milk and vegan whipped topping - it actually exists and is so delicious! I made most of my recipes vegan to accommodate our client base. But I have since made the dish with cow milk and traditional whipped topping; it is good either way.
My French grandfather always had a St. Honore cake for New Years. It’s a little like a flatish croquembouche. (Croquembouche would work for Christmas, also buche de noel.)