Christmas dinner is not complete without a traditional dessert to finish things off on a sweet note. From boiled puddings served with creamy sauces to sugar-dusted sweet breads and rich, dense cakes, try these irresistible holiday treats and incorporate something new this year.
Bûche de Noël (Yule log)
Usually a light-as-air, vanilla or chocolate cake rolled into a cylinder, stuffed and covered with a rich home-made chocolate buttercream frosting. The origin of the Christmas cake can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when simple cakes were created to mimic logs that were traditionally burned during the solstice. But in the late 1800s Parisian pastry chefs took the tradition a step further and began embellishing the logs with elaborate decorations. The new, gastronomic tradition caught on in spectacular fashion, and the Christmas dessert is now celebrated worldwide.
Panettone
The panettone is a cake traditionally served throughout Italy around Christmas time. It originated in Milan sometime in the early 20th Century, along with its fruit-free cousin, the pandoro. Soft, light, chewy, fruity and wonderfully aromatic, Milanese bakers even host an annual panettone baking competition to determine who will be crowned the Panettone King. It is baked in round paper moulds, and is instantly recognisable by its tall stature and domed top. While the raisin version is the most common there are many variations including chocolate, nuts or other dried fruits like pineapple, apricots and cherries.
Christmas mince pie
Pavlova
As Christmas falls in summer in Australia and New Zealand, the choice for light, cool desserts is usually a popular one. Pavlova, often decorated with strawberries, passionfruit, or even kiwifruit), is a traditional dessert for many. It recent years, the pavlova roll — a modern twist on the standard ring-shaped cake — has popped up in households across the continent. The meringue is baked to a chewy consistency, laden with fresh fruits and whipped cream, before being carefully rolled up Swiss roll-style. The debate over which country invented the pavlova continues on, but both countries serve the meringue dessert as a Christmas staple.
Stollen
A cake-like yeast bread that usually has candied fruit, currants, orange and lemon zest, spice and cardamom spices for flavour, Stollen is a traditional dessert from the city of Dresden, Germany. The word Stollen actually means "post" or "boundary stone", usually at the entrance to a city and historians believe the shape of the bread reminded the mine workers of Dresden of the entrance to a mine tunnel. It is also sometimes called Striezel or Christstollen. The Dresden Stollen, now known internationally as a Christmas specialty, is made from a rich, sweet yeast dough, mixed with milk, eggs, sugar, and butter, sometimes flavoured with lemon. Raisins, sultanas, currants, candied peel, and almonds are worked into the dough. After baking, the Stollen is painted with melted butter and dusted with sugar.
Zesty flavour and sticky treats
More ideas from Spinneys
Mince pies
A meaty pudding from the Middle Ages that has come to play such a central role in modern UK Christmas celebrations, the mince pie defines the season for the many. Warm, spicy, sweet mincemeat encased in a crisp pastry crust go beautifully with a spoonful of double cream or a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream. But it hasn't always been this way as today's mince pies bear little resemblance to those served many years ago. The reason mincemeat is called meat is because the pies were often filled with mutton, but also beef, rabbit or game. They were large pies filled with a mixture of finely minced meat, chopped up fruit and a preserving liquid. Eventually the fruit filling became the more popular choice and the mince pie was born.
Christmas pudding
No British festive dinner table is complete without a Christmas pudding. Unlike American puddings, a UK Christmas pudding is a dark, sticky, and dense sponge, more like a fruitcake, made of mixed dried fruit, candied fruit peel, apple, and citrus zests. It has a deep, complex flavour and signature dark colour and is usually made over many months to allow it to mature. Some are aged for up to 18 months. It's sometimes referred to as plum pudding (because of the abundance of prunes), and traditionally would contain a small coin, which would bring the person who found it in their serving, good wealth for the year ahead.
