Alphabetical List of Christmas Desserts A-Z

Traditional Christmas sweets vary by country, but there are a few universally loved treats that appear in many households during the holiday season. Here’s a list of some of the most popular traditional Christmas sweets:

-Gingerbread Cookies: Often shaped into men or houses, these spiced cookies are a hallmark of Christmas traditions.

-Fruitcake: A dense, spiced cake filled with dried fruits, nuts, and often soaked in alcohol.

-Sugar Cookies: Simple, buttery cookies often decorated with colorful icing and sprinkles.

-Candy Canes: The iconic red-and-white striped candy, often enjoyed as a festive treat or used for decoration.

-Shortbread: A buttery, crumbly biscuit that’s especially popular in the UK and other parts of Europe.

-Marzipan: A sweet almond paste used to make candy or decorative toppings for cakes and cookies.

-Peppermint Bark: A layer of dark chocolate topped with white chocolate and crushed peppermint.

-Yule Log (Bûche de Noël): A rolled sponge cake shaped like a log, often filled with buttercream and decorated to resemble a tree stump.

-Pecan Pie: A rich pie made with pecans, syrup, and sugar, often served in the U.S. during Christmas.

-Stollen: A German fruit bread filled with dried fruits, nuts, and marzipan, dusted with powdered sugar.

-Panettone: An Italian sweet bread loaf filled with dried fruits and citrus zest, commonly served at Christmas.

-Eggnog: A rich, creamy drink made with milk, eggs, sugar, and often spiked with rum or bourbon, sometimes served with nutmeg.

-Trifle: A layered dessert featuring sponge cake, fruit, custard, and whipped cream, popular in the UK.

-Tarts: Various fruit or custard-filled tarts, often made with berries or lemon, are a common treat during the season.

These traditional sweets are enjoyed in many countries and have become synonymous with the festive spirit of Christmas.

Pumpkin pie, apple pie, raisin pudding, Christmas pudding, or fruitcake.

Fruitcake

-Stollen
-Gingerbread cookies
-Peppermint bark
-Candy canes
-Fruitcake
-Yule log

The tradition of serving 13 desserts at Christmas dinner is especially common in the Provence region of France and is known as “Les Treize Desserts”. This practice has deep symbolic meaning tied to both religious and cultural beliefs.

Symbolism of the 13 desserts: The number 13 represents Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles, making it a sacred and significant number in Christian traditions. Serving 13 desserts honors the Last Supper and the bond of fellowship shared among Jesus and his disciples.

Historical and cultural roots: The tradition is rooted in the Catholic faith, where the desserts represent the different elements of the Christmas story and the bounty of the season. Each dessert often symbolizes a different aspect of life or faith. In some versions of the tradition, the 13 desserts may include:

-Biscotti or nougat to symbolize the purity of the Virgin Mary.
-Dates, nuts, and figs to represent the poverty of the Holy Family and the land where Jesus was born.
-Candied fruit and pastries to represent the abundance of the harvest and joy of the holiday.

Culinary variety: The 13 desserts are typically an assortment of local and seasonal treats, reflecting the wealth of ingredients available in the region. They may include nougat, fruit, pastries, sweets like chocolate and marzipan, and cakes. The idea is not to eat all the desserts but to offer a wide variety for guests to sample, often over several hours.

This tradition is still practiced today, particularly in Provence, where the selection of desserts becomes an important part of the Christmas feast, contributing to the holiday’s spiritual and communal significance.

Christmas Pudding

In France, dessert on Christmas Eve (Réveillon de Noël) is often a highlight of the festive meal. One of the most traditional and iconic desserts is the Bûche de Noël (Yule Log). This dessert is a rolled sponge cake, typically filled with buttercream or ganache and decorated to resemble a log. Variations can include flavors like chocolate, coffee, chestnut, or hazelnut.

Other popular Christmas desserts include:

–Galette des Rois (though more common in January for Epiphany, it sometimes appears in December)—a puff pastry filled with almond cream.
–Pain d’épices—a spiced gingerbread cake.
–Kouglof—a sweet, brioche-like cake with dried fruits and almonds, popular in Alsace.
–Macarons—brightly colored, delicate almond meringue cookies filled with ganache or jam.
–Crème brûlée—creamy custard with a caramelized sugar crust.

Regional specialties may also appear, reflecting the diversity of French culinary traditions.

In Italy, Panettone and Pandoro are the most popular desserts enjoyed during Christmas.

-Panettone is a tall, dome-shaped sweet bread filled with raisins, candied orange, and citron. It has a soft, airy texture and is often enjoyed with a glass of sweet wine or coffee.

-Pandoro is a star-shaped, golden sponge cake with a light, buttery flavor, typically dusted with powdered sugar to resemble the snow-capped Alps.

Other regional Christmas desserts include:

-Torrone: A nougat made with honey, sugar, egg whites, and almonds or other nuts.

-Struffoli: Small fried dough balls coated in honey and decorated with colorful sprinkles.

-Panforte: A dense, spiced fruitcake from Siena.

Each region in Italy often has its own traditional Christmas treats.

Yule log

A Yule log, also known as Bûche de Noël, is a classic Christmas dessert that looks like a festive log. It’s made from a light sponge cake that’s rolled up with a creamy filling, then coated in rich chocolate frosting designed to resemble tree bark. To make it even more festive, it’s often decorated with powdered sugar (like snow), little meringue mushrooms, or sprigs of holly.

The dessert has its roots in an old tradition where people would burn a large log in the fireplace during the winter solstice or Christmas as a symbol of warmth and hope. Over time, the edible version became a hit in 19th-century France, and now it’s a holiday staple in many countries.

You’ll find Yule logs in all sorts of flavors, from classic chocolate to more adventurous ones like coffee or chestnut. It’s a dessert that’s as delicious as it is festive!