Christmas is upon us and we’re feeling particularly festive here at Con Affetto! We lurrve all things Christmassy right from Santa with his festive troop of reindeer, beautifully decorated Christmas trees to the promise of funky Christmas gifts 😉 , but if there’s one thing that really gets our Christmas spirit soaring, it’s the traditional Christmas bakes we get to relish this season!
The traditional Christmas dinner is quite a feast!
Food has always been a big part of Christmas with the traditional Christmas dinner of roast turkey with stuffing and gravy; mashed potatoes; cranberry sauce; steamed veggies and the ubiquitous Christmas pudding becoming popular all over the globe, but did you know that some traditional Christmas bakes are equally relished as well? Here’s a quick low-down on what you should be baking- or digging into- this season!
Lets begin our journey into traditional Christmas bakes with a look at some X’massy cakes!
Think Christmas, think cake!
Think Xmas, think cake! Christmas cakes are truly a feast for the senses! There are myriad versions of Christmas cakes but among the more popular are the the classic fruit cake with marzipan or icing and the Scottish Dundee cake, which is a relatively 😉 lighter version. Then there’s also the ‘mincemeat cake’ which comprises of any traditional mincemeat mixed in with flour and eggs, and the fun Yule Log, which is basically a Swiss Roll coated in chocolate. But more than the cake itself, we especially dig the fun traditions surrounding Christmas cakes! One is the ‘stir up’ tradition which involves mixing some of the ingredients for the cake (a super fun activity for the entire family, some peeps even like adding coins to their cake for good luck!). The second tradition is ‘feeding the cake’ which is when alcohol is added in small quantities to the cake over a period of time to build the flavour and keep it moist (we like!) and a third tradition is to avoid cutting the cake before dawn on Christmas eve (considered unlucky!).
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Christmas Pies come next on our fun list of traditional Christmas bakes…
An all time Xmas favourite; mince pies
The traditional Christmas Mince Pie, small pies filled with minced fruit, dry fruit and spices, is a popular inclusion on Christmas menus across the world. Although mince pies first originated in an oval shape and then went on to include a variety of shapes from stars and hearts to flowers, today they are commonly made in a round shape and eaten hot or cold. We like ours piping hot with some ice cream on the side! A custom from the Middle Ages says that if you eat a mince pie every day from Christmas to Twelfth Night (6th Jan) you will have happiness everyday for the next twelve months! (A custom worth trying, we think!) And hey, did you know that mince pies are SO popular in the UK, they have their very own Mince Pie club?!
Our personal favourite traditional Christmas bake of the season…
It’s not Christmas without the cookies and gingerbread cookies are a personal fave!
Christmas cookies! Yup, when it comes to Christmas, can cookies be far behind? 😉 Christmas feasting traditionally involves a baking bonanza (yay!) and back in the day, unlike pies or cakes, cookies could easily be shared and gifted. Our traditional Christmas cookies date back to these medieval gifts. Cut out cookies, shortbread and gingerbread cookies are some of the most well loved cookies of the season but we’re rather partial to sugar cookies and biscotti. For most people it isn’t Christmas without cookies. There are cookie plates, cookie exchanges, heck, even Santa loves his cookies! Children traditionally leave out cookies for Santa– a practice started by parents to encourage generosity in their kids-and one that is still going strong. You ain’t getting to size zero anytime soon, Santa!
Break some Christmassy bread with this traditional Christmas bake…
Bake and break some Xmassy bread this season ;)
If you’d rather give a toss to tradition and Marie Antoinette, and bake bread instead of cake, you’re in for a treat because Christmas baking comes replete with a fabulous selection of Xmassy breads. If you like fruitcakes, you’ll LOVE these Christmas breads, traditionally made to be moist, with dried and candied fruit and nuts. From the traditional German Stollen to Julekake – a Norwegian Christmas bread, to cinnamon tea rings and pumpkin bread, these sure are some bread-y and heady alternatives to traditional fruitcake, and also make for fabulous gifting options!
Are you drooling already with visions of buttery Christmas cookies and spongy slices of Christmas cake floating before your eyes? We’re just about getting started! Watch this space for Part Deux of our traditional Christmas baking series: some funky, fabulous and mouth wateringly delicious traditional Christmas baking recipes coming your way…very soon!