Christmas desserts: traditional recipes and delicious ideas for the holidays

Desserts are the last course on the Christmas menu and for this very reason they must be irresistible… just like the recipes we offer you!

Christmas desserts have always been synonymous with celebration. Christmas is one of those occasions in which all the dishes – if savored together with your family – take on a unique taste in the world . In the classic Christmas menu, the classic panettone and pandoro cannot be missing, which come respectively from Verona and Milan, and represent the symbolic desserts of this holiday throughout Italy but if you want to pleasantly surprise your guests we recommend our original and tasty recipes Christmas sweets.

Sweets for Christmas: a recipe for all tastes

• Stuffed panettone
• Eggnog
• Eggnog
• Mascarpone cream
• Zelten
• Log
• Struffoli
• Gingerbread men
• Pandoro tiramisu
• Nougat
• Pandoro
• Ladyfingers' house
• Gingerbread
• Sweet Christmas tree
• Panforte

The pleasure of a handmade dessert for your family will repay you for all your effort and will create that magical and enchanted atmosphere that you can only feel at Christmas. Here are our best Christmas dessert recipes!

1. Stuffed panettone recipe

Let's start the roundup of Christmas desserts withstuffed panettone , a great classic revisited in an even more delicious way. For this recipe we start with a ready-made panettone (because during the Christmas holidays we receive all kinds of gifts!) but homemade panettone is also fine.

Ingredients for the sweet stuffed panettone recipe (for 4 people)

• 1 panettone
• 320 ml of fresh whole milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 40 g of corn starch
• 60 g of granulated sugar
• 400 g of dark chocolate
• 120 ml of fresh liquid cream
• chocolate sprinkles to taste

The first step is to remove the paper, cut a disc of dough, removing the top part and empty the cake by cutting the inside into cubes which you will then set aside in a bowl. Then prepare the cream: heat the milk in a saucepan until it comes to the boil , pour the egg yolks, sugars and starch into a second bowl and mix with a whisk until the mixture is light and frothy.

When the milk is hot, remove it from the heat and pour 1/3 of it into the bowl with the other ingredients. Mix vigorously, being careful not to cook the egg yolks (if this happened you would have a cream full of lumps at the end), then add the remaining part while continuing to mix. When the mixture is smooth, put it back on the heat over low heat and, continuing to stir, bring it to the desired consistency. Once you have your cream, remove it from the heat and add about 150 g of dark chocolate pieces and mix until it has completely melted.

Leave to cool with cling film , then mix the chocolate cream with the panettone cubes. Now it's time to fill the leavened dough again: put all the filling inside, then ask for it with the previously cut panettone disc. Finally, melt the remaining chocolate and add the cream, mix well and pour the ganache over the panettone, complete with chocolate sprinkles and, once cooled, serve.

You can also make the same Christmas dessert with pandoro instead of panettone. Furthermore, you can also make a ricotta cream or mascarpone cream if you prefer.

2. How to make eggnog

It's not Christmas without some eggnog to sip on, right? The ideal for this recipe would be to have the mittento, a special saucepan for cooking in a bain-marie, but in its absence any saucepan will do.

Ingredients for the eggnog recipe (for 4 people)

• 4 egg yolks (about 80 g)
• 80 g of granulated sugar
• 80 g of Marsala

In a saucepan, start mixing the egg yolks with the sugar with the help of a whisk or electric whisk, do not stop until you have obtained a creamy and soft mixture . Add half of the Marsala, mix and then add the second half, stirring constantly. Now immerse the saucepan in a larger pan with boiling water inside (for cooking in a bain-marie) and continue mixing with the whisk until the mixture is nice and swollen and has reached a temperature between 80° and 84°C (in this case it is better to use a kitchen thermometer, otherwise rely on your eyes and the consistency of the Marsala cream which must be thick, but not as thick as a classic custard, and frothy). Enjoy the hot zabaglione and…enjoy your meal!

3. Eggnog recipe

Let's start from the ABC: what is the difference between eggnog and zabaglione? Both are alcoholic drinks and typical of Christmas, but the first is very common in Anglo-Saxon countries (it is perhaps the American Christmas drink par excellence ) while the second is local. As we can immediately see, the preparation of eggnog requires many more ingredients and is more laborious .

Ingredients for the eggnog recipe (for 6 people)

• 300 ml of fresh liquid cream
• 3 eggs
• 240 ml of fresh whole milk
• 110 g of sugar
• 60 ml of Rum
• 60ml of Brandy
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• a few drops of vanilla extract

Start by beating the eggs until you obtain a nice foam, then add the sugar, nutmeg and vanilla essence. Pour in the cream, mix well then add the milk, brandy and rum. The final result must be a cream that is not too liquid but not too thick. Consume this Christmas dessert immediately after preparation, after leaving it in the fridge for a couple of hours .

4. Mascarpone cream

What's better than a delicious mascarpone cream to accompany classic Christmas desserts such as pandoro and panettone? We believe that it is among the best and traditional combinations, which can never be missing from the table. Let's see how to prepare it in a few minutes.

Ingredients for the mascarpone cream (6 people)

• 250 g of mascarpone
• 60 g of sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 very fresh eggs

Separate the egg yolks from the whites and place them in two separate bowls. Whip the egg whites until stiff, adding half the sugar and, in the other bowl with the egg yolks, add the mascarpone and the remaining sugar and mix well until you obtain a smooth cream without lumps. Gradually add the egg whites into the bowl with the cream, stirring gently from bottom to top so as not to dismantle everything, complete with vanilla or a small glass of liqueur and place in the fridge to cool before serving.

5. Trentino zelten recipe

If we talk to you about a Trentino dessert, you will immediately think of zelten , a soft Christmas cake filled with raisins, dried figs , almonds, walnuts and pine nuts, with many variations.

Ingredients for the zelten recipe (for 8 people)

• 300 g of 00 flour
• 120 g of sugar
• 100 g of butter
• 2 eggs
• 150 ml of milk
• 120 g of dried figs
• 120 g of raisins
• 100 g of walnuts
• 100 g of pine nuts
• 70 g of almonds
• 1 glass of rum
• 1 sachet of baking powder
• half a glass of water
• 120 g of mixed candied fruit
• 40 g of honey

In a large bowl, soak the raisins, figs and dates cut into pieces in the water and rum and leave to soften overnight . The next day, take a clean bowl, combine the butter with the sugar, and mix with an electric whisk until you obtain a cream; then add the eggs and beat vigorously , finally add the sifted flour, the sachet of yeast and the milk. Lastly, add the well squeezed figs, dates and raisins, the roughly chopped walnuts, almonds and pine nuts and mix well.

Transfer to a cake tin and bake in the oven at 180°C for about 25-30 minutes. While the cake is cooking, dissolve the honey in a saucepan with 2 inches of water and use it to brush the surface of the cake once cooked.

6. Christmas chocolate log

Obviously, the most spectacular and beautiful Christmas sweet of all cannot be missing: the sweet log . It's a little more laborious , but not very complicated: don't be discouraged!

Ingredients for the Christmas log recipe (for 6 people)

• 100 g of 00 flour
• 5 eggs at room temperature
• 130 g of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of honey
• 1 sachet of vanillin

For the covering and filling:

• 500 g of chocolate ganache
• 150 g of dark chocolate
• Christmas themed decorations

Start working the egg yolks with half the sugar, vanilla and honey. Separately, whip the egg whites and the other half of the sugar with an electric whisk. Combine the two mixtures and gradually incorporate the flour. Pour everything onto a baking tray, level and bake at 220°C for six minutes. As soon as it comes out of the oven, roll it up with the help of a clean cloth. Then fill it with ganache and brush it with melted chocolate. Complete with themed decorations .

7. Neapolitan struffoli recipe

Small, appetizing and with a delicate taste . Struffoli are perhaps the most famous Neapolitan Christmas desserts, they are never missing in southern Italy during the holidays!

Ingredients for the Neapolitan struffoli recipe (for 8 people)

For the soft struffoli:

• 400 g of flour
• 40 g of sugar + 2 or 3 tablespoons
• 60 g of butter
• 3 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• orange peel to taste
• lemon zest to taste
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 sachet of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon anise liqueur

For the gasket:

• 350 g of wildflower honey
• 35 g of colored sprinkles
• 30 g of candied citron

For frying:

• Seed oil to taste

They are much simpler to make than you think: put the eggs, sugar, melted and cooled butter and 1 tablespoon of liqueur in a bowl. Then add the sifted flour, salt and baking powder, and begin to knead all the ingredients to form a homogeneous mixture . Let this dough rest for about twenty minutes in the fridge.

Make many small balls and fry them in very hot oil for about 3 minutes. Once cold, arrange them in a tower on a plate and cover with the honey-based sauce, which you have heated in a saucepan with 1 inch of water and 2-3 tablespoons of sugar. Enjoy it cold!

8. Gingerbread: the recipe of the cute little men

Gingerbread is the cutest Christmas dessert of all: the one that will drive children crazy , especially if you transform the dough into cute biscuits in the shape of little men.

Ingredients for the gingerbread cookies recipe (for 4 people)

• 350 g 00 flour
• 150 g of granulated or brown sugar
• 120 g of butter
• 80 g of honey
• 1 egg + 1 egg white
• 1 level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons powdered ginger
• 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• powdered nutmeg to taste
• ground cloves to taste
• 1 pinch of salt
• 120 g of icing sugar
• lemon juice to taste

Combine all the powders in the mixer: sifted flour, all the spices, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar. Mix then add the honey and chunks of cold butter from the fridge and operate the blades to obtain a sandy mixture in just a few minutes. Pour everything onto a work surface and form the classic fountain, pour the egg in the center and quickly incorporate it first with a fork and then with your hands until you obtain a soft dough which you can leave to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour (wrapped in cling film).

After this time, flour a work surface and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is about 4-5 mm thick. Make the little men and put them in the oven at 180°C for about 10-15 minutes (be careful to check the cooking). Once baked, let them cool and prepare the icing to decorate them: whip the egg white with an electric whisk at low speed, gradually adding the icing sugar and a few drops of lemon juice. Once you have a nice thick cream, place it in a pastry bag and create your favorite decorations on the biscuit men (you can also use food coloring to do an impeccable job).

The gingerbread house tastes the same: more complex but very scenic !

9. Tiramisu with pandoro

Let's see a perfect recipe for recycling leftover pandoro: tiramisu with pandoro ! Bring it to the table among your Christmas desserts and you will be able to surprise everyone.

Ingredients for the tiramisu with pandoro recipe (for 8 people)

• half pandoro
• 500 g of mascarpone
• 300 ml of bitter coffee
• 4 eggs
• 100 g of sugar
• cocoa powder to taste

In the planetary mixer, whip the egg yolks with the sugar, when you obtain a light and frothy mixture , add the mascarpone by spoonfuls. Add the whipped egg whites, mixing from top to bottom. Leave the fridge to rest for half an hour and in the meantime prepare the coffee.

At this point start assembling the dessert: place slices of pandoro in a pan, sprinkle with cold coffee and cover with plenty of cream. Continue vertically, so as to obtain at least 2 layers. Leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours before enjoying it (the next day it will be even better!).

10. How to make nougat: the recipe

How can we forget the homemade nougat ? Among Christmas desserts it is perhaps the King: you can't end your Christmas dinner or lunch without a piece! Not to mention when we receive them as gifts every year…

Ingredients for the soft nougat recipe (for 4-6 people)

• 200 g of peeled hazelnuts
• 100 g of almonds
• 100 g of honey
• 100 g of sugar
• 1 egg white
• food host

Start toasting the hazelnuts and almonds in a preheated oven at 200°C for 10 minutes . Place the honey in a saucepan and let it become nice and fluid by placing it on the stove over low heat. In another saucepan, pour the sugar, a spoonful of water and leave on the heat until you obtain a syrup (it must reach 112°C).

Whip the egg whites until stiff, then pour the hot syrup over them and continue whipping them. Then add the honey , mixing delicately with a spatula from bottom to top and, finally, when you have obtained a sticky consistency, also add the dried fruit. Mix everything and pour into a silicone mold with a sheet of wafer on the bottom. Let it cool completely and then taste it (or offer it!).

11. Pandoro

Pandoro is the most famous Veronese Christmas dessert in the world. The recipe requires a lot of time (and the appropriate star mold) but the satisfaction of making it with your own hands is unparalleled!

Ingredients for the homemade pandoro recipe (for 6 people)

• 500 g 00 flour
• 4 eggs
• 20 g brewer's yeast
• 150 g sugar
• 175 g butter at room temperature
• 100ml milk
• 1 pinch salt

Prepare the yeast by placing about 1/4 of the yeast in 3-4 tablespoons of warm milk, mix and let it activate. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 egg yolk and 50 g of flour, mix then cover with cling film and leave to rest for 1-2 hours . After the resting time, add the rest of the yeast, 1 egg, half the sugar, the milk and about 200 g of flour. Mix vigorously by hand or with the mixer hook. Once everything is mixed together, add 50 g of butter and the remaining flour, mix until well combined and then let it rise in a greased bowl until doubled.

Once doubled, add the remaining eggs and 1 pinch of salt, mix well and then let it rest for the first 2 hours at room temperature, then for about 10 hours in the fridge . The next day, take the dough and place it on a floured work surface, roll it out, put the remaining butter in cubes in the center and cover it with the four sides of the dough. Now roll it out with a rolling pin forming a square, fold it in 3 , wrap it in cling film and place it in the fridge for about 20 minutes (repeat this folding and resting operation in the fridge for another 3 times ).

Now form a ball and insert it into the pandoro mold and let it rise until it touches the edges (if not more) and it could take up to 10 hours. Now you can move on to cooking: place in a preheated static oven at 180°C for 15 minutes , lower to 160°C and cook for another 50 minutes . Once cooked, turn it out and sprinkle with icing sugar.

12. Ladyfingers' house

If the gingerbread house is too complex for you (and who can blame you!), we offer you the easy version with ladyfingers . You need:

Ingredients for the ladyfingers house (for 6 people)

• 16 ladyfingers
• 2 egg whites
• 540 g of icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 300 g of ricotta
• 40 g of bitter cocoa powder
• 200 ml of cream for desserts
• 1 stick of dark chocolate

Whip the egg whites in a bowl with the lemon juice and gradually add 440 grams of icing sugar a little at a time until you obtain a well-whipped icing. Use this icing to join the cookies in batches of four . Then cover them on one side with melted chocolate.

Prepare the chocolate cream by mixing the ricotta, the rest of the icing sugar and the cocoa powder. Add 150 g whipped cream to the ricotta and cocoa cream and mix delicately from bottom to top.

Then, spread a layer of cream on the serving plate and start layering: biscuits, cream and another block of biscuits. Fill the top with the ricotta and cocoa cream and position the last two blocks of ladyfingers as a roof , as in the photo!

13. Gingerbread

A dough made with lots of chocolate and dried fruit is just what you need to celebrate the holidays in style. Among the typical Christmas desserts, gingerbread certainly reigns supreme, reproduced with small variations throughout the country, today we will tell you the original recipe for preparing it at home.

Ingredients for the gingerbread (for 6 people)

• 120 g of 00 flour
• 100 g of dark chocolate
• 70 g of honey
• 75 g of hazelnuts
• 75 g of shelled almonds
• 75 g of raisins
• cinnamon to taste
• nutmeg to taste
• pepper to taste

Toast walnuts and almonds in a pan and set aside. Soak the raisins in water and melt the honey well in a saucepan. Once it is nice and fluid, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the flour a little at a time to the honey and mix. Also add the chocolate melted in a bain-marie, the squeezed raisins, the hazelnuts and the almonds and continue mixing. Add all the spices to the saucepan, mix well and then turn the mixture onto a surface and give it a spherical shape. Cook the dessert in the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes , then let it cool and serve it on the table.

14. Sweet Christmas tree

One of the easiest and quickest desserts to prepare during the Christmas period certainly couldn't be missing: the sweet Christmas tree . Super easy, quick, and chock full of Nutella!

Ingredients for the sweet Christmas tree (for 6 people)

• 2 rolls of rectangular puff pastry
• Nutella to taste
• icing sugar to taste
• 1 egg yolk

Take the two sheets and cut them into the shape of a tree (make sure they are the same). Spread a generous layer of Nutella on one side of both sheets and then overlap them creating a nice puff pastry tree. Now cut the branches by about 1.5 cm and twist them so that the internal filling can be seen, brush with the egg yolk and place the cake on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Bake the tree at 180°C for 30 minutes and, once ready, sprinkle it with icing sugar, other edible Christmas decorations if you like and bring it to the table.

15. Panforte

We end this review of easy and typical Christmas desserts with a classic always rich in spices and dried fruit: panforte! Panforte has Sienese origins but is now made throughout Italy, we will show you that preparing it at home is child's play, you can also think about giving it as a gift on December 25th to friends and relatives.

Ingredients for the panforte (for 8 people)

• 200 g of 00 flour
• 150 g of icing sugar
• 120 g of honey
• 250 g of almonds
• 150 g of raisins
• 80 g of candied fruit
• orange zest to taste
• 1 host

In a bowl mix the flour with the raisins soaked in water, the cinnamon, the candied fruit and the almonds. Separately, put a saucepan on the heat with half a glass of water , icing sugar and honey and create a kind of sticky and very sweet icing. Add the icing to the bowl with the other ingredients, add the orange zest and mix everything well.

Take a cake tin, line the edges with baking paper and place 1 sheet of wafer on the bottom, add the dough and level it with a marisa. Cook in a static oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes , after the time let it cool, cover the surface with icing sugar and serve.

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