Christmas sweets: 15 recipes that no one can resist!

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

Christmas sweets have always been synonymous with celebration. Christmas is one of those anniversaries in which all the dishes – if savored together with one's 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 symbol sweets of this festivity 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

• Panettone Stuffed
• Eggnog
• Eggnog
• Mascarpone cream
• Zelten
• log
• Struffoli
• Gingerbread men
• Pandoro tiramisu
• Nougat
• Pandoro
• Ladyfingers house
• pappery bread
• Sweet Christmas tree
• panforte

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

1. Stuffed panettone recipe

Let's start the roundup of Christmas desserts with thestuffed panettone , a great classic revisited in an even more delicious key. For this recipe we start with a ready-made panettone (we receive all kinds of gifts during the Christmas holidays!) 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 yolks
• 40 g of corn starch
• 60 g of granulated sugar
• 400 g of dark chocolate
• 120 ml of liquid fresh cream
• chocolate tails to taste

The first step is to remove the paper, cut a disk of dough, removing the upper 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 almost boils , pour the egg yolks, sugar, 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. Stir vigorously, being careful not to cook the egg yolks (if this happens you will have a cream full of lumps at the end), then add the rest while continuing to mix. When the mixture is smooth, put it back on the heat over low heat and, stirring constantly, bring it to cooking and to the desired consistency. Once you have obtained your cream, remove it from the heat and add about 150 g of dark chocolate in pieces and stir until it has completely melted.

Leave to cool with a contact film , then mix the chocolate cream with the panettone cubes. Now is the time to refill the leavened dough: put all the filling inside, then request with the previously cut panettone disc. Finally, melt the remaining chocolate and add the cream, mix well and pour the ganache on the panettone, complete with some chocolate tails and, once cooled, serve.

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

2. How to make eggnog

It's not Christmas without an eggnog to sip, right? The ideal for this recipe would be to have the pollonetto, a special pan for cooking in a bain-marie, but in its absence any casserole 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 fluffy mixture . Add half of the Marsala, mix and then add the second half, stirring constantly. Now immerse the saucepan in a larger pot with boiling water inside (for cooking in a bain-marie) and continue stirring with a whisk until the mixture is 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 the 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 with the abc: what is the difference between eggnog and eggnog? Both are alcoholic and typical Christmas drinks, 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 liquid fresh cream
• 3 eggs
• 240 ml of fresh whole milk
• 110 g of sugar
• 60ml of rum
• 60ml Brandy
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• a few drops of vanilla extract

Start by beating the eggs until you get a nice froth, then add the sugar, nutmeg and vanilla essence. Slowly 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. Eat this Christmas dessert immediately after preparation, after leaving it for a couple of hours in the fridge .

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 yolks from the whites and place them in two separate bowls. Beat the egg whites until stiff adding half the sugar and, in the other bowl with the yolks, add the mascarpone and the remaining sugar and mix well until you obtain a smooth cream without lumps. Gradually add the egg whites to the bowl with the cream, stirring gently from bottom to top so as not to disassemble 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 about a dessert from Trentino, zelten will immediately come to mind, 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
• 150ml 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 small pieces in water and rum and leave to soften overnight . The next day, take a clean bowl, add the butter to the sugar, and mix with an electric mixer until creamy; 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 walnuts, almonds and coarsely chopped 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 dessert is cooking, dissolve the honey in a saucepan with 2 fingers 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 treat of all cannot be missing: the sweet log . It's a bit more laborious , but not very complicated: don't be discouraged!

Ingredients for the Yule log recipe (for 6 people)

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

For the topping and filling:

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

Start working the yolks with half the sugar, the vanillin and the honey. Separately, also whip the egg whites and the other half of the sugar with an electric whisk. Add the two compounds and slowly add 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 tea towel. Then fill it with the ganache and brush it with the melted chocolate. Complete with themed decorations .

7. Recipe of Neapolitan struffoli

Small, appetizing and with a delicate taste . Struffoli are perhaps the most famous Neapolitan Christmas sweets, 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 tbsp
• 60 g of butter
• 3 eggs
• 2 yolks
• orange zest to taste
• lemon zest to taste
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 sachet of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of anise liqueur

For the garnish:

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

To fry:

• Seed oil to taste

They are much simpler to do than you think: in a bowl put the eggs, sugar, melted butter and let it cool and 1 tablespoon of liqueur. 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.

Obtain many small balls, which you will fry in very hot oil for about 3 minutes. Once cold, arrange them in a turret 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 cold!

8. Gingerbread: the recipe of the nice little men

Gingerbread is the cutest Christmas dessert of all: the one that will drive children crazy , especially if you transform the dough into tender little man-shaped biscuits.

Ingredients for the gingerbread cookie recipe (serves 4)

• 350g 00 flour
• 150 g of granulated or cane sugar
• 120 g of butter
• 80 g of honey
• 1 egg + 1 egg white
• 1 level teaspoon of bicarbonate
• 2 teaspoons ginger powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• nutmeg powder 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, baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix then add the honey and the 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 into 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 transparent 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 taken out of the oven, 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 obtained a thick cream, put it in a pastry bag and create the decorations you prefer 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 to recycle 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, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, when you get a clear and frothy mixture , add the mascarpone by the spoonful. Add the whipped egg whites, mixing from top to bottom. Let the fridge rest for half an hour and in the meantime prepare the coffee.

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

10. How nougat is made: the recipe

How can we forget the homemade nougat ? Among the Christmas sweets, it is perhaps the King: you cannot end a dinner or a Christmas lunch without a piece! Not to mention when we receive them as a gift 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 wafer

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

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

11. Pandora

Pandoro is the most famous Veronese Christmas cake in the world. The recipe really takes a long time (and the special star mold) but the satisfaction of making it with your own hands is incomparable!

Ingredients for the homemade pandoro recipe (for 6 people)

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

Prepare the yeast by putting about 1/4 of 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 plastic wrap and leave to rest for 1-2 hours . After the standing 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 it is well combined and then let it rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size.

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 put it on a floured work surface, roll it out, put the remaining butter in chunks 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 transparent film and place it in the fridge for about 20 minutes (repeat this operation of the folds and rest 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 start 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 of the mold and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

12. Ladyfingers house

If the gingerbread house is too complex for you (and how can you be wrong!), 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 of lemon juice
• 300 g of cottage cheese
• 40 g of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 200 ml of cream for desserts
• 1 stick of dark chocolate

Whisk 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 get a well-whipped icing. Use this icing to join 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 of whipped cream to the ricotta and cocoa cream and mix gently from bottom to top.

Then, spread a thin 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 place the last two blocks of ladyfingers like a roof , as in the picture!

13. Gingerbread

A dough made with lots of chocolate and dried fruit is just what you need to celebrate the holidays. Among the typical Christmas desserts, gingerbread is certainly the master, reproduced with small variations throughout the boot, today we will tell you the original recipe to prepare 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 as needed

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

14. Sweet Christmas tree

Certainly one of the easiest and fastest desserts to prepare during the Christmas period could not be missing: the sweet Christmas tree . Very easy, fast, and 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 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 put the cake in a pan covered with parchment paper. Bake the tree at 180°C for 30 minutes and, once ready, sprinkle it with icing sugar, other edible Christmas decorations to taste and bring it to the table.

15. Panforte

Let's 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 of giving it as a gift on December 25th to friends and relatives.

Ingredients for 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 wafer

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 stove with half a glass of water , the icing sugar and the honey and make a kind of sticky and very sweet glaze. Add the glaze to the bowl with the other ingredients, add the orange zest and mix well.

Take a cake pan, line the edges with parchment paper and place 1 sheet of food wafer on the bottom, add the mixture and level it with a marisa. Bake in a static oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes , after this time let it cool down, cover the surface with icing sugar and serve.

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