Every season and holiday has its own foods and flavours and everyone has their preferences. The list of brand-specific items is endless so I picked a few I wanted to highlight including one that’s one of my favourites and from the Netherlands.
Pepernoten and kruidnoten
These Dutch treats are a sign that the holiday season is starting. Every year they appear in supermarkets at an earlier stage and people complain of course. They don’t want to see them until it’s cold and they start planning for Sinterklaas. Most people only eat them in the few weeks that Sinterklaas is in the country (roughly 2 to 3 weeks). Others could eat them every day. I could too. The past two years a popup store opened up in my hometown which has different flavours covered in chocolate. Holiday spices such as cinnamon and cloves are added to the mix. They’re super delicious and we always get one or two bags.
Peppermint candy canes
Not a treat that’s popular over here, but it’s a recognisable one. It’s slowly growing more popular though. Candy canes are a popular gift for children in the US. The bigger the better and perfect for stocking stuffing. Put a ribbon on it to make it look festive. The candy cane pattern is popular for other items as well. The white and red swirl is often seen in other pastries or cookies during the season. Do you like candy canes? Which candy cane flavoured item do you like best?
Cookies and chocolate
Chocolate companies make seasonal packaging for their chocolate to sell more. Fill it with seasonal flavours for a limited edition and you’re all set. If they don’t do something with the flavour, it’s probably changing the packaging to include seasonal colours, a message or an image. To be honest, I won’t say ‘no’ to chocolate easily, but it might be an underwhelming gift when all the others are available as well. It’s good, but not special.
The same goes for cookies, except you can decorate them with festive decorations and keep the flavour the same. Change the shape to stars, decorate them with red and/or green sugars and it’s suddenly a Christmas cookie. The best of all cookies are the homemade cookies with a secret ingredient called love. If you want to bring some sweet, binge-worthy cookies, bake your own. Or if you don’t have an oven, make mason jars gifts with all of the ingredients. Then the recipient can make them whenever they have time.
Which seasonal sweet is your favourite? And which culturally bound festive sweets are something everyone should try?
I’m making my first Gingerbread later today! I feel like it is a must treat that I haven’t tried yet.
I love having bread pudding during this time. For some reason I can’t find any with raisins which I had as a kid and loved.
Other than that, I don’t know of any culturally exclusive Cuban or Spanish treat just for Christmas. I have Spanish desserts whenever there is a party.
I’ve never tried to make gingerbread or bread pudding! I should try to make some next year.