18 Vintage Christmas Desserts That Deserve A Spot On Your Table

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Tradition usually dictates that you have a set collection of dessert dishes that you pull out of the recipe box only at Christmas time. Reserving them for the holidays keeps them special and anchors them in your brightest moments with family and friends. Many of these creations have been handed down through generations to become standards in your yuletide menu. But that doesn't mean there isn't room for a few of the forgotten old-school goodies to join your usual old-fashioned Christmas dessert display.

Some of the most exemplary vintage Christmas desserts recipes have become scarce on contemporary tables, either due to the advent of tastier replacements or the inclusion of easier recipes to re-create. Many of these older holiday goodies are delicious links to the past, bakes that remind us of how the festivities used to be celebrated. It's time for some sweet, old-fashioned Christmas foods to make a comeback, and these selections are a great place to start.

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Different from the rollout gingerbread cookies that make an annual appearance, gingerbread cake is a Christmas dessert that fell out of fashion when more indulgent flavors became popular. Considering that one of the earliest versions of the recipe from the 15^th century didn't even include ginger, it's a wonder that this spicy bake even made it as far as the 20^th century. Later versions made use of breadcrumbs, honey, and pepper; it wasn't until the expansion of the British Colonies made spices and sugar more affordable that the familiar mix began taking shape.

Gingerbread in cake form is a flavorful way to pay tribute to the Christmas traditions of yesteryear. A simple gingerbread cake consists of the familiar flour-eggs-oil-sugar quartet, but leans heavily into molasses and ginger for the essential gingerbread flavors. Fancier recipes like pecan praline gingerbread cake turn this simple delight into a show-stopping indulgence that's sure to make your Christmas revelers sing with joy.

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If you're lucky, you'll still find pizzelles making their way into the Christmas feast, especially if you have Italian roots. These delicate wafers are like a thin, crispy cookie made using a type of waffle iron. The batter is flavored with vanilla and anise, which give the finished treats a fragrant essence similar to licorice.

Italian pizzelles (the word references something flat and round, similar to the word "pizza") began in Ortona, where the designs impressed on the cookies represented a family's crest or commemorated a special occurrence. Now, the designs are likely to be snowflakes or elegant flower forms lightly embossed into the surface of each pizzelle. While making your own version might be a tall order if you don't have access to pizzelle iron, stores like Safeway and even Walmart stock a few variations for under $10. Dressing them up with chocolate and caramel spreads will make them feel more homemade.

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If plum pudding is the most referenced dessert in all of Christmas lore, then it's at least in the top three. Most people have heard it referenced in the Charles Dickens classic, "A Christmas Carol," but fewer have seen an actual plum pudding up close. Victorian families in England would prepare a mix of ingredients on the Sunday after Advent, which would mature for a few weeks to become their Christmas plum pudding.

The original pudding that Christmas plum pudding (also known as figgy pudding) sprang from was a 15^th-century English creation that mixed fat and spices with meats and fruits, stuffed into leftover animal stomachs as a method of preservation. There weren't necessarily plums in the recipe; it was a catch-all term for the dried fruit. When fruit was more readily available in the 16^th century, the pudding became a sweeter creation. Modern plum pudding is much closer to a fruitcake, a steamed cake-like loaf loaded with raisins, fruits, and nuts that gives old-fashioned Christmas vibes. 

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Chess pie is one of those desserts that seems to be part of a grandmother's recipe trove, sometimes with a different name. It was initially known as vinegar or buttermilk pie when it showed up in the American South, and charmed its way into the Christmas dessert line-up. But earlier versions reach back into the 1700s, when this pie took on the form of a cheesecake minus the cheese. The name may actually be a version of "cheese" that lost its long-e sound over time.

The basic version uses egg yolks, lemon juice, butter, and sugar to achieve a creamy custard-like filling. The mix is poured into a pastry shell and baked until set, then topped with fresh berries or a chocolate swirl. You can also find versions that incorporate peppermint and chocolate into the custard for more contemporary flavors that may go over bigger with a contemporary Christmas crowd.

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These aren't cookies that use Cinnamon Toast Crunch as a key ingredient; this version of cinnamon toast cookies is actual cinnamon toast with a little extra oomph. They evoke fun memories of helping your mom or grandma bake by making a super-simple recipe that let you feel like a chef for the holidays. It's also an easy treat to resurrect for crafting new memories with your own little bakers.

Make your own cinnamon toast cookies by slicing pieces of white bread with the crusts removed into triangles. Butter both sides and press into a cinnamon-sugar mixture, then bake until crispy. Other versions slice the bread into crouton-size squares to make a more finger food-style bite. However you choose to prepare them, there may be no simpler way to engage the holiday spirit. It's especially great for bakers on a restricted budge in search of an effective way to put minimal ingredients to their best use.

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There was a time when you couldn't hit the holiday season without finding bourbon balls in some form, either served as a Christmas party nibble or sold as a boxed gift for the whiskey lover in your life. The buzzworthy candy orbs were introduced by candymaker Ruth Booe in Kentucky's capital of Frankfort in 1936. Booe was inspired by Kentucky's governor commenting that chocolate and bourbon eaten together created the perfect bite.

Liquor-filled candy balls were nothing new to the world of confections, however. Danish romkugler are rumballs, an ancestor of the bourbon ball created by bakers in Denmark trying to use up unsold cake by mixing them with rum and cocoa, rolling them in toppings and powdered sugar, and selling them the following day. You can make your own by breaking up cake or cookies into crumbs and drizzling in bourbon to make a dough. Roll them into spheres and dip them in melted chocolate — no baking required.

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Also known as Mexican wedding cookies and Russian tea cakes, snowball cookies are an easy way to switch up your regular Christmas cookies while incorporating global traditions into your festivities. If you can make dough and roll it into balls, you have what it takes to work these bite-sized morsels into your holiday happenings.

The trick to making the melt-in-your mouth texture is using confectioner's sugar in the dough. Flour, butter, vanilla, and pecans round out the ingredient list. Everything comes together in a basic dough that's far more flavorful than it might appear while it's still in the bowl.

Once baked, the finished cookies are dusted with powdered sugar — the final snowfall that turns them into snowballs. Stack them up on a decorative plate to create the image of a pile of snowballs being readied for a snowball fight. They also make excellent give-away gifts for anyone in your life who appreciates a classic cookie.

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You've probably heard mince pie go by the name mincemeat pie. The mix of chopped fruits and bits of beef make for a strange combination, which is likely the reason that only revelers of a certain generation still make reference to it when the holidays roll around. The original mince pie recipes can be traced to England the 15^th and 16^th centuries; these were the meat pie version that most people associate with the mince concept.

It wasn't until the 18^th century that sweet fillings came into vogue. Both versions were Christmas staples, enjoyed by families as a standard part of the celebration. These days, mince pie is as easy as chopping apples, pears, raisins, and dates and tossing them with brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Pour it all into a pre-made pie crust to bake and watch your holiday home come to life as the intoxicating aroma fills the air.

The Appalachian tradition of the apple stack cake began as a wedding rite, in which families with little to offer the happy couple with each bring a single layer of apple cake to the ceremony. The layers would be assembled in tiers, similar to a modern wedding cake, though a much humbler version. An apple filling would help hold the layers together and provide a sweet center.

You don't have to request your guests bring their own layer to add to an apple stack cake, though. You can make your own by baking several thin cakes and preparing your own apple filling to spread between each tier. The finished product lends rustic charm amidst your more decadent creations. It's also the one Christmas dessert that's most likely to invite questions about its origins. You can regale your guests with tales of how the apple stack came to be, and why it's now a part of your holiday traditions.

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The vintage dark chocolate sachertorte gives any Christmas spread a spot of gourmet glam. It came about in 1832, when 16-year-old kitchen apprentice Franz Sacher standing in for his absent head chef combined available ingredients to craft a special treat. The command came from Klemens von Metternich, an Austrian diplomat entertaining visiting dignitaries. A new classic was born, one that would become the best-known dessert from Vienna.

Though it's since given way to other similar creations like chocolate mousse pie and cheesecake, having a sachertorte on a Christmas table was a sign of luxury. Making your own requires just seven simple ingredients for the sponge, similar to a usual cake; the glaze is a mix of apricot jam and dark chocolate, with a garnish of unsweetened whipped cream to cut the sugar content a bit. Give it a place of honor among your other dishes and see how quickly it disappears.

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A trifle is one of those desserts that looks more complicated than it really is. Essentially, it's a giant parfait, although it can take the form of smaller parfait-like desserts too. Layers of cake, cream, and sweet filling alternate in a transparent glass bowl that captures the magic of culinary trickery. It used to be relatively common defined a trifle on a holiday table, but the multifaceted sweet was pushed aside by more straightforward creations.

To create your own trifle, pick up a container of refrigerated whipped topping, then cut a store-bought pound cake into cubes and make your favorite flavor of instant pudding. Layer all three ingredients into a glass bowl to make sure the festive strata show through. To make the occasion even more indulgent, sprinkle crushed up toffee bars, fruit, or chocolate chips onto the cream layer, and add shaved chocolate as a garnish on top.

The sweetness of a white Christmas pie is not just in the rich textures and flavors; it's also individual appeal of a cream pie that looks like it's made of snow. Essentially, this vintage creation is a coconut cream pie with a few twists thrown in. The resulting filling is a frosty white all on its own; once you top it with an optional layer of shredded coconut, it becomes as fluffy as a fresh snowfall.

White Christmas pie uses unflavored gelatin to achieve a perfectly-textured filling. With both milk and cream serving as liquid ingredients and vanilla layering in a simple yet effective flavor base, the finished pie offers a clean, unadorned flavor that doesn't try too hard. You can serve this one with coffee to offset the sweetness. It's also a prime candidate for cherries or other fresh fruit to lend a splash of color and a bit more flavor.

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Christmas parties used to feature rum cake as a boozy centerpiece. Who wouldn't love a sponge soaked in liquor and sometimes syrup to provide both dessert and cocktails in a single bite? The recipe is open to all sorts of personal interpretations, letting bakers go a little wild for the holidays. The Caribbean classic was originally known as black cake for its deep molasses-based color and filled with rum-soaked fruit. It became popular during colonial times and had a resurgence in the 1970s when Bacardi published a recipe that helped it break big. Then, it faded into the background. 

The easiest way to add rum cake to your party plans this Christmas is to buy a pre-made cake and give it a generous drizzle of off-the-shelf rum. The flavor will be powerful and the cake will soften, so be prepared to refrigerate it for a few hours before serving.

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Also known as bûche de Noël, a vintage yule log is a rolled cake decorated to look like a wintry log. Simple versions left the swirl ends open to look like freshly cut wood, while more intricate designs added meringue mushrooms and buttercream decorations to complete the forest theme. No matter the level of complexity, bakers could always count on this traditional cake to steal the spotlight when it hit the table.

The yule log is a remnant of the Old English ceremony that welcomed the sun back after the winter solstice. Though yule logs of old were actual logs burned in a hearth, the yule log dessert is a representation that keeps the tradition alive while giving your Christmas celebration a fanciful edible display. For an easy version, buy a bakery roll cake and add a dusting of powdered sugar and some chocolate or fruit decor. You'll have a modern yule log that pays tribute to the holiday's archaic roots.

If your holiday menu could use a hat tip to the days of yore, introduce an eggnog pie as a retro recipe into your contemporary happenings. It's a festive flavor that doesn't require a punchbowl ... and it also doesn't require the liquor portion of the eggnog concoction, making it a family-friendly treat if your Christmas crowd includes little ones.

Working the spirited holiday beverage into a tasty pastry is a creative upgrade to your eggnog that lets you resurrect a bygone dessert creation that serves as two treats in one. Of course, eggnog itself has long been a Christmas tradition, so creating a pie filling with the mixture of eggs, cream, and optional liquor is a logical next step. In fact, it's even easier than gathering the ingredients for a traditional custard pie, which could make it a simple old-fashioned fill-in for that empty spot on your dessert table.

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Few cookies match the warmth and simplicity of biscotti, an Italian bar cookie that gets its crispy texture from being baked twice; the word "biscotti" actually derives from roots that mean "twice baked." With a history that dates back to ancient Rome and spread throughout Europe in the form of Jewish mandelbrot, biscotti was enjoyed in various forms until it came to its modern form in 1858, thanks to Antonio Mattei, a Florence baker who formalized the recipe.

Biscotti is an easy cookie to make, with a method that's slightly different from other holiday cookies. A basic dough is created from sugar, flour, and oil, with chopped almonds worked in for flavor and texture. The dough is formed into a loaf and baked, then removed from the oven and sliced at a bias to create the quintessential angled bars. Then, the slices go back in the oven to add a toasted finish that makes them extra crunchy.

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European bakeries are often filled with old-fashioned babka during the holidays. The doughy twists filled with chocolate spread or cinnamon and spices was a featured player in both Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations and provided a fun opportunity for home cooks to create something special with their children. Polish immigrants brought the babka to America in the late-19th century and shared it with the community, dazzling visitors with its intricate swirls of tempting fillings.

So what is babka and how do you make it, you ask? If you've ever made cinnamon rolls, you have a head start on the process. Rather than rolling up the dough and cutting it into slices, you twist it into coils or braid it into a loaf-like shape. You can also stray from the cinnamon and spice center and try chocolate, fruit, and other warm fillings. There are even recipes that incorporate Nutella to make it easier to achieve a dependably delicious babka.

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Rogelach can be traced back to Poland in the Middle Ages, a creation of Ashkenazi Jews who named it with a Yiddish word that translates to "little twist." Also known as "rugelach," these luxurious roll ups are akin to crescent rolls with chocolate, crushed nuts, and chopped fruit tucked tightly within the twists. In deluxe versions, the pastry dough uses both butter and the sour cream to add layers of sophisticated flavor that wrapped around the gentle sweetness of the filling. They're flexible enough to serve as Christmas and Hanukkah treats, a tasty convenience for families that celebrate both.

The easiest way to make your own is to use refrigerator crescent rolls filled with a simple spread of cinnamon and sugar, topped with chocolate and chopped almonds. Roll them up bake per the instructions on the package to bring an age-old holiday favorite into your current dessert collection. They're simple enough to get your littlest chefs in on the baking fun, too.