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December 9, 2015

15 Timelessly Wonderful Vintage Christmas Dessert Recipes


Halloween wins out as my favourite holiday ever, as many of you know, and as much as I adore cooking and baking for it, there's no other seasonal event that I create quite as much food for, nor love cooking/baking in celebration of, quite like Christmas.

I think that stems in part from the fact that while Halloween is just one day. Yes, I start celebrating well in advance, but it doesn't usually call for the same degree of feasting or the endless trays of baked goods that early December  straight on until the first new days of January does.




{As soon as the calendar flips over the twelfth month of the year, you'll find me - like jolly old St. Nick here - in the kitchen, apron on, oven fired up, and mountains of scrumptious holiday fare being churned out more days than not (and I wouldn't have it any other way!). Charming mid-century vintage Santa Claus illustration source}


Christmas food is nostalgic. It calls to mind our earliest days, (often) relatives that sadly are no longer with us, and good times that we may very well have memorialized in our memories. It is the first distinct bite of fruitcake, the luxuriously rich feeling of eggnog on your tongue. Christmas tastes like cranberries, all-spice, roast turkey, chocolate fudge, mincemeat, pumpkin pie and countless other flavours each so common to the human experience and yet individual to each of us an our own culinary lives.

Throughout the duration of each year, I delight in finding vintage recipe posts with a festive flare to them, which I tuck away for safekeeping until December rolls around. Most of these recipes are wonderful classics that many of know and love dearly, but a few are more - how shall we say - whimsical mid-century offerings that might be new to your Christmas dessert repertoire. Whatever the case, they all share in common certain tastes, scents, and even textures that we automatically associate with the holiday season and that are bound to make both you and all who gather around your seasonal table pleased as punch about what you've set down before them.

Today, with precisely two weeks to go until Christmas Day and festive food making really starting to hits its stride for many of us, I wanted to take this opportunity to share fifteen of the most delightful, timeless, family pleasing vintage holiday recipes that I've encountered online this year. Whether they're old favourites or new-to-you treats, I hope that any and all of them that you should happen to try out prove to be firm favourites that only add to the many terrific Christmas food recipes you already cherish.



The mid-1940s delivers this classic recipe for Grandma'a Molasses Cookies, which is low on sugar but big on old-fashioned gingerbread taste and seasonal appeal!




This mid-century recipe for Walnut Fruit Ring not only looks elegantly pretty (wouldn't it make for a marvelous Christmas Eve or Christmas Day breakfast treat?), but sounds thoroughly delicious as well. If walnuts aren't your favourite, you could easily substitute them with another nut that holds up well to baking, such as pecans, almonds, or macadamias.




Orange and almond extras add seasonal flavour and a sublime aroma to this wonderful looking Merrie Companie Cake from 1960, which you could further jazz up with candied peal or citrus slices inside or as a decorative finishing touch on the outside (in lieu of the fruit and nuts that are suggested). A dark chocolate icing or ganache (instead of the fluffy egg white icing) would also pair excellently with the flavours at work here.




Don't let the potential hurdles of making candy from scratch at home put you off, especially when there are so many dead simple recipes out there that involve little to "staging" of sugar, such as this classic Chocolate Marshmallow Creme Fudge, which spends a few minutes on the stovetop and that's it in terms of the cooking involved. Fudge is one of my favourite treats to make - and to give as a gift - at Christmas time, and I love whipping varieties such as rocky road, cherry nut, maple pecan, creamsicle, and classic chocolate versions such as this great fifties offering alike.




If dark fruitcake finds favour with you and your family, then why not step several decades back into the past and make this classic, tasty sounding vintage fruitcake recipe offering from 1927.




This recipe from 1949 for Peppermint Tapioca Cream is just the thing after a rich, heavy main meal, when you still want dessert, but nothing too substantial. If tapioca isn't your cup of tea, you could easily make as a rice, quinoa, or even oat based treat instead.




I don't know about you, but this lovely early fifties recipe for Peppermint-Stick Cake sounds December on a fork to me! It marries the always awesome combination of peppermint and chocolate together for a fun, crowd pleasing dessert that would be fabulous in cupcake form as well.




Need something sweet, fun, and apt to please everyone in your family from the ages of three to 103? Whip up a batch of these charming Chocolate Krackolates (and do feel free to rename them to something that rolls off the tongue a little better, if so desired). They're quick, delicious, and fairly easy on the wallet, too boot - something we can all use during the expense filled holiday season!




No other time of the year suits, or calls for, raisins better than Christmas season, if you ask me, and as I'm a huge fan of these sweet, zingy little dried fruits, I always stock up well in advance and use them in all manner of sweet and savoury dishes alike throughout December. This fun California Raisins recipe ad from 1962 provides ideas for two festive ways to use of some of those that you might have kicking around - the raisin bars in particular are calling my name!




A well known breakfast cereal (Weetabix) is the unexpected star in this creative early fifties take on the centuries old beloved classic that is Christmas Plum Pudding.




Three vintage molasses recipes - each splendidly well suited to the holiday season - call this lovely Brer Rabbit ad from 1950 home. I'm really intrigued by the the brownies and look forward to giving them a spin!




If jelly candies are a hit at your house, why not try making this 1940s recipe for Holiday Danties? Knox gelatin helps speed the process along in the kitchen, and the festive colours and flavours are bound to impress your friends and family alike when you bring them to the table!



{To learn more about a specific vintage recipe above, please click on it, or the name of the recipe I the description below it, to be taken to its respective page.}




Yum, yum, merry yum! :) All of these recipes appeal to me and though I would have to modify most of them for my own medical dietary needs, that never stops me in the slightest! There are workarounds for so many different special diets these days (thankfully), so it's well worth at least experimenting - even if it means deviating a fair bit from the original recipe - to try and still enjoy as many of your seasonal favourites as possible.

Speaking of which, if you're looking for more thoroughly fun vintage holiday season dishes and sweet treats, be sure to check out my vintage recipes page, where you'll find all of the others that I've shared here over the years. Between today’s selection of fifteen desserts and those from years past, there's bound to be at least one or two awesome old school Christmas recipes that call your name and send you rushing to see how much cinnamon, candied fruit, molasses, or cocoa powder you still have in the pantry!

Enjoy this marvelous time of the year and all the food, be it homemade, store bought, or created by others in your life, that it delivers. Before we know it, Christmastime will be over for another year and our meals will go back to their wintertime norm.

Feast now, bake often, treat those you love to your scrumptious seasonal eats, and don't shy away from vintage holiday recipes - after all, they've been the backbone of many of our holiday meals and memories alike for generations now and that alone is well worth baking a fruitcake or two in celebration of! :)

42 comments:

  1. I don't like dark fruit cake or Christmas pudding so often used to flounder when it came to my own pudding. I then started making a chocolate pudding with coconut cream which is divine.

    I shall most definitely peruse these recipes here, thank you for sharing!

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    1. Your chocolate version sounds marvelous! I've always been a huge fan of steamed puddings and think they're long overdue for a real resurgence in popularity.

      Big hugs & joyful holiday season wishes,
      ♥ Jessica

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  2. Well I certainly feel like I want some 50s chocolate fudge now :) Particularly as things are currently non-stop over here, and a nice cup of tea and a piece of fudge for half an hour's break sounds perfect to me at this moment! Maybe soon, but for this afternoon, it's off to Wales for a work conference... xx

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    1. Goodness, do I hear you there! As busy as October was for me/us, December is blowing it clear out of the water and definitely wins out so far as the most jam packed, hectic, event filled month of this year. Hopefully neither of us will get dangerous rundown amidst of this hustle and bustle.

      I hope all goes well with your work conference, sweet dear.

      Oodles of hugs & energizing wishes,
      ♥ Jessica

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  3. Wow, these recipes are making me so hungry! I am especially interested in trying out the Brer Rabbit Mint Brownies. I have baking tools and ingredients stocked up but I just don't bake often enough. Cleaning up is a chore!

    Happy festive wishes xo

    Gwen

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    1. Same here! December in general just seems to ramp up one's appetite, doesn't it? I hope these brownies turn out fabulously if you give them a spin, lovely lady.

      Big hugs & the merriest of holiday season wishes!
      ♥ Jessica

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  4. So many of these remind me of baking with Gramma and Mom during the holidays! ♡

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    1. Aww, that's wonderful to hear. I'm really happy that I could - pun intended - stir up some lovely memories for you.

      Have a fantastic holiday season!
      ♥ Jessica

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  5. I am going to disagree with you on when seasonal baking should begin. In my home it starts in September with ginger cookies and sugar cookies that change from ghosts to snowflakes. All things pumpkin and apple that continues in my home sometimes well past Christmas. There's also apple cider plain and spiced, Carmel corn and many many mugs of hot chocolate and festive teas. I adore September till December because of the extended holiday baking season I've created and my family isn't complaining either hehe.

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    1. So true, so true - no argument there. It really is all part of the same larger, marvelous fall + winter nourishing, scrumptious, beautifully scented culinary feast and can be started as soon as the very first whispers of fall appear and linger until the initial buds of spring.

      Wishing you and your family a truly wonderful holiday season, dear Debra.

      ♥ Jessica

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  6. these all look great. I bought a candy cane cake pan this year and plan to make a bit red velvet cake in it for xmas eve

    retro rover

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    1. That sounds awesome!!! Are you going to decorate it with stripes of red, green and white icing?

      Happy holiday season baking!

      ♥ Jessica

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  7. This post reminds me of making candy with my mother around the holidays. She would make homemade caramels and chocolates as office gifts and I would sit with her and help wrap the caramels in waxed paper and red and green cellophane. We were also in charge of desserts for Christmas dinner with the family.

    Years later, I went to visit my grandmother to have her teach me her recipe for Hungarian pastries that she made every Christmas. They're labor-intensive, but delicious and remind me of my roots, which is what so much of vintage revival is about for me.

    Thanks for a lovely post!
    Happy holidays,
    ~Elizabeth

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    1. What deeply beautiful - and very heartwarming - memories, dear Elizabeth. The poignancy that they hold in your life rings through so eloquently with each word and I really appreciate that you shared them with me (us).

      May this holiday season bring that same sort of marvelous warmth and enjoyment your way, too.

      Many hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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  8. I just made one batch of biscuits for my kids to give to friends as Christmas presents and was laid up with headache and stomach ache due to the stress. I do many crafts but cooking escapes me!
    Very simple meals here at Christmas, but fortunately it is Summer :-) xo Jazzy Jack

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    1. I'm very sorry to hear that you've been feeling unwell this month, sweet lady, and hope dearly that such will not be the case when the big day itself rolls around. It was very thoughtful of you to whip up a batch of cookies for your kids to give to their friends. That takes me back to memories of my mom doing the same, particularly for us kids to take to our class Christmas parties.

      Sending gentle hugs and tons of feel better wishes your way,
      ♥ Jessica

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  9. These all look so delicious! I've been getting so many treats at work from sweet, generous people, I should definitely try my hand at some of these recipes to give back. Those molasses cookies are really high on my list (I do love them), and that peppermint stick cake.

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    1. Yum! How fun that you've been enjoying lots of tasty seasonal treats at work. Doesn't those molasses cookies sound great? I think molasses have to be one of the most "wintry" flavours for me. The peppermint stick cake looks super scrumptious, too, and again, it doesn't get much more seasonal on the flavour front that. I put mint in as many things as I can this time of the year, from cocoa to rice pudding to brownies. :)

      Big hugs & super merry holiday season wishes!
      ♥ Jessica

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  10. sooo sweeeet! :-D
    i have some spiced cookies on my to do list - with lots of butter! cinnamon & coriander! nuts! mmmhh!
    xxxxxxx

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    1. Those sound sublime!!! I love the abundance of spices that feature in German and other central European cuisines at the time of the year (and, to be fair, quite often at other times as well).

      Happy holiday season baking, my dear friend!

      ♥ Jessica

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  11. So many goodies here Jessica...
    I don't think I'll be cooking this Christmas. I will most likely be eating someone else's cooking :)
    My faves are usually pecan pie and a special almond bread that I can live off!

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    1. Those sounds absolutely marvelous! I adore pecan pie, too, and anything with almonds (my very favourite nut) is always a winner in my books. I wish you lived nearby and I could share some our holiday treats with you, dear Lorena.

      Tons of hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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  12. Good morning my dear Jessica,

    Oh that Walnut Fruit Ring looks especially delicious! I think I am going to have to nab that one. It would be perfect for Christmas breakfast.

    I am trying to lose all my excess weight before my birthday in January, so I have to be very selective in the few treats in which I am allowing myself to indulge. This one looks like a winner!

    Jessica, thank you for always being so encouraging in all your comments. You truly are on of the dearest people I know.

    Warm hugs,
    ♥Hope

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    1. It definitely would! I'd serve it with a selection of teas, coffee, hot chocolate and maybe even spiced apple cider (one of my favourite beverages ever), too.

      You are deeply welcome, sweet Hope. Thank you in turn for your own thoughtful comments and the abundance of support you have shown my blog and Etsy shop over the years. You're a treasure!

      Happiest holiday season wishes!
      ♥ Jessica

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  13. OH my goodness! Those hot bread and fudge recipes ARE like a trip down memory lane as you said. I can remember being very young and our elderly neighbors bringing good tidings and joy over to our little old house in the form of yummy foods like this. Now that i'm older, i see them as these old time fudge and monkey bread and mid-century popular dishes. So charming!

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    1. What an immensely sweet memory. I was really fortunate to spend part of my childhood on a street with many elderly neighbours who looked upon our family much like their own and who showered us with homemade treats during the winter holiday season, too. Even though that was less than thirty years ago, it seems like it was such a simpler, sometimes happier time - and in a way, it was, but I certainly adore our holiday celebrations these days, too, especially since we moved back to BC in 2012 and thus have a number of my relatives very close by to enjoy this most beautiful of seasons with.

      Joyful Christmas wishes to you and your loved ones, dear Abigail!

      ♥ Jessica

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  14. Chocolate crispy cakes are always popular! We make them with rice krispies as an alternative to cornflakes here in the UK, I'm guessing lots of other places do the same. I always associate them with Easter, shaped into nests with a few mini eggs in the middle.

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    1. Yum-yum! Both versions, rock, and are a really handy, speedy treat for this time of the year. Have you ever tried them with Cheerios or a similar "O" shaped cereal? Quite nice as well.

      Have a great countdown to Christmas and a very lovely weekend!
      ♥ Jessica

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  15. These recipes look like fun, I'm all for experimenting with recipes. Also I love fudge, so maybe I should try my hand at making some fudge this year, haven't done that in years. Thanks for sharing these recipes.

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    1. My pleasure, sweet Akram. Fudge rocks and is a holiday staple around these parts. I usually make at least a couple of types, but sometimes as many as six or even more varieties, just depending on how much of it I'll be giving away as gifts and to whom (for example, maple walnut is my mom's favourite, so that's always a great choice for her).

      I love that we're knee deep in this busy, festive time of the year, complete with all its tasty treats and wish you a joyful time with your own holiday cooking/baking/candy making.

      Tons of hugs & merry wishes!
      ♥ Jessica

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  16. Fantastic post for all the bakers/cookers in one's life. I am not one of those souls (and I'm okay with that) but I enjoy when my friends and family are! So I will be sure to pass some of these recipes on to them :)

    Thanks!

    Liz :)

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    1. Thank you very much, lovely Liz. You know, I really think that sometimes getting to enjoy another person's culinary delights is one of the most enjoyable elements of the season. It's something I really miss being able to do do, as the complexities of my medically dictated diet make doing so rather hard in most settings. Thankfully I love cooking and whip up plenty of (safe for me) treats to take with us wherever we go, so I can still partake in the merry feasting.

      I hope that you're having a great December and a marvelous countdown to Christmas!

      Big hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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  17. You and me, darling.. we share similar posts.
    Heck, it's Christmas season - of course we'll share all the recipes we can get our hands on! :) I, for one, am not one of those women who hide the "good stuff".. believe me, there are lades that I know, that still believe in "secret" recipes, and honestly HIDE them away from friends and family...
    Unlike those who hold on to their treasure, I love sharing my finds with the world. So, if I have found some amazing, succulent, chewy chocolate heaven - I'll make sure to talk & write about it as loud as I can.

    Huge and foggy hugs!
    I hope your journey was a successful one, and that your health did not suffer much from the exhaustion (because I know you, you are the creature unable to just be docile and spend her holiday sitting in a room) :)
    Marija

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    1. Hi sweet Marija, ohhh, you know me so well. I did feel our travels on the health front, but thankfully nothing to epic. More just exhausted from the trip and the super-duper busy month that I've been having so far (and will continue into at least the first week of the next one).

      It's great that we've both got holiday baking on the brain. Tis the season! :) Mind you, we've got some sunshine today, but it's still pretty much cold enough to snow again, so much more wintry than summer.

      I hope that you're doing well and having a stellar Christmas countdown, my dear friend.

      Giant hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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  18. I have to say I'm not a fan of traditional fruit cake or Christmas pudding but the other recipes here look fab, especially the Chocolate Marshmallow Creme Fudge. That looks really indulgent! I'll have a good look through all your other recipes too as my mum has just bought me a set of American measuring cups so I won't have to keep converting everything now, which will make it a lot easier.
    Enjoy all your festive baking! xx

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    1. That's great! They're handy for sure! I lived in Europe for a couple of years and brought a set of cups and another of spoons with me. Objectively, you can get slightly more accurate measurements by weighing ingredients, but I grew up with cups and spoons, so it's just second nature for me to go that route. These days I tend to go with whatever a recipe calls for. We should come up with a term for that...hmm, how about "biculinarigual"? :D

      Big hugs & joyful holiday season wishes!
      ♥ Jessica

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  19. So many wonderful recipes! I'm not a fan of fruit cake but I love baking shortbread and gingerbread cookies. My birthday is close to Christmas so there is yummy homemade treats to enjoy throughout the week! x

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    1. What a delightful plus to having a December birthday! I adore both of those classic cookies, too, and make a batch or two of each almost every year. Tony loves shortbread, too, so they're a must around our house. :)

      Happy birthday countdown wishes, sweet lady!

      Big hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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  20. These all sound delicious! You have pulled together a great selection. I think my favourite Christmas treat is a good old mince pie though!

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    1. Yum!!! It really is a succulent, fantastic classic. It might not be entirely traditional, but for a fun change of pace every now and then, I've always enjoyed a hot mincemeat tart or slice of pie with a dollop of vanilla, apple cinnamon, butterscotch or caramel ice cream on top.

      I hope that you guys are having a beautiful holiday season and that all is well on your end this month.

      Tons of hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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  21. Fudge is my absolute favourite! But the peppermint stick cake and the orange and almond cake sounds fabulous. In fact most of your recipes sounds lovely. I will pin most of them to my vintage recipe board on Pinterest. :)

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    1. Aww, thank you! It never fails to touch my heart that you like many of the recipes that I share here so much. Knowing that they'll be appreciated like that makes the act of hunting them down, so to speak, all the more enjoyable and rewarding.

      Hard to believe that we're just a week away from the big day! I hope that you're having a beautiful holiday season, dear Sanne, and that all is merry and bright on your end this week.

      Huge hugs,
      ♥ Jessica

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