At Christmas, every family has its own traditions, especially when it comes to cooking. In Italy, the typical dishes that cannot be missing from the festive menu can’t often be counted with the fingers of two hands and the same goes for desserts. However, for those who want to move away from the usual creations and present something more creative and imaginative, here are some ideas to make easy tasty Christmas desserts, shaped in various icons of Christmas.
Cupcakes in the shape of Santa Claus
Santa Claus is undoubtedly the icon of the holiday season and his image peeps out almost everywhere. Why not serve him as a cupcake? For the base of 12 cupcakes you need 4 oz of 00 flour, 4 oz of butter, 4 oz of sugar, 3 eggs, 1 tsp of baking powder and a tsp of vanilla essence. For the decoration you need 11 oz of powdered sugar, 5 oz of butter, one tsp of vanilla essence, one tablespoon of milk, 11 oz of red sugar paste and 4 oz of white. In a bowl put the softened butter, sugar, vanilla essence and knead with whips. Add the eggs and continue to work the ingredients. Then add the sifted flour and yeast and mix everything together. Transfer the dough into 12 small red paper cups, place them in a muffin drip pan and bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 25 minutes. In the meantime, prepare Santa's caps with the sugar dough and cream. In a bowl work the butter with a whisk, milk, vanilla essence and icing sugar, which must be poured in gradually. Once ready, transfer the cream into a sac-a-poche with a star-shaped nozzle to garnish the cupcakes placing the cap on top.
Christmas dessert in the shape of meringue trees
Another unmistakable symbol of Christmas is the tree. To serve it to the table, you can create colorful meringues that recall its shape. For 20 meringues you need 2 egg whites (about 3 oz), 3 oz of powdered sugar, 3 oz of caster sugar, a tsp of green food coloring, a pinch of tartar cream and colored sugars to garnish. First whip the egg whites with whisks. Gradually add one tablespoon of icing sugar and one tablespoon of caster sugar and continue to work for about 10-15 minutes. When the meringue will be shiny and compact, add the green coloring, little by little until you get the desired color. Transfer the mixture into a sac-à-poche with a star-shaped nozzle and on a baking tray covered with baking paper draw some tufts that develop in height. Decorate the trees with the colored rainbow sprinkles, bake at 80° for at least three hours and let them cool completely in the oven before serving.
Christmas "Abbracci" for breakfast
Other sweet treats easy to prepare and perfect for breakfast on December 25th are the Christmas "abbracci", shortcrust cookies which take the shape of sugar canes. For the classic shortcrust pastry you need 9 oz of 00 flour, 1 egg, 4 oz of powdered sugar, 4 ½ oz of butter and the grated rind of half a lemon. For the cocoa shortbread 5 oz of 00 flour, ½ oz of cocoa powder, 3 oz of butter, 2 oz of powdered sugar and one yolk. In a mixer blend the flour together with the chopped butter and a pinch of salt. Once the mixture is sandy, add the lightly beaten egg, icing sugar and lemon peel (the yolk and cocoa in the case of cocoa). Operate the machine and work the mixture until all the ingredients are completely blended. Then form two loaves, wrap them in film and let them rest in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. At this point form cylinders of half a centimeter in diameter and 7 or 8 centimeters in length with each dough, weave them together and give them a round shape. Place the cookies on a drip pan covered with baking paper and bake at 180° for 20 minutes.