{"id":82167,"date":"2021-12-22T10:50:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T15:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=82167"},"modified":"2025-12-22T15:51:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T20:51:33","slug":"holiday-desserts-the-recipes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/holiday-desserts-the-recipes.html","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Desserts: The Recipes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers to find recipes for holiday desserts our ancestors enjoyed. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The holidays are a time of family meals, parties, and food-centered gatherings. That means lots of desserts specific to your holiday celebrations.<\/p>\n

What desserts do you serve or eat during the holidays? Are any of your desserts born of family tradition? I asked my Facebook friends what some of their holiday desserts were, and then I looked in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> to find the recipes. These recipes provide an opportunity to reacquaint yourself with old family favorites, to try something new, or just try a new version of something you already enjoy.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: a Christmas Pudding being flamed after brandy has been poured over it. Credit: Ed g2s; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Christmas-Specific Puddings and Cakes<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are some specific desserts that are associated with the holidays. Historically they could have gained that association because of their richness in flavor, time they required in their preparation, expense or rarity of ingredients, or symbolism.<\/p>\n

Christmas Pudding is something you may have heard of. It also may be referred to as Plum Pudding. For Americans, this \u201cpudding\u201d is what we think of as a cake. This 1918 column provides Plum Pudding recipes to try out, including an English and American version.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), 2 December 1918<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), 2 December 1918<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And then, of course, there\u2019s Fruit Cake.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: traditional American Fruit Cake with fruits and nuts. Credit: Stu Spivack; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fruit Cake is closely associated with Christmas, though it has grown out of favor over time. This very rich, dense cake can be marinated in alcohol or not. One of the costs of making Fruit Cake is the time it can take. This 1951 recipe is a \u201cfast\u201d recipe, taking only 48 hours.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 27 November 1951, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m embarrassed to admit that although part of my ancestry is French, I have never had Buche de Noel (though I\u2019ve always wanted to try it). The rolled log-like cake looks so interesting and can be decorated to look like a log with berries and leaves. This 1991 recipe is just one of many I found searching for the keywords \u201cBuche de Noel\u201d in GenealogyBank\u2019s search engine.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Naples Daily News (Naples, Florida), 19 December 1991, page 69<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Year-Round Desserts with a Holiday Feel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some desserts aren\u2019t really specific to the holidays but they get served during the holidays because they are a family favorite. In our family, that would be Fudge. It\u2019s something my brother makes each year, inspired by my great-grandmother\u2019s recipe, and I know for at least one of my sons, the holidays aren\u2019t complete without it. Since our recipe is a family secret, I thought I\u2019d provide one from a newspaper. (It\u2019s not really a secret, it\u2019s actually found on the back of a marshmallow fluff jar, but I thought it best not to advertise specific products.)<\/p>\n

The best part of this Fudge recipe from 1961 is you can use a tree-shaped pan and use it for gift giving.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 21 December 1961, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quite a few of my friends mentioned Apple Pie as a holiday favorite. This pie is pretty much a year-round treat, but historical newspapers do provide some recipes that are extra special, such as this one.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 3 December 1964, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Genealogy Search Tip:<\/em><\/strong> Searching on the words \u201cApple Pie\u201d can bring up too many results, and many of these may not be relevant to finding a recipe. To narrow down my search I used an exact phrase search by typing in \u201cApple Pie\u201d in the first name box of the search engine and then I included the keywords \u201cHoliday, recipe.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Desserts Will You Try?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Conducting a search in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> on the term \u201cHoliday Desserts\u201d brings up thousands of ideas for a dessert your family will love this holiday season. Cakes, pies, cookies, candy, puddings, gelatin salads, you name it. Consider trying something from your or an ancestor\u2019s hometown newspaper, a dessert printed in your birth year, or even something from another country. The possibilities are sweet and endless.<\/p>\n

Happy Holidays!<\/p>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> B\u00fbche de No\u00ebl. Credit: Mathieu MD; Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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