After all, France is famous for its cakes and delicate pastries. With that in mind, don’t expect too many heavy cakes or puddings. Instead, these insanely delicious French Christmas treats focus on flavor, texture, and color. So, if you’ve never attempted macarons before, take this as a sign to give it a whirl. Joyeux Noël!
15 Classic French Desserts & Sweets for Christmas
1. Classic French Madeleines
The English have afternoon tea, and the Swedes have their fika. But if you want to have an authentic Parisian goûter this holiday season, you have to make these lighter than air Madeleines. Made with a few simple ingredients, they’re often served warm with coffee either around 4 pm or in the morning for breakfast. What better way to start Christmas day?
2. Beginner’s Guide to French Macarons
They come in every color and flavor you can think of, and their crispy shell hides a wonderfully chewy and light filling. If you’ve never had or made macarons before, I can’t recommend them enough. These delicate meringue cookies are stabilized with almond meal and take a little TLC to get right. But once you do, you’ll make them for every occasion.
3. French Creme Caramel Recipe
Often confused with flan, creme caramel is a classic French dessert that’s silky smooth and delightfully sweet. This gluten-free French dessert comes together in a blender, making prep ridiculously easy. Some are intimidated by the caramel or using a water bath, but it doesn’t take long to master this creamy custard.
4. French Chocolate Truffles
If you need a delicious and deceptively easy treat this holiday season, you must make these rich and decadent French chocolate truffles. Made using intense dark chocolate and heavy cream, they’re soft and will melt in your mouth. These truffles are luxurious and super easy to modify. Instead of cocoa powder, why not try rolling them in chopped nuts?
5. Tarte au Citron
This luscious lemon tart is a wonderfully bright and fresh French dessert you’ll see in almost every cafe and restaurant. The lemon curd filling is the perfect balance of sweet and sour, though you can add extra heavy cream if you want it more mellow. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a few fresh raspberries.
6. Marrons Glacés (Candied Chestnuts)
You’ve likely had them roasted, but this year, why not try something new and make these insanely sweet and sticky candied chestnuts? Boiled in sugar syrup over the course of a few days for maximum flavor, they’ll end up being sweet, butter, and beautifully tender.
7. Chocolate Soufflé
Soufflés are one of the most decadent and seemingly temperamental French desserts around. They’re known for their intensely chocolatey flavor along with a light and creamy texture. Beginners might shy away from this rich treat for fear it won’t rise. Luckily, if you follow these steps to the letter, you shouldn’t have any issues.
8. Christmas Gingerbread Cake
If you’re looking for a show-stopper that needs little to no extra prep, this Christmas tree bundt cake is for you. With this forest bundt pan, the finished cake needs nothing more than some powdered sugar dusted over the top. It’s lightly spiced, crazy-moist, and perfect for feeding a crowd.
9. Lightest French Chocolate Mousse Without Cream
Did you know that the word mousse comes from the French word for foam? That name couldn’t be more fitting! This chocolate mousse is light and airy with a creamy and rich chocolatey finish. It’s the ideal dessert for a romantic holiday dinner. That said, you can double this recipe to feed the whole family.
10. Ile Flottante (Floating Island)
Also known as eufs à la neige (snow eggs), this is a creamy yet delicate dish that will take a little time to prepare. It consists of a sweetened meringue nestled in a bed of creamy crème anglaise with a drizzle of caramel over the top. Unlike many meringue recipes, this version is poached, meaning it’s cloud-like in texture.
11. Bûche de Noël
You might know this as yule log, and I’m sure you’ve tried it before. It was designed to imitate the logs people put on their fires to keep warm in the wintertime. Though some recipes use flour, the traditional French version is flourless and filled with simple chocolate whipped cream. Decorate with chocolate ganache and meringue decorations or a simple dusting of powdered sugar.
12. Easy Christmas Cinnamon Palmiers Cookies
Beautifully crisp, buttery, and spiced, these French Christmas cookies look a lot more complicated than they really are. In fact, all you need are three ingredients and about five minutes to make a whole batch of these cinnamon-filled pastry bites.
13. Easy Candy-Striped Meringue Cookies
Sweet, light, and naturally gluten-free, meringue cookies should be on everyone’s Christmas baking list. Not only are they easy to whip up and pipe into fun shapes, but you can make a huge batch with just a few egg whites. Use red food coloring for these candy-striped cookies, or try coloring some green and piping them into Christmas tree shapes.
14. Christmas Meringue Spheres
If you want something super unique and impressive to serve this year, these meringue spheres are sure to delight your family and friends. Make the meringue spheres using silicone molds, then, fill with mousse or whipped cream. When you press the two half-spheres together and dust them with powdered sugar, they look just like little snowballs.
15. Eggnog Crème Brûlée
This Christmas twist on a classic French dish is similar to creme caramel, only the caramel gets torched on top to create a delicate glass-like layer you’ll need to crack to eat. The rich and creamy custard filling is velvety smooth and moreish, and the eggnog flavor is subtle but a lovely surprise. Better still, you can make these ahead! Keep them covered in the fridge and just torch the sugar top to serve on the big day. Click on a star to rate it!
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