Gemma 
Welcome to Day 6 of Blogmas At Home 2024! 🎄🎅🏻✨
Last year, I shared a full rundown of my beloved Christmas Cookbook Collection. I’ve always loved a good cookbook, but Christmas-based ones are my absolute favourite, so I’ve amassed a rather extensive collection of them over the years. This year, my plan was to treat myself to one, single, festive cookbook to add to my collection.
Naturally, I ended up with three.
In this post, I’ll be talking through each of the new books, sharing the recipes in them that I’m most interested in and chatting a bit about where they fit in with the other books in my collection!
Let’s get into it, shall we?
‘ScandiKitchen Christmas’ by Brontë Aurell
This was the cookbook that I actually planned to buy this year. I already have one ScandiKitchen book (ScandiKitchen Fika & Hygge), which I really love (and I actually think it contains a lot of festive recipes anyway!), so when I saw that Aurell had a Christmas book too, I knew it had to be at the top of my list.
As the name suggests, this book features a deep-dive into Scandinavian food and traditions during the festive season. There’s a good balance of sweet and savoury recipes, plus some lovely written passages that explain the folklore and customs surrounding Christmastime is Scandinavia. I’m a particular fan of the photos in this book— everything looks so beautiful and inviting, just looking at all of the pictures makes me feel so festive.
While this book has a pretty clear niche (i.e. Christmas in Scandinavia), I still think it would be great for anyone who has a general love of Christmas, or even someone who just fancies a new cookbook to broaden their cooking horizons, seeing as a lot of the recipes feel like they could be enjoyed year-round. I think this book does a great job of making Scandinavian cooking approachable, even to those completely unfamiliar with it (like me!).
I’m most interested in…
- Danish Pancake Balls (æbleskiver), p.20.
There’s a recipe for these in Scandinavian Christmas by Trine Hahnemann, which I’ve had for many years now, and I have always been intrigued by them!
- The Three Meatballs, pp. 102-3.
I was probably the most excited when I came across this double-page spread in the book, which gives individual recipes for meatballs from Noway (medisterkaker), Sweden (köttbullar) and Denmark (frikadeller). Like many people, my only experience of Swedish meatballs has been from the IKEA cafeteria, so I think it would be super fun to make my own and try out some variations from across Scandinavia!
- Rice Pudding (risengrød), pp. 151-2.
For starters, I’m a big fan of rice pudding, so I’m always up for trying new recipes/variations of it. However, I’m particularly intrigued by this rice pudding, which is apparently entwined with a fun tradition, where a single, whole almond is hidden inside and whoever finds it receives a prize: usually a marzipan pig (along with, you know, good fortune for the year ahead)! Perhaps I’m more intrigued by the marzipan pig than the rice pudding itself, but, I mean, who wouldn’t be?
- Almond Ring Cake (kransekage/kransekake), pp. 155-6.
If you’ve been here for a while, you might remember my Gingerbread Christmas Market, where I made a miniature version of a kransekake as the central Christmas tree. I had so much fun doing that, but my kransekake wasn’t perfect, so I’d love to have another go at it (I have the tin, after all).
In my collection…
ScandiKitchen Christmas fits into the country/region-specific cookbook section of my collection, along with Advent by Anja Dunk and Scandinavian Christmas by Trine Hahnemann. Obviously, it’s most similar to Scandinavian Christmas, as both focus on the same region (and both contain a range of sweet/savoury recipes), but they do both bring different recipes and approaches to Christmas, so it doesn’t feel like too much of a repeat. I would say that ScandiKitchen Christmas is a little more comprehensive, but I love both books.
Buy SkandiKitchen Christmas from Blackwell’s for £15.34.
‘Nordic Winter’ by Viola Minerva Virtamo
Nordic Winter is part-cookbook, part photo book— it’s filled with a variety of sweet and savoury recipes, alongside a plethora of winter-y photos that take up whole pages and really immerse you in that festive feeling. Unlike most cookbooks, Nordic Winter isn’t split up into chapters: you’ll find the savoury recipes in the first half of the book, followed by the sweet recipes in the second half, with a sprinkling of other, crafty ideas littered throughout. As you might be able to gather from the title of this one, all of the recipes are firmly rooted in Nordic traditions and, while there are a few recipes that are just generally winter-y, the main focus of the book is the Christmas season, specifically.
Compared to the other Scandinavian-inspired books in my collection, this one definitely has a less hard-and-fast approach to tradition. While it paints a picturesque portrait of an idyllic, Nordic Christmastime, many of the traditional recipes featured in it contain adaptations and updates, offering a unique, new approach to the festive season.
This is a gorgeous book, both inside and out, with its dramatic photography and soft, matte pages. The spine itself is covered in a woven fabric, making the book extra pretty and rustic. I do think this book would make a lovely gift, too— especially because it isn’t a super well-known volume.
I’m most interested in…
- Cauliflower x 2, with Mustard Yoghurt, Herb Vinaigrette and Browned Butter, p.55.
I’m not one to find vegetable side dishes/salads overly exciting, but this looks absolutely delicious! It does seem like there’s quite a few separate components to make, but all of the flavours sound wonderful— I think my family would love it.
- Crispy Hazelnut & Chocolate Meringue Cake, p.141.
From what I can tell, this cake is essentially made up of two layers, which are baked right on top of each other. First, there’s a chocolate & hazelnut sponge, which is par-baked, then topped with a chocolate-y meringue and baked again. Not only does this cake look spectacular, I just know it tastes delicious (it’s hard to go wrong with chocolate and hazelnut)!
- Shrove Buns – “Semlor”, p.153.
I’m a sucker for an iconic recipe from around the globe (see my Baking Around the World series), so these traditional, Nordic buns jumped out at my immediately. Apparently, they’re traditionally enjoyed around Shrove Tuesday (hence the name), so I might have to wait until February to give them a go. They’re made from a sweet, cardamom-infused dough, then filled with jam/frangipane and whipped cream.
- Caramel Almond Cake with 3-Ingredient Ice Cream, p.184.
I have actually come across this “Tosca Cake” before (again, in my Baking Around the World series research), so I was very excited to come across a family recipe for it here. I’m not so interested in the ice cream (condensed milk-based ice cream recipes always seem to turn out too sweet for me), but the cake itself sounds right up my alley: it’s a plain cake, topped with a caramel-y, almond-y topping that is actually baked on top for the perfect, crispy layer. I can’t wait to give this one a try!
In my collection…
Much like ScandiKitchen Christmas above, Nordic Winter fits into the country/region-specific section of my Christmas Cookbook Collection, along with Advent by Anja Dunk and Scandinavian Christmas by Trine Hahnemann. As I mentioned, though, I do think it is has some quite unique takes on classic recipes, so I do think the book brings a bit of freshness to my collection.
Buy Nordic Winter from Søstrene Grene for £31.40.
‘Ginger Pig Christmas Cook Book’ by Tim Wilson & Rebecca Seal
Ginger Pig is a UK-based butcher that released their Christmas Cook Book last year. It contains a whole host of festive recipes, mainly savoury and, understandably, mainly meat-based (though there is a good number of vegetable recipes as well!). There is a chapter called ‘Sweet Things and Puddings’, so this book does contain some dessert recipes, but I would definitely consider it more of a cookbook than a baking book.
I feel like this book could make a perfect, cooking bible for the festive season (or honestly, year-round for a lot of the recipes!). There are loads of recipes for meals, sides, mains— even breakfast/brunch recipes, so it’s a real all-round cookbook. This book has a very Cotswolds–y vibe— the recipes are all for good, rustic food, but each one still feels elegant and special. There are also some helpful sections on kitchen equipment, cooking schedules, table decorations and wine pairings. The book itself also has a lovely, almost linen-feel cover, which I think makes it extra special, so it would make a great present too!
I’m most interested in…
- Whipped squash with roasted garlic, thyme and feta, p.49.
This dip doesn’t feel like a particularly Christmas-specific recipe— I think it would be great at any point during autumn/winter. I love squash, I love garlic and I love thyme, so I was particularly drawn to this. I’m undecided when it comes to feta, but maybe this could be the recipe to convince me?
- Festive roast porchetta, pp. 86-89.
I have been intrigued by the Italian pork roast ‘porchetta‘ for a looonnnnggg time now (I love crackling), so porchetta recipes always catch my eye. Maybe this will be the year I finally try it out? I don’t think this is a particularly authentic recipe, but it still looks absolutely delicious!
- Spiced clementine cake, pp. 152-3.
This might just be the most exciting recipe in this book for me— I absolutely love a standard orange & almond cake, but the addition of a little spice in this one feels so original and festive! It is also both gluten and dairy-free, which makes it a great option for Christmas catering.
- Almond cookies, p.167.
I love an almond-based cookie this time of year (see my Mandelhörnchen and Pizzicotti recipes from last year), so I was immediately drawn to these ones. They look pretty easy to make as well, which is always a bonus this time of year!
In my collection…
I would definitely place the Ginger Pig Christmas Cook Book with Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Cookbook by (surprisingly enough) Jamie Oliver. All three books take on the whole festive season, supplying a mixture of sweet and savoury recipes, treats, meals and sides, alongside general advice for the holidays. If you want to buy one, single, Christmas cookbook, I would recommend one of these three!
Final Thoughts
So, those are the three new additions to my ever-growing Christmas Cookbook Collection. I’m so excited about each one of these new books and I can’t wait to try out some recipes from them this festive season. Now, I have to cut myself off from the Christmas Cookbook purchasing train until next year…
Gemma
xxx
