Vanilla Voyages: A Globe-Trotting Adventure Through Festive Flavours
All aboard on a Vanilla Adventure Around the World
Ho ho ho! It's that time of year again. Here at Vanilla Paradise Nevis, we can't believe December is well under way. We've already opened quite a few Advent calendar windows, sent off our letters to Santa, and our minds are filled with thoughts of all the delicious festive treats we'll be preparing.
Since vanilla is our passion, we thought we'd embark on a journey around the world, just like Santa's epic flight on December 24th, to discover how Christmas would be incomplete without this most indulgent of flavours.
Before we set off on this flavourful adventure, we acknowledge that not everyone celebrates Christmas. But no matter what your traditions are, everyone can appreciate the joy that vanilla brings.
Christmas in Europe: A Symphony of Spices and Vanilla
Ah, Europe, where Christmas traditions are as old as Santa's snowy beard! Our minds immediately jump to the traditional British Christmas Cake, loaded with fruits, nuts, marzipan, and of course, a blend of spices and vanilla. This cake takes pride of place on the Christmas table alongside Christmas Pudding. In the UK, the Sunday five weeks before Christmas is called "Stir-up Sunday," a tradition dating back to Victorian times when families would gather to stir the Christmas pudding. Traditionally, a coin is hidden in the pudding, to be found by a lucky person (best be careful of your teeth!).
Mince pies, small pastries filled with "mincemeat" (a sweet filling despite its name), start appearing in UK shops weeks, even months, before the big day! All of these treats are traditionally doused in custard or Crème anglaise, made even more special when homemade with real vanilla beans, just like the custard that you find in the layers of another fruity traditional dessert: Christmas Trifle.
The French Touch in Christmas Delicacies
In France, the exquisite Bûche de Noël, a log-shaped cake, steals the show. French pâtissiers compete to create the most opulent versions of this favourite treat, but the heart of this beloved cake remains sponge with buttercream or chestnut filling, infused with vanilla and dusted with icing sugar to resemble snow.
Bûche de Noël - a must in France!
Italy's Conical Delight: Panettone's Global Conquest
In Italy, Christmas isn't complete without Panettone, a conical-shaped cake studded with dried and candied fruits from Milan. Despite fanciful tales of its origins, it's been enjoyed since the Roman Empire! Unwrapping a Panettone, the standout flavour is usually vanilla, but surprisingly to us, most recipes, artisanal or industrial, don't mention it.
And don't forget Pandoro, Panettone's Christmas tree-shaped cousin without fruit. Each boxed Pandoro includes vanilla-sugar snow to sprinkle on the cake – children love to perform this duty!
European Fruit-Laden Traditions
The tradition of making fruit-laden cakes at Christmas is widespread in Europe. In Germany, we have the Stollen, a yeast bread baked with dried fruits, candied citrus peel, nuts, and spices, including vanilla, dusted with icing sugar to represent snow. Further north in Norway, you'll find homemade Julekake, a hearty bread originally made with rye flour and filled with raisins and candied citrus. In Poland, home cooks make Keks, a Polish Christmas fruitcake that boasts vanilla in its list of ingredients. And in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, you can find the Birnenbrot, a bread made with a pear filling.
Stollen - now a firm favourite in Europe
Food for Kings
Flying south again, we can savor the Bolo Rei, a stunning work of art from Portugal, traditionally eaten at Epiphany, or Twelfth Night. A fava bean, often accompanied by a small toy, is hidden in the traditional cake. Finding the bean meant the person had to provide the Christmas cake the following year. The toy was a delightful surprise for the lucky finder. It's a close cousin of the French Galette des Rois, a marzipan-filled pastry that contains a surprise, in the shape of a porcelain figurine and a real "crown" to be worn by whoever finds it. It is an echo of the coin buried in the British Christmas Pudding!
Traditions cross the Seas
Across the Atlantic in the USA, we find many of the sweet traditions we've mentioned above, brought over by migrating populations. Adding to this long list of favourite cakes and puddings, Americans have made Pumpkin Pie their own. It's so popular that it's brought out for Thanksgiving in November and again at Christmas. It's made with a pumpkin custard filling with various spices, including vanilla.
Staying in the US, Eggnog may evoke thoughts of a traditional American Christmas, but its roots trace back to medieval Britain. It evolved from posset, a beverage created by curdling hot milk with wine or beer. Today, eggnog is usually made of some combination of sugar, milk, cream, nutmeg, vanilla, and alcohol (or not).
Caribbean Cheers: Rum, Revelry, and Sweet Indulgences
Speaking of alcohol, rum is indeed a great addition to eggnog. And this invites us to fly to the Caribbean, where the festive spirit is always high. In Venezuela, we find Ponche Crema, a rum-based eggnog drink that was adopted by nearby Trinidad and Tobago as a Christmas specialty. Not to be outdone by European fruit-laden Christmas cakes, the Caribbean version is called Black Cake, sharing many of the same ingredients but with a lighter texture. St Kitts and Nevis has its own version which is heavy on the vanilla and the rum! Perfect to fortify those revelers getting ready for J'ouvert or Sugar Mas, the street carnival season that runs for six weeks from mid-December on St. Kitts.
Caribbean Black Cake
Southern Hemisphere Magic
We continue our journey, reaching the heart of the Southern Hemisphere, where Christmas also arrives amidst the warmth of summer. In Australia and New Zealand, vanilla takes on a starring role in a favourite dessert called White Christmas Cake. Inspired by the traditional Christmas pudding, this fruity cake is generously filled with dried fruits, nuts, and a touch of vanilla, perfectly capturing the essence of summer holidays, even though their white glaze evokes the image of snow.
White Christmas Cake
Harmony in Every Bite: Vanilla's Global Christmas Legacy
We've only skimmed the surface of the long list of traditional Christmas sweets all over the world. Whether the recipes for all these wonderful desserts and drinks contain vanilla or not, we are convinced that adding it in whatever form you can find, from the exquisite vanilla bean to the humble essence, each bite will sing like a Christmas Carol when eaten or drunk.
At Vanilla Paradise Nevis, nothing says "Merry Christmas" quite like the sweet, comforting embrace of vanilla. We are working hard to make sure that vanilla from our farm will find itself on your Christmas table in the future! So, let's raise a glass to vanilla, the flavour that brings the world together in a symphony of festive delights!
Merry Christmas to all our readers!
Vanilla, our Key to Christmas
