Even if you cannot visit Canada this Christmas, you might find amazing ideas on the way you can enrich the Christmas menu this year with these delicious dishes.
Some of the desserts are actually consumed during the entire year but they are definitely perfect treats for a special holiday season. Certainly, if you are visiting Canada soon, you should taste all of them!
Nanaimo Bars
In case you are looking for a truly Canadian Christmas dish, you absolutely cannot miss Nanaimo Bars. This dish was developed in Nanaimo located in British Columbia in 1953, so it is an indigenous Canadian dish. The author of the dish created it and send to a cookbook. The editor of the book chose it and the recipe of the chocolate dessert became highly popular. Another essential ingredient of this dish is coconut. The creamy chocolate texture of Nanaimo Bars cannot be forgotten!
Actually, in Canada, Nanaimo Bars is an absolutely crucial dish on every holiday table and you can find it at many pastry shops and coffee shops during the Christmas time in Canada.
Plum pudding
Plum pudding is a historical dish which comes from the medieval times. The place it originates from is the UK. Plum pudding is not just tasty, but it is quite demanding when it comes to preparation. The ingredients used in this rich and thick pudding require soaking and steaming so the entire process of cooking this dish can stretch out to a couple of days. The result is very satisfying though. Yet, some of the processes used for cooking this dish were added later. For example, plum pudding has been steamed since the 19th century.
A bit of a history of a plum pudding
There is a strong tradition behind this dish. The number of ingredients used in this dessert is thirteen which is a representation of Christ and his apostilles. Initially, the pudding was served exactly on the 25th Sunday coming after the holiday of Trinity. The tradition also includes an extra ingredient in the dish such as silver coins. As you can imagine, receiving a coin in a piece of pudding will bring one luck.
Plum pudding was particularly loved by British king George who loved to have this dish during his royal feast. For this reason he even got a nickname of Pudding King.
By the way, there are also other versions of the dessert such as Carrot Pudding, Christmas Pudding and Figgy Pudding.
The tradition of lighting
There is one more important Canadian tradition connected to Plum Pudding. This exact dessert is used for the lighting tradition which is literally lighting. First, some liquor is taken such as sherry, brandy, whiskey or rum and it is poured over a piece of pudding. Then, with a flicker, the pudding is lightened. This is a crucial ritual for getting rid of sins which are basically burnt with the flame so that the next year is started freshly.
It might seem a bit dangerous and indeed, it is not difficult to set some additional things on fire. Anyway, the tradition is interesting and you can enjoy it if you have a chance of having a plum pudding while visiting a Canadian family.
Yule Log
Unlike all of the previous traditional Christmas dishes of Canada, Yule Log comes from France that is why it is also very popular in the nearby European countries. As you can imagine, these were the French families living in Canada, primarily in Quebec added this dish to the traditional Christmas cuisine of Canada.
The dessert was created in the 19th century. In all likelihood, its predecessor was the dish known as Jelly Roll.
What is so special about Yule Log? Of course, its amazing chocolate taste and its unique shape! Yule Log looks like a real log chopped by a lumberjack. The creation of such a dessert requires a lot of decoration.