24 Christmas desserts sorted by how far ahead you can make them

Cakes, breads and biscuits that keep, some of them better for it. The windows are each cook’s, for quality; food kept frozen at 0°F (-18°C) stays safe but loses quality (USDA FSIS).

1. 

   1Christmas cake

   The British fruit cake, made weeks ahead and fed with spirit. Make ahead: Mary Berry bakes it at least 3 weeks ahead and keeps it up to 3 months; Nigella Lawson prefers 6 weeks. It is fed 1 to 2 tbsp every fortnight (BBC Good Food) or weekly (Delia, Nigella Lawson), no more than four times, and not in the week before icing (BBC Good Food). On the day: nothing: marzipan a week before, icing in the last few days (Delia). On the table: holds all evening: fruit cake needs no fridge (Sweet Success, a cake maker). Plate it: thin slices cut into fingers with a long serrated knife. Allergens: wheat, egg, milk, almonds and marzipan (tree nuts), sulphites (UK) in the dried and glacé fruit. It keeps its alcohol; royal icing is raw egg white (see the recipe).

   • 75 min active
   • Start weeks ahead
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian

   Quick recipe · Serves 16. After Mary Berry’s classic Christmas cake (BBC Food); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 3 lb (1.4 kg) raisins, currants, sultanas and halved glacé cherries, soaked 3 days in 5 fl oz (150 ml) brandy or sherry with the zest of 2 oranges
   • 9 oz (250 g) each soft butter and muscovado sugar, 4 eggs, 1 tbsp black treacle (molasses), 2¾ oz (75 g) chopped almonds, 10 oz (275 g) all-purpose (plain) flour and 1½ tsp mixed spice
   • To cover: apricot jam, 1½ lb (675 g) marzipan, and royal icing of 3 egg whites, 1½ lb (675 g) icing sugar, lemon juice and glycerine

   Method

   1. Beat the butter, sugar, eggs, treacle and almonds, mix in the flour, spice and fruit, and bake in a lined 9 inch (23 cm) deep round tin at 284°F (140°C, or 120°C fan) for about 4 to 4½ hours, until a skewer comes out clean.
   2. Feed it brandy, wrap it in greaseproof paper (parchment) and foil and keep it cool, up to three months. Marzipan it a week before icing and ice it in the last few days (Delia). Full recipe: BBC Food.

   Royal icing is raw egg white: in the US use pasteurized whites or meringue powder (the FDA’s advice for any recipe served with raw egg; Iowa State Extension says both are safe raw); in the UK, British Lion or Laid in Britain eggs may be eaten raw except by the severely immunocompromised (the FSA).

2. 

   2Christmas pudding

   The British steamed fruit pudding (its history). Make ahead: Stir-up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent, falls on 22 November in 2026. Nigella Lawson makes hers up to 6 weeks ahead; BBC Food at least a month, and keeps it a year or more. Those windows are for rich, long-steamed puddings: Orlando Murrin’s below keeps cool and dry until Christmas; BBC Good Food’s quick “easy” pudding, 3 days in the fridge or 2 to 3 weeks frozen. On the day: steam it 1 hour (Orlando Murrin, BBC Good Food) to 2¼ hours (Delia), topping up the water so the pan never boils dry, then flame it. On the table: holds all evening; its custard is a 2-hour item; brandy butter keeps a week in the fridge (Orlando Murrin) and all its brandy. Plate it: whole, cut at the table. Allergens: wheat, egg, milk, almonds (tree nuts), sulphites (UK) in the dried fruit and peel. The recipe below uses butter; in suet recipes, packet shredded suet is rolled in wheat flour (Atora’s label), and beef suet makes it not vegetarian unless you use vegetarian suet. Flamed, it keeps 75% of its alcohol (USDA).

   • 45 min active
   • Start weeks ahead
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian

   Quick recipe · Two puddings, each serving 8. After Orlando Murrin’s Classic Christmas pudding (BBC Good Food); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 2¼ lb (1 kg) raisins, 7 oz (200 g) candied peel, 1¾ oz (50 g) almonds and 2 Bramley (sharp cooking) apples, chopped
   • 5 oz (140 g) all-purpose (plain) flour, 3½ oz (100 g) fresh breadcrumbs, 3½ oz (100 g) light muscovado sugar, 3 eggs, three quarters of a nutmeg and 2 tbsp brandy
   • 9 oz (250 g) cold butter, grated in a quarter at a time

   Method

   1. Mix everything well and pack it into two buttered 5 cup (1.2 l) basins under pleated parchment and a double foil package, tied with string and a string handle for lifting.
   2. Steam 8 hours, topping up with boiling water as necessary so the pan never boils dry (BBC Good Food), and lift the basins out by their string handles. Cool, re-wrap in fresh parchment and foil and store cool and dry. On Christmas Day steam it 1 hour, turn it out and flame it as in the last 30 minutes. Full recipe: BBC Good Food.
3. 

   3Mince pies

   Small spiced fruit pies, once made with meat; by the 20th century only the suet was left (English Heritage). Make ahead: Delia’s mincemeat keeps in sterilised jars, best within a year. Freeze the pies unbaked in the tray, 1 month (Orlando Murrin) to 3 (James Martin), both BBC Good Food. Baked, a few days in a tin (BBC Food) to a week (Gordon Ramsay), not the fridge (Delia’s team). On the day: from frozen, 392°F (200°C, or 180°C fan) for 30 minutes; baked ones warmed 10 to 15 minutes (BBC Food). On the table: holds all evening. Plate it: warm on a board under icing sugar. Allergens: wheat, milk, egg, almonds (tree nuts) in Delia’s mincemeat (read a jar’s label), sulphites (UK) in the dried and glacé fruit; packet shredded suet is rolled in wheat flour (Atora’s label), and beef suet makes it not vegetarian unless you use vegetarian suet. Delia stirs brandy into the cold mincemeat, and baking leaves much of it (USDA: 45% after 25 minutes): offer children and pregnant guests something else.

   • 40 min active
   • Freeze weeks ahead
   • Holds all evening

   Quick recipe · 12. After James Martin’s Make-ahead mince pies (BBC Good Food); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 18 oz (500 g) block of shortcrust pastry, plus flour for dusting
   • 9 oz (250 g) mincemeat
   • 1 egg, beaten, and granulated sugar to sprinkle

   Method

   1. Line a 12-hole bun (shallow muffin) tin with 3 inch (8 cm) rounds of pastry, add a small spoonful of mincemeat each and seal smaller lids on with egg.
   2. Freeze them in the tray, up to 3 months. From frozen, brush with egg, sprinkle with sugar and bake at 392°F (200°C, or 180°C fan) for 30 minutes, until golden; fresh, 428°F (220°C, or 200°C fan) for 15 to 20 minutes. Full recipe: BBC Good Food.
4. 

   4Stollen

   Germany’s Christmas loaf of fruit and almonds around marzipan, under butter and sugar. Make ahead: wrapped airtight, 2 weeks at room temperature (King Arthur Baking) or 3 weeks cool and dry (Dr. Oetker, the German baking company: the fridge dries it). Freeze it for longer. On the day: dust it with sugar again if it was frozen (King Arthur). On the table: holds all evening, wrapped between slicings. Plate it: on a board, in slices about ½ inch (1.3 cm) thick. Allergens: wheat, milk, egg, almonds and marzipan (tree nuts), sulphites (UK) in the dried and glacé fruit.

   • 30 min active
   • Start weeks ahead
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian

   Quick recipe · 3 loaves. After Charlotte Rutledge’s Christmas Stollen (King Arthur Baking); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 3 cups (454 g) dried and candied fruit soaked in ⅓ cup (74 g) orange juice or rum, and ½ cup (71 g) toasted almonds
   • A soft yeast dough: 3½ cups (420 g) all-purpose flour, 1 tbsp instant yeast, ¾ cup (170 g) water, an egg, 8 tbsp (113 g) butter, dry milk, sugar, salt, mace, cardamom and lemon zest
   • ¾ cup (191 g) marzipan or almond paste; melted butter and two sugars to finish

   Method

   1. Let the dough rise 60 to 90 minutes, knead in the fruit and nuts, and fold three 8 by 6 inch (20 by 15 cm) ovals over a log of marzipan each.
   2. Rise 45 to 60 minutes, bake at 350°F (177°C) for 30 to 35 minutes, to 190°F (88°C) inside, then brush with butter and dust with sugar. Full recipe: King Arthur Baking.
5. 

   5Lebkuchen, gingerbread and perníčky

   Honey-spiced German Lebkuchen, and the Czech perníčky (gingerbread) that open the baking season. Make ahead: King Arthur Baking’s Lebkuchen taste better 2 to 3 days ahead and last several weeks airtight with a slice of apple; Dr. Oetker Austria gives 4 to 6 weeks, with a piece of citrus or apple peel or a slice of bread changed every few days against mould. Apetit, the Czech food magazine, starts perníčky up to 6 weeks before Christmas. Apple only for gingerbread you want softer: America’s Test Kitchen found it made chewy cookies soggy within a day. On the day: nothing. On the table: holds all evening. Plate it: bars stacked crisscross on a board. Allergens: wheat, egg, almonds (tree nuts); brandy in the glaze is never heated. Honey: not for babies under 1 (CDC).

   • 25 min active
   • Start weeks ahead
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian

   Quick recipe · 54 bars, 1 by 2 inches (2.5 by 5 cm). After Susan Reid’s Lebkuchen (King Arthur Baking); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • ¾ cup (255 g) honey, ½ cup (106 g) light brown sugar, 1 egg and grated lemon and orange zest
   • 2¼ cups (270 g) all-purpose flour, ¼ tsp baking soda, ½ cup (57 g) chopped almonds, crystallized ginger and spices
   • Glaze: 1 cup (113 g) confectioners’ (icing) sugar and 2 tbsp water, brandy or apple juice

   Method

   1. The day before, boil the honey and sugar, cool to lukewarm, beat in the egg and zest, stir in the dry ingredients and refrigerate overnight.
   2. Roll the dough into a 9 by 13 inch (23 by 33 cm) rectangle, ease it into a lined pan that size and bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20 to 22 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Glaze at once, cool, cut and store airtight with a slice of apple. Full recipe: King Arthur Baking.
6. 

   6Cukroví: vanilkové rohlíčky and linecké

   The Czech Christmas biscuits, many kinds baked through Advent: a 19th-century town custom most homes took up in the 20th (Czech Radio; iDNES). Make ahead: Apetit bakes linecké (jam-sandwiched shortbread) and vanilkové rohlíčky (vanilla almond crescents) about 2 weeks ahead and sandwiches the linecké a few days before. Paper or tin boxes, cool and dry, each kind apart; cream and no-bake kinds go in the fridge. On the day: nothing. On the table: holds all evening, the cream kinds excepted. Plate it: one kind to a row. Allergens: wheat, milk, egg, almonds or walnuts (tree nuts). Coconut is no longer one of the FDA’s major-allergen tree nuts (January 2025), but is still listed as an ingredient. A guest with a tree-nut allergy may still react, so ask.

   • 45 min active
   • Start weeks ahead
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian

   Quick recipe · One tray of crescents (the recipe gives no count). After Katka Vávrová’s Vanilkové rohlíčky podle M. J. Sandtnerové (Apetit, in Czech); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 4¼ oz (120 g) icing (confectioners’) sugar with the seeds of half a vanilla pod sifted through it: ¾ oz (20 g) for the dough, the rest to coat
   • 5¼ oz (150 g) all-purpose (plain) flour, 1¾ oz (50 g) ground almonds and ¼ tsp finely grated lemon zest
   • 3⅞ oz (110 g) cold butter, in small cubes, and 1 egg yolk

   Method

   1. Work the flour, ¾ oz (20 g) of the vanilla sugar, almonds, zest, butter and yolk quickly into a dough; chill at least two hours.
   2. Shape crescents, bake at 338°F (170°C) about 12 minutes, until just coloring underneath, and coat them in the rest of the vanilla sugar. Full recipe (in Czech): Apetit.
7. 

   7Shortbread

   The three-ingredient butter biscuit, and one of the easiest things to freeze. Make ahead: Lulu Grimes’s BBC Good Food shortbread keeps up to a week airtight; Nigella Lawson’s site gives 5 to 7 days somewhere cool and freezes it baked up to 3 months. On the day: thaw frozen fingers on a rack for about an hour (Nigella’s site). On the table: holds all evening. Plate it: fingers stacked log-cabin style on a small plate. Allergens: wheat, milk; no egg as written.

   • 20 min active
   • Freeze weeks ahead
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian
   • Nut-free

   Quick recipe · 20 fingers. After Lulu Grimes’s Shortbread (BBC Good Food); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 5 oz (150 g) all-purpose (plain) flour, plus a little for dusting
   • 3½ oz (100 g) chilled butter, cubed
   • 1¾ oz (50 g) caster (superfine) sugar, plus 1 tbsp to sprinkle

   Method

   1. Heat the oven to 338°F (170°C, or 150°C fan). Rub the flour, butter and sugar together until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs, then squeeze it into a dough without overworking it.
   2. Roll it about ¼ inch (5 mm, the recipe’s figure) thick, cut fingers, mark them with a fork and sprinkle with sugar. Chill 20 minutes, bake 15 to 20 minutes until golden and cool 10 minutes on the tray. Full recipe: BBC Good Food.
8. 

   8Rum balls

   No-bake balls of cookie crumbs, nuts, honey and spirit, for adults only. Make ahead: Southern Living keeps them airtight in the fridge up to a month, or frozen up to three. On the day: nothing; if you rolled them in confectioners’ sugar or cocoa, sift a little more over (Southern Living). On the table: holds all evening: Melissa Clark (NYT Cooking) keeps her rum balls, the same crumbs, pecans, syrup and spirit with no butter or cream, airtight at room temperature at least 2 weeks; Southern Living’s fridge is for keeping them a month. A recipe with butter, cream or sour cream is a 2-hour item. Plate it: in paper cases. Allergens: tree nuts (pecans); wheat, often egg and milk, in the wafers. Never heated, they keep all their alcohol: not for children or pregnant guests (Southern Living swaps in juice).

   • 35 min active
   • Start weeks ahead
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian

   Quick recipe · 6 dozen. After the Southern Living Test Kitchen’s Rum Balls (from reader Lela H. Coggins, 1993); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • One 12 oz (340 g) box vanilla wafers
   • One 16 oz (454 g) package pecan pieces
   • ½ cup (120 ml) honey, ⅓ cup (80 ml) bourbon and ⅓ cup (80 ml) dark rum, plus sugar or more crumbs to roll

   Method

   1. Grind the wafers to fine crumbs in a food processor, chop the pecans finely and stir them in, then the honey, bourbon and rum.
   2. Shape 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls, roll them in sugar or crumbs and store airtight in the fridge, up to a month. Full recipe: Southern Living.
9. 

   9Chocolate fudge

   Three-ingredient chocolate fudge made in the microwave. Make ahead: Allrecipes keeps it airtight at room temperature one to two weeks, wax paper between the layers, and freezes it up to three months, thawed overnight in the fridge; Taste of Home gives 2 to 3 weeks in the fridge. On the day: nothing. On the table: holds all evening. Plate it: small squares in paper cases. Allergens: milk (condensed milk, butter), soy (the lecithin in most chocolate); walnuts (tree nuts) are optional. Read the chips’ label for milk and nut warnings.

   • 10 min active
   • Start a week ahead
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian
   • Gluten-free

   Quick recipe · 16 squares. After Dana’s Fudge (Allrecipes); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 3 cups (about 510 g) semisweet chocolate chips
   • One 14 oz (397 g) can sweetened condensed milk and ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter, in pieces
   • 1 cup (about 120 g) chopped walnuts, optional

   Method

   1. Microwave the chips, condensed milk and butter on medium for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the chips melt.
   2. Stir in the walnuts, pour it into a greased 8 inch (20 cm) square glass dish, refrigerate until set, about 2 hours, and cut 16 squares. Full recipe: Allrecipes.
10. 

    10Peppermint bark

    Dark and white chocolate in two layers under crushed peppermint candy. Make ahead: King Arthur Baking keeps it airtight at room temperature up to a week and freezes it for longer. The Pioneer Woman and Once Upon a Chef say not to freeze it; The Pioneer Woman’s reason is chalky white chocolate and candy turned sticky by condensation as it thaws. On the day: if it was chilled, let it come to room temperature (Once Upon a Chef). On the table: holds all evening, by King Arthur’s storage. Plate it: shards piled in a wide bowl. Allergens: milk (white chocolate, often the dark too), soy (lecithin); check the candy’s label. Crushed hard candy is on the CDC’s choking list for young children.

    • 15 min active
    • Start a week ahead
    • Holds all evening
    • Vegetarian
    • Gluten-free

    Quick recipe · About 2 dozen pieces. After PJ Hamel’s Homemade Peppermint Bark (King Arthur Baking); not kitchen-tested by us

    Ingredients

    • 2⅔ cups (454 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (bars, not chips), and ¼ to ½ tsp peppermint extract
    • 2 cups (340 g) white chocolate, chopped
    • ¼ cup (39 g) crushed hard peppermint candies

    Method

    1. Melt the dark chocolate very gently, stir in the peppermint and spread it into an 8 by 12 inch (20 by 30 cm) oval on parchment. Let it set, but not harden completely.
    2. Melt the white chocolate, mix in half the candy, spread it over the dark layer and press the rest on top. Let it harden, break it into chunks and store airtight. Full recipe: King Arthur Baking.

Custards, cream and pies, made 1 to 3 days ahead. USDA gives cooked dishes 3 to 4 days in the fridge; the Food Standards Agency gives leftovers 48 hours and has no make-ahead rule, so our countdown makes them 2 days ahead.

1. 

   11Bûche de Noël with meringue mushrooms

   France’s Christmas log, a rolled chocolate sponge under buttercream bark: a 19th-century Paris pastry with several claimed creators (Ville de Paris). Make ahead: Claire Saffitz (Bon Appétit) makes the meringue mushrooms 3 days ahead, airtight at room temperature, the buttercream 2 days and the filled roll 1 day. On the day: sugar and mushrooms just before serving. On the table: 2-hour item. Plate it: sliced with a warm, dry serrated knife, wiped between slices (King Arthur Baking), on the diagonal for a longer face (ours). Allergens: egg, milk, wheat, soy (lecithin in most chocolate); chestnut is not a major-allergen tree nut in the US or UK, but ask. Raw yolks in the mousse, and buttercream eggs only warmed by the syrup: in the US use pasteurized eggs (the FDA’s advice for any raw or undercooked egg dish); in the UK, British Lion or Laid in Britain eggs are fine for everyone but the severely immunocompromised (FSA). Gelatin: not vegetarian. The cognac syrup keeps its alcohol.

   • 150 min active
   • Make 2 days ahead
   • 2-hour item

   Quick recipe · 1 log. After Claire Saffitz’s Bûche de Noël (Bon Appétit); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • Sponge: flour, cocoa, 4 oz (113 g) bittersweet chocolate, 6 eggs, ⅔ cup (134 g) sugar, and a syrup with 2 tbsp cognac or rum
   • Chestnut mousse: 6 oz (170 g) roasted chestnuts cooked in 1 cup (240 ml) milk, ¾ tsp gelatin, 2 egg yolks beaten with ¼ cup (50 g) sugar, 1 cup (240 ml) whipped heavy (double) cream
   • Meringue mushrooms (2 egg whites) and a chocolate buttercream (2 yolks, 1 egg, ½ cup (100 g) sugar, 1 cup (227 g) butter, 5 oz (142 g) chocolate)

   Method

   1. Bake the sponge in an 18 by 13 inch (46 by 33 cm) pan at 375°F (191°C) for 10 to 12 minutes, roll it warm in a cocoa-dusted towel, then brush it with the syrup, spread on the mousse, re-roll and chill at least 3 hours. Bake the mushrooms at 200°F (93°C) for 1½ to 2 hours.
   2. For the buttercream, pour sugar syrup cooked to 248°F (120°C) down the side of the bowl, away from the beaters so it cannot splatter (a sugar burn: cool running water for 20 minutes, NHS), and beat until cool, then the butter and chocolate. Spread it on and score it like bark. Full recipe: Bon Appétit.
2. 

   12Sherry trifle

   Britain’s Christmas trifle: sponge soaked in Madeira or sherry, raspberries, custard and cream. Make ahead: Delia Online’s team makes the custard a couple of days ahead, film on its surface; Nigella Lawson’s team layers it a day ahead. On the day: cream just before serving, almonds last. On the table: 2-hour item: egg custard, no more than 2 hours out (Nigella’s team). Plate it: a clear glass bowl, so the layers show. Allergens: wheat, egg, milk, almonds (tree nuts), sulphites (UK) in the Madeira, which keeps its alcohol unheated (USDA: 70% after a night in the fridge); Delia’s team suggests orange juice instead.

   • 45 min active
   • Make 2 days ahead
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian

   Quick recipe · Serves 6 to 8. After Delia Smith’s Traditional English Trifle (Delia Online); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • Custard: 1¾ cups (425 ml) heavy (double) cream, 4 egg yolks, 1 oz (25 g) sugar, 1 dessertspoon cornstarch (cornflour), vanilla
   • 5 trifle sponges with raspberry jam, 5 fl oz (150 ml) Madeira or dry sherry, 9¾ oz (275 g) raspberries, 2 bananas
   • 1⅛ cups (275 ml) heavy (double) cream and 1¾ oz (50 g) toasted flaked almonds

   Method

   1. Jam the split sponges, lay them in the bowl and soak them in the Madeira. Whisk the hot cream into the yolks, sugar and cornstarch and stir over a gentle heat until thick, at simmering point; cover and cool.
   2. Add the raspberries (frozen ones served uncooked: see our coulis guide) and bananas, then the custard; chill. Cream and almonds just before serving. Full recipe: Delia Online.
3. 

   13Crème brûlée cheesecake

   Our recipe crosses a baked cheesecake with a crème brûlée crust; it serves 12. Make ahead: better a day ahead, with at least 6 hours in the fridge; un-torched and covered it keeps 4 to 5 days (USDA’s FoodKeeper: 5 to 7), or a month frozen, thawed overnight in the fridge. On the day: out 30 minutes before serving (America’s Test Kitchen); superfine (caster) sugar and the torch on the slices you serve. On the table: 2-hour item: FoodSafety.gov discards cheesecake left out over 2 hours, those 30 minutes included. Plate it: slices cut with a hot, dry knife. Allergens: wheat (graham cracker crust), milk, egg; graham crackers can add soy.

   • 140 min active
   • Make the day before
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian

   The twist: Bake it the weekend before and freeze it un-torched, then move it to the fridge on Thursday 24 December to thaw overnight (UK: eat it within 24 hours of thawing, the Food Standards Agency’s rule); only the sugar crust is left for Christmas Day.

   Full recipe →
4. 

   14Pecan pie

   The pie of Thanksgiving and Christmas in the South, as our recipe calls it. Make ahead: at its best made the day before: 2 hours on a rack, then at least 3 in the fridge. An egg custard pie is refrigerated within 2 hours of baking (Iowa State Extension, citing USDA); FoodSafety.gov gives it 3 to 4 days, or 1 to 2 months frozen. On the day: slices out 20 to 30 minutes ahead, or rewarm it at 250°F (120°C) for about 15 minutes. On the table: 2-hour item. Plate it: a cake stand, with a card saying pecans. Allergens: tree nuts (pecans), egg, milk, wheat. Skip the optional bourbon for children and pregnant guests, and take whole pecan halves off for children under 5, as the recipe advises.

   • 130 min active
   • Make the day before
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian

   The twist: On a dessert table, bake it as eight or nine 4 inch (10 cm) tartlets, the recipe’s second plating idea: nothing to slice, and the card in front still says pecans.

   Full recipe →
5. 

   15Dutch apple pie

   Apple pie under a thick brown-sugar crumb; a fruit pie, so it can stay out. Make ahead: bake it the day before. Our recipe follows USDA’s FoodKeeper (fruit pies 1 to 2 days out, a week in the fridge) and two university extensions (2 days out, then 2 in the fridge, never added together); UK: the fridge the same day, 48 hours. Or freeze it unbaked, baked from frozen within 3 months (Iowa State Extension) at 425°F (218°C), then 350°F (177°C) (Penn State Extension). On the day: nothing. On the table: holds all evening (FoodSafety.gov keeps fruit pies); a cream-enriched filling makes it a 2-hour item. Plate it: wedges on a board. Allergens: wheat, milk; tree nuts only if you add the optional nuts.

   • 110 min active
   • Make the day before
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian

   The twist: Make our apple pie filling ahead instead: 3 to 4 days in the fridge (2 in the UK), or frozen flat in the shape of the pie plate (best within 3 to 4 months, USDA and FSA) and baked from frozen in a raw shell, 20 to 25 minutes longer (Penn State Extension).

   Full recipe →
6. 

   16Sticky toffee pudding

   A treacle sponge under hot toffee sauce. Make ahead: Mary Berry (BBC Food) bakes it up to a day ahead and keeps the sauce 3 days in the fridge. Two BBC recipes leave sauced puddings out for a day or two, “no need to chill”; we do not, because the sauce is butter and double cream: covered, in the fridge. On the day: reheat the sauced pudding, covered, until piping hot all through, 165°F (74°C) in the middle (USDA’s reheat figure); BBC Good Food microwaves its make-ahead pud on Medium for 8 to 10 minutes. Nigella Lawson’s site serves a freshly baked one warm, not piping hot. On the table: 2-hour item. Plate it: squares on warm plates, cream beside. Allergens: wheat, egg, milk.

   • 30 min active
   • Make the day before
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian
   • Nut-free

   Quick recipe · Serves 6. After Mary Berry’s easy sticky toffee pudding (BBC Food, from Mary Berry Everyday); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 3½ oz (100 g) soft butter, 6 oz (175 g) light muscovado sugar, 2 eggs, 8 oz (225 g) self-raising (self-rising) flour, baking powder, baking soda and 3 tbsp black treacle (dark molasses)
   • 9½ fl oz (275 ml) whole milk
   • Sauce: 3½ oz (100 g) butter, 4½ oz (125 g) light muscovado sugar, 1 tbsp black treacle, 10 fl oz (300 ml) double (heavy) cream and 1 tsp vanilla

   Method

   1. Heat the oven to 356°F (180°C, or 160°C fan) and butter a wide, shallow 7 cup (1.7 l) dish. Whisk everything, adding the milk last, and bake 35 to 40 minutes, until springy.
   2. Melt the sauce ingredients together, boil a minute and pour half over the pudding. Full recipe: BBC Food.
7. 

   17Pavlova, or a pavlova wreath

   A Christmas favorite in Australia and New Zealand; in Australia it was promoted as an alternative to pudding by the 1940s (Madeline Shanahan, The Conversation). Which country created it is disputed. A ring of meringue makes a wreath, as in Mary Berry’s Christmas pavlova. Make ahead: the shell keeps airtight in a dry kitchen, 2 days on Nigella Lawson’s site, a month for Mary Berry’s base if dried right through. On the day: cream and fruit just before serving (Mary Berry), an hour ahead at most, in the fridge (Nigella’s site). On the table: 2-hour item once topped. Plate it: whole on a flat platter, red berries on top, cut at the table. Allergens: egg, milk. The center stays soft: US guests at higher risk skip it unless the whites come from eggs pasteurized in the shell (as on our fancy desserts card); in the UK, British Lion eggs are fine for all but the severely immunocompromised (FSA).

   • 25 min active
   • Make 2 days ahead
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian
   • Gluten-free
   • Nut-free

   The pavlova recipe, on our fancy desserts hub →
8. 

   18Crème brûlée

   Custards baked days ahead, and one job at the end. Make ahead: our recipe gets them into the fridge within 2 hours of baking, chills them at least 4 hours and keeps them covered 3 to 4 days before you caramelize them. On the day: let them stand 20 minutes if you torch, then sugar and torch about 2 inches (5 cm) above the sugar, or use the recipe’s broiler (overhead grill) method, in porcelain or stoneware, never glass; 2 minutes to harden. On the table: 2-hour item. Plate it: the ramekin on a small plate over a folded napkin, a teaspoon beside it. Allergens: egg, milk; vanilla paste or extract, if you use it instead of the bean, contains alcohol.

   • 75 min active
   • Make 2 days ahead
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian
   • Gluten-free
   • Nut-free

   The twist: For twelve at Christmas, make two batches (one makes six): the custards wait in the fridge and only the sugar crust is left for the last 30 minutes.

   Full recipe →
9. 

   19Eggnog, the cooked kind

   A cooked custard eggnog, made ahead for the dessert table. Make ahead: America’s Test Kitchen cooks the base to 160 to 165°F (71 to 74°C) and chills it 3 hours to 3 days; USDA FSIS gives homemade eggnog 2 to 4 days in the fridge, never frozen. Some test kitchens age raw-egg nog for weeks, but alcohol cannot be relied on to kill bacteria (University of Minnesota Extension), so this page uses only the cooked base. On the day: whisk in the whipped cream. On the table: 2-hour item: a bowl nested in ice. Plate it: small glasses, nutmeg on top. Allergens: milk, egg. The spirit goes in after cooking and all of it stays: make a second bowl without it for children and pregnant guests.

   • 45 min active
   • Make 2 days ahead
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian
   • Gluten-free
   • Nut-free

   Quick recipe · Serves 12 to 16. After America’s Test Kitchen’s Holiday Eggnog; not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 6 large eggs and 2 large egg yolks, with 10 tbsp (125 g) sugar
   • 4 cups (960 ml) whole milk and ¼ tsp salt
   • ½ cup (120 ml) brandy, bourbon or dark rum (or none), 1 tbsp vanilla and ½ tsp grated nutmeg
   • ½ cup (120 ml) heavy (double) cream, whipped to soft peaks; ¼ cup (60 ml) without the spirit

   Method

   1. Whisk the simmering milk into the eggs, yolks and sugar and stir over medium-low heat to 160 to 165°F (71 to 74°C), no hotter, or it curdles.
   2. Strain, stir in the spirit, vanilla and nutmeg and chill 3 hours to 3 days; whisk in the cream to serve. Full recipe: America’s Test Kitchen.

Christmas Eve desserts, a bread pudding layered the night before, a strudel baked the same morning and a bought pandoro that needs only slicing.

1. 

   20Vánočka, Czech Christmas bread

   The Czech braided Christmas bread: a loaf for 12, for coffee or Christmas breakfast, not a plated dessert. Make ahead: our menus bake it the same morning; Czech recipe sites such as Toprecepty bake it the day before Christmas Eve, wrapped in a tea towel, never in the fridge. Best within 1 to 3 days. On the day: it cools at least 30 minutes before slicing; the recipe’s time leaves out the rises. On the table: holds all evening, wrapped. Plate it: whole on a board with butter. Allergens: wheat, milk, egg, almonds (tree nuts), sulphites (UK) possible in the raisins. For under-fives chop the almonds fine or leave them out (the NHS says no whole nuts for children under five; the adjustment is ours).

   • 60 min active
   • Make that morning
   • Holds all evening
   • Vegetarian

   The twist: Slice only half and leave the braid showing on the board, as on our Christmas table.

   Full recipe →
2. 

   21Risalamande, Danish rice pudding

   Denmark’s Christmas Eve dessert: cold rice pudding with whipped cream, vanilla and chopped almonds, under cherry sauce. Danish, not French: in print by 1876 (Gyldendal), served at Christmas by well-off Danes from about 1900 (denmark.dk) and in most homes from the Second World War (Gyldendal). Whoever finds the one whole almond wins a present, often a marzipan pig (Smithsonian Folklife). Make ahead: the rice the day before, completely cold (denmark.dk): spread it in a shallow dish and get it into the fridge within an hour; in the UK serve it within 24 hours of cooking, the Food Standards Agency’s rule for rice eaten cold. On the day: fold in the whipped cream, almonds and vanilla sugar; chill 1 hour. On the table: 2-hour item. Plate it: a glass bowl, warm cherry sauce in a jug. Allergens: milk, almonds (tree nuts); the whole almond is a choking risk (the NHS says no whole nuts for children under five).

   • 30 min active
   • Make the day before
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian
   • Gluten-free

   Quick recipe · Serves 6. After Risalamande, Danish rice pudding (denmark.dk, Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 4¼ cups (1 l) whole milk, 1 cup (250 ml) short-grain white rice and a pinch of salt
   • 2 cups (500 ml) heavy (whipping) cream and 5¼ oz (150 g) almonds
   • 2 tbsp sugar, 2 vanilla beans and warm Danish cherry sauce, to serve

   Method

   1. The day before, bring the milk and rice slowly to a boil, stirring, add the salt and simmer about 40 minutes, stirring often. Cool it fast in a shallow dish and refrigerate within an hour, until the next day.
   2. Chop the skinned almonds, keeping one whole. Fold the softly whipped cream, almonds and vanilla sugar into the cold rice, add the whole almond, chill 1 hour and serve with the warm sauce. Full recipe: denmark.dk.
3. 

   22Panettone bread-and-butter pudding

   Bread-and-butter pudding made with panettone and Marsala. Make ahead: Delia Online’s team layers the buttered panettone, raisins and peel in the dish days ahead, covered in the fridge, keeping the egg mixture apart; America’s Test Kitchen soaks a bread pudding overnight in the fridge; Serious Eats allows 2 days, but USDA FSIS cooks a dish of raw eggs within 24 hours, so overnight is this page’s limit. On the day: pour on the custard and bake about 50 minutes at 356°F (180°C), about 10 more from the fridge (Delia’s team), until set and 160°F (71°C) in the middle, USDA’s egg-dish figure. On the table: 2-hour item. Plate it: spooned out at the table, cream in a jug. Allergens: wheat, egg, milk, sulphites (UK) in the fruit and Marsala; panettoni often carry nut warnings. Baking leaves alcohol: USDA’s table keeps 35% after 30 minutes and 25% after an hour.

   • 30 min active
   • Make the day before
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian

   Quick recipe · Serves 4 to 6. After Delia Smith’s Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding with Marsala (Delia Online, from Delia’s Happy Christmas); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • 14 oz (400 g) panettone in round slices, and 1¾ oz (50 g) soft butter
   • 2 oz (60 g) raisins, ¾ oz (20 g) candied peel and 5 fl oz (150 ml) Marsala
   • ¾ cup (175 ml) each whole milk and heavy (double) cream, 2 oz (60 g) golden caster sugar, the zest of a small lemon, 4 eggs, beaten, and half a nutmeg

   Method

   1. Soak the raisins in a little hot Marsala, then layer the buttered, quartered panettone slices in a buttered 6 cup (1.5 l) dish with the raisins and peel.
   2. Whisk the milk, cream, remaining Marsala, sugar, zest and eggs, pour it over, add nutmeg and bake at 356°F (180°C) for 50 minutes, until set. Full recipe: Delia Online.
4. 

   23Apple strudel

   Our Czech-style strudel in bought puff pastry, with apples, raisins and walnuts. Make ahead: the recipe gives no storage window, so bake it that morning: 35 to 40 minutes at 392°F (200°C, or 180°C fan), then 10 minutes’ rest before cutting. On the day: serve it at room temperature or warm; Once Upon a Chef reheats strudel at 300°F (149°C), and no source we read gives a time. On the table: 2-hour item: with no window from the recipe, we use the shorter clock. Plate it: one slice, cut side showing, whipped cream beside it. Allergens: wheat, tree nuts (walnuts); bought puff pastry often contains milk; sulphites (UK) possible in the raisins.

   • 40 min active
   • Make that morning
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian

   The twist: Dust it with icing (confectioners’) sugar just before it goes out and slice it at an angle, so every slice shows the spiral of apple.

   Full recipe →
5. 

   24Pandoro or panettone, store-bought

   The easy slot: a bought pandoro, Verona’s eight-pointed star loaf, or a panettone. Make ahead: nothing to bake; for GialloZafferano’s pandoro tree below, the cream keeps 3 days in the fridge, the filled tree 1 to 2. On the day: warm a plain pandoro a few seconds in the oven (Italy’s tourism site), slice it across into stars and stack them, points turned, under icing sugar; a filled tree comes out 20 minutes before serving. On the table: 2-hour item once filled; plain, it holds all evening, wrapped (King Arthur Baking keeps its panettone a week at room temperature). Plate it: cut down through the layers. Allergens: wheat, egg, milk; panettone adds sulphites (UK); read the box for nuts.

   • 50 min active
   • Make that morning
   • 2-hour item
   • Vegetarian

   Quick recipe · Serves 10. After GialloZafferano’s Pandoro tree (Pandoro farcito); not kitchen-tested by us

   Ingredients

   • One 1.7 lb (750 g) pandoro, icing (confectioners’) sugar and about 1 oz (30 g) each red currants and blueberries
   • Cream: 1 cup (250 g) whole milk, 3 egg yolks, 6 tbsp (75 g) sugar, 3 tbsp (25 g) cornstarch and 1 tsp vanilla
   • ⅔ cup (150 g) cold heavy (whipping) cream whipped with 2½ tbsp (20 g) icing sugar

   Method

   1. Whisk the hot milk and vanilla into the yolks, sugar and cornstarch, stir over low heat until thick, chill 2 hours and fold in the whipped cream.
   2. Cut the pandoro across into about 7 slices, ¾ inch (2 cm) thick, and stack them with cream between, points turned; top with cream, berries and icing sugar. Full recipe: GialloZafferano.

The finishing jobs that cannot be done ahead, in roughly the order they come.

• Steam the pudding, then flame itSteaming starts well before dessert: 1 hour (Orlando Murrin) to 2¼ hours (Delia), by your recipe, with the water topped up from a hot kettle so the pan never boils dry (BBC Good Food). To flame it, as our Christmas table hub says: take the holly sprig and any paper decoration off first; warm the brandy, 3 to 4 tbsp measured out first (Orlando Murrin’s amount), in a ladle and light it there, never pouring from the bottle onto a flame; keep sleeves, paper hats, napkins and crackers clear; and do not carry it lit past seated children. About 75% of the alcohol stays (USDA).
• Torch the crème brûlées and the cheesecakeCustards out 20 minutes, sugar, torch, 2 minutes to harden (the card); the cheesecake slice by slice, 30 minutes after it left the fridge. Torch on a metal tray, away from napkins.
• Top the pavlova, whip the creamsPavlova cream and fruit just before serving (Mary Berry); the trifle cream just before serving (Nigella Lawson’s team), almonds last; whipped cream into the eggnog just before serving (America’s Test Kitchen).
• Warm the mince piesBake them from frozen in the morning, 30 minutes at 392°F (200°C, or 180°C fan) (James Martin), and keep them in a tin: they hold all evening. At dessert, once the panettone pudding is out, turn the oven up to 392°F (200°C) and warm them 10 to 15 minutes (BBC Food): one oven, one heat at a time (ours).
• Dust and decorateIcing sugar over the stollen and the bûche, then the meringue mushrooms: on the log only on serving day (Rose Levy Beranbaum).
• Sticky toffee and pandoroReheat the sticky toffee pudding in its sauce until piping hot all through, in the microwave so the oven stays free (BBC Good Food: Medium, 8 to 10 minutes), and let it stand a few minutes; warm a plain pandoro a few seconds in the oven.

What named sources say about eight more countries; where an origin is disputed, it says so. Britain, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Australia and New Zealand have cards above.

• Portugal: bolo-reiA crown-shaped yeasted cake with candied fruit and nuts, adapted from the French gâteau des rois by Lisbon’s Confeitaria Nacional in the 1870s (sources give 1869 to 1875). Whoever finds the dried fava bean provides next year’s cake. Portuguese law has banned selling food with a trinket mixed directly into it since 2001 (a wrapped one is allowed); at home a hidden bean or coin is a choking risk for small children (ours).
• Spain: turrónTurrón de Jijona (soft, ground almond) and Turrón de Alicante (hard, whole almond) are EU protected geographical indications since 1996, made only in Jijona (Xixona); Alicante’s top grade needs at least 60% toasted almond and 10% honey. A Valencia council document of 1484 already orders “torrons”. Allergens: almonds, egg white, wheat in any wafer.
• France, Provence: the thirteen dessertsServed after the Christmas Eve supper. The number thirteen was fixed in print in December 1925, in Dr Joseph Fallen’s list in La Pignato; earlier writers counted twelve or seven, and no fixed list exists. Typical: dried fruit and nuts, white and black nougat, an olive-oil bread and calissons. The rest of France has the bûche de Noël.
• Germany: stollen and LebkuchenDresdner Christstollen has been an EU protected geographical indication since 2010; a hospital bill of 1474 already names stollen. Nürnberger Lebkuchen has been one since 1 July 1996 and may only be made in Nuremberg; Elisenlebkuchen hold at least 25% nuts. See stollen and Lebkuchen.
• Italy: panettone and pandoroA 2005 Italian decree reserves the name panettone for a sourdough bread with at least 4% egg yolk, 16% butterfat and 20% raisins and candied peel, and pandoro for the eight-pointed star loaf with at least 20% butterfat. Panettone has no known inventor (the “pan de Toni” story is a 19th-century legend); Domenico Melegatti patented pandoro on 14 October 1894. See the pandoro card.
• Poland: makowiec and kutiaThe sweets of Wigilia, the meatless Christmas Eve supper: makowiec, a yeasted poppy-seed roll, and in the east kutia, wheat grain with poppy seed, honey, nuts and raisins. Poppy seed is not a listed allergen in the US or UK; the nuts are.
• Mexico and the PhilippinesBuñuelos, thin fried wheat discs with sugar and cinnamon or piloncillo syrup, come with hot ponche at the posadas, 16 to 24 December (Mexico’s Secretaría de Cultura). Bibingka, a rice cake baked between coals in a banana-leaf-lined pot, is sold outside churches after Simbang Gabi, the dawn Masses from 16 December; it has egg and milk.

Dated for 2026, unlike the relative timeline on our Christmas appetizers hub: Christmas Eve is a Thursday and Christmas Day a Friday. Each step uses its card’s source.

1. Sun 22 Nov, Stir-up Sunday
   • The traditional day to make a Christmas pudding. Nigella Lawson makes hers up to 6 weeks ahead; BBC Food at least a month.
   • The Christmas cake by now (Mary Berry: at least 3 weeks), Delia’s mincemeat into jars, and gingerbread from here on (Apetit: up to 6 weeks ahead).
2. Sun 29 Nov, Advent Sunday
   • Feed the cake every fortnight (BBC Good Food) or weekly (Delia), no more than four times. Freeze the mince pies unbaked (1 to 3 months).
3. Sat 5 Dec
   • Shortbread into the freezer, rum balls into the fridge (up to a month), or bake the stollen now and freeze it (King Arthur: freeze for longer).
4. Sat 12 Dec
   • Stollen (King Arthur: 2 weeks wrapped at room temperature). Cukroví, about 2 weeks ahead (Apetit), and fudge (1 to 2 weeks). The cake’s last feed (BBC Good Food: none in the week before icing).
5. Thu 17 Dec
   • Marzipan on the cake (Delia: a week before icing).
6. Fri 18 Dec
   • Peppermint bark (up to a week).
7. Tue 22 Dec
   • Meringue mushrooms for the bûche (3 days, airtight). Linecké sandwiched with jam.
8. Wed 23 Dec
   • The cooked fridge desserts, 2 days before Christmas Day: crème brûlée, cheesecake, the eggnog base, the bûche’s buttercream, the trifle custard; the sticky toffee sauce (Mary Berry gives it 3 days; the countdown keeps cooked fridge items to 2); the pavlova shell. In the evening, for Christmas Eve, the risalamande rice, chilled within an hour (UK: eaten within 24 hours).
9. Thu 24 Dec, Christmas Eve
   • Bake the vánočka in the morning; ice the cake (Delia often ices hers on Christmas Eve); fold the cream into the risalamande an hour before it is served. For Christmas Day: the pecan and Dutch apple pies, the filled bûche, the trifle layers, the sticky toffee sponge, and the panettone pudding layered, its custard apart. A frozen cheesecake moves to the fridge.
10. Fri 25 Dec, morning
    • Make the pandoro tree. Set out the tins and boards that hold all evening. Bake the frozen mince pies (30 minutes at 392°F (200°C)) and tin them.
    • The oven order (ours): the pudding goes on to steam 1 to 2¼ hours before dessert, on the stove; once the main course is out of the oven, about 1¼ hours before dessert, the panettone pudding goes in at 356°F (180°C) for about an hour from the fridge, to 160°F (71°C) in the middle; when it comes out the oven goes up to 392°F (200°C) for the mince pies; the sticky toffee pudding reheats in the microwave.
11. The last 30 minutes
    • Mince pies, the sticky toffee reheat, the flamed pudding, the torch, the pavlova and the creams: in order in the last 30 minutes.
12. After dinner
    • The 2-hour items back in the fridge within 2 hours of coming out; leftovers counted from the day each was made: US, 3 to 4 days (USDA FSIS); UK, 48 hours (Food Standards Agency).

No authority publishes one figure for a Christmas dessert table, and the published ones disagree, so each has its owner.

On a dessert table the answer splits in two: the dry bakes that sit in a tin for weeks can sit on the table, and anything with cream, custard or egg is on the 2-hour clock.

• The two labels2-hour item: a moist dairy or egg filling, topping or sauce: out of the fridge 2 hours at most, 1 hour above 90°F (32°C) (USDA FSIS). Holds all evening: a dry bake or sweet that a named source stores at room temperature.
• What the US government sorts whereFoodSafety.gov’s chart for food above 40°F (4°C) for over 2 hours throws out eggnog, custards and milk puddings (not a steamed Christmas pudding, which keeps cool and dry for weeks), cheesecake, cream-filled pastries and egg or milk pies, and keeps fruit pies and plain breads and cakes; it does not list baked cookies, which we class with plain cakes, and a cream-frosted cake is not plain (both ours).
• United Kingdom: four hours is a ceilingThe Food Standards Agency tells home cooks to keep chilled food out of the fridge for the shortest time possible during preparation (a maximum of four hours); Food Standards Scotland gives a buffet’s chilled food the shortest time possible, no longer than four hours. This page plans on the shorter US clock, which keeps you inside both.
• Swap plates, never top them upCold desserts go out in rounds; replace a nearly empty plate with a fresh one, because guests’ hands contaminate food already out (the FDA’s buffet advice).
• The supermarket pieShelf-stable bought pumpkin pies are heated to 180°F (82°C) at the coolest point and preserved; a homemade one cannot sit out like them (University of Illinois Extension).
• Thaw in the fridgePerishable food never thaws on the counter (USDA FSIS): cheesecake, the bûche and rum balls thaw in the fridge; dry bakes such as shortbread and stollen can thaw at room temperature, as their recipes say. UK: eat defrosted food within 24 hours, never refrozen (Food Standards Agency).
• Leftovers, by countryUS: in the fridge within 2 hours, eaten within 3 to 4 days (USDA FSIS). UK: within 48 hours (Food Standards Agency). Both count from when the dessert was made: a trifle made on Wednesday 23 December has a day or two left in the US on Christmas night and none in the UK.

For pregnant guests, older adults, young children and anyone with a weakened immune system. Safe under one country’s advice is not automatically safe under the other’s.

A dessert table works when guests can reach everything, see what is in it, and the cold things are not out for long.

• Its own table, plates firstWilliams-Sonoma Entertaining sets desserts on their own table or resets the buffet; on a shared one, desserts come last (Labensky and Hause, On Cooking, a culinary textbook).
• Height at the backTallest at the back, shortest at the front (HGTV; a catering supplier), back pieces on risers so nobody reaches across (the textbook): the cake and stollen on stands. More in our buffet guide.
• Cut cakes and bowls in the middleA hospitality training manual marks cakes into equal portions: score the cake and bûche before guests arrive (ours). Sauces sit beside their dessert with a plate for the spoon (the textbook): brandy butter by the pudding, cherry sauce by the risalamande.
• Small bites at the frontCukroví, mince pies, rum balls and fudge on small plates; about 1 linear foot (30 cm) of table for each dish (the textbook). Our mignardises guide has a make-ahead tray.
• A card and a spoon for every dishAnaphylaxis UK: ask about allergies when you invite, label the 14 allergens including “may contain”, keep the packaging, give each dish its own utensil and keep allergy-friendly bakes apart. Cooking does not remove allergens (Food Standards Agency), and picking nuts off does not make a slice safe (ours): plate the allergy guest’s portion first and cover it (Queensland Health).
• Greenery off the foodFir or rosemary on the cloth, never on the food, and holly only with its berries off (our Christmas table hub). Single plates are in our dessert plating guide.