The best Christmas cookbooks of all time
Do you have a favourite Christmas cookbook you rely on for the best mince pies or to help the big dinner along? Award-winning food writer Mark Diacono reveals his indispensable festive classics – with a few surprises in the mix. Plus: the delicious. team and friends share the Christmas cookbooks they wouldn’t be without. Did we miss your top pick? Let us know in the comments below…
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Top Christmas cookbook pick
Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas
Advent Welsh/German food writer Anja Dunk’s book gives each of Advent’s 24 chapters a different type of bake – and it’s an utter joy. The traditions, photographs, linocuts (Dunk’s own) and recipes work together, creating a deeply festive magic influenced by her German heritage. The pages of cakes, stollen and savouries almost smell of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Published by Quadrille (£27).
Why it will stand the test of time: Dunk’s book would be a classic for its recipes alone, but it’s also a warm festive friend, bringing magic to those shortest, darkest days.
Star recipes: The kletzenbrot – a dried pear fruit loaf – makes the frost worthwhile. Then there are reibekuchen – fabulous potato cakes I’ll eat at any opportunity.
The best of the rest
Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 feasts for 12 Days
Author Jeannette Winterson’s 2016 book (2018 paperback edition pictured) of Christmas stories and recipes has become a quiet classic. Expect ghosts, mistletoe, snow, darkness and dazzling light, plus simple, charming illustrations and recipes you’ll want to make. I’m stretching the genre to call it a cookbook, but the dozen recipes drawn from people in her life are a delight: author Ruth Rendell’s red cabbage is a superb recipe and the accompanying words add meaning to the process and the result. It’s full of much tenderness, magic, spookiness and humour. Published by Vintage (£12.99).
Why it will stand the test of time: This book feels timeless and, for those who are attached to it, as if it has been with them forever.
Star recipes: Turkey biryani, Dad’s sherry trifle (with its tinned fruit cocktail) and Mrs Winterson’s mince pies.
“The chocolate orange cake is a regular and I’ve done the cherry coke ham a few times! My dad makes the bohemian roast goose with red cabbage every Boxing Day (although it’s been downgraded to a bohemian roast duck now that my brother is veggie!).”
“This year I’ll be making her rosemary tarte tatin.”
Elizabeth David’s Christmas
This 2018 edition of David’s classic owes much to editor Jill Norman, with the addition of articles, notes and other writings to go with 150 recipes – mince pies, turkey, sauces, stuffings and puddings among them. Classic starters – think potted smoked mackerel or tomato consommé – sit alongside mains such as baked salt pork with a salad of oranges, and desserts such as chestnut and chocolate cake. As always with David, it’s as great a read as it is a practical recipe book. Published by Michael Joseph (£16.99).
Why it’s stood the test of time: David’s characterful writing pairs so well with the timeless recipes.
Star recipes: Goose with chestnuts and apples, duck baked in cider, and sweet- sour pears give you an idea of what to expect: largely old school deliciousness, along with the occasional surprise – such as iced apricot soufflé.
“It’s a toss up between Lady Barnett’s Cookbook (1966), which I use purely for the Christmas cake and Christmas pudding recipes (the rest of the book is eye-wateringly of its time) and Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery (1845). Modern Cookery has a superlative mincemeat (with meat – and the full recipe makes about 16kg of mincemeat, which I’ve been known to make in a child’s bathtub), plus Acton’s ‘Author’s Christmas Pudding’ is, hands down, the best plum pudding/Christmas pudding I’ve ever eaten. There’s no need to cook it in advance (this much predates the stir-up Sunday myth), it’s thick, dark and rich – and incredible fried up with bacon on Boxing Day. I also love her nesselrode cream, a blancmange-y riff on nesselrode pudding, which was a chestnut and cherry flavoured ice cream much loved by the Victorians.” Annie Gray’s book The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History Of The High Street is out now (Profile Books £22)
Nigella Christmas
This is classic Nigella: full of enthusiasm and luscious generosity, providing the antidote to festive anxiety or indifference. Nothing has been left out: menus to suit different-sized gatherings (‘effortless’ home-cured pork with apple and onion gravy, followed by tiramisu layer cake), leftovers ideas, turkey alternatives, twists (Italian roast potatoes with garlic and thyme), as well as edible presents. Published by Chatto & Windus (£27).
Why it’s stood the test of time: Nigella understands her audience, expands their comfort zone, serves their needs, and in so doing brings a sense of festive joy.
Star recipes: Even the smaller pleasures – pomegranate martini, cranberry and soy-glazed cocktail sausages, and chestnut soup with bacon crumbles – are seriously special.
“The chilli jam in Nigella Christmas is addictively good and has been the solution to many a secret santa or last-minute stocking filler dilemma over the years. Don’t miss out on Nigella’s exclusive Christmas recipes for us this year (arriving Dec 2024)!”
“When I was at university in Manchester ignoring assignments and instead teaching myself to cook, I travelled down to London with my bestie to get Nigella’s Christmas book signed by Nigella herself at a food fair.”
Delia’s Happy Christmas
Published in 2009, Delia’s second festive cookbook includes 100 new recipes alongside 50 of her old favourites: her classic cake has been bringing pleasure for half a century, her roast turkey with all the familiars has been the basis for a low-stress Christmas lunch for many, and along with this you’ll find everything from baked halibut to chestnut cupcakes and six toppings for Christmas cake. Published Ebury (£27).
Why it’s stood the test of time: Structured to encourage organisation and planning ahead, it takes the uncertainty out of Christmas. Plus, Delia’s authority inspires confidence.
Star recipes: Brussels bubble and squeak, panettone bread-and-butter-pudding with marsala, mustard rabbit braised in cider, and chocolate and sour cherry crumble.
“I love making wintry curries from this book – a great way to use up leftovers from parties or the big day itself. I highly recommend all the recipes!”
Ready to start planning your Christmas menus? Find all the inspiration you need in our Christmas hub.