Holiday Snacking Dessert Table

Permission to make the end of your holiday meals as easy and delicious as possible

A bûche de noël is gorgeous and festive, and an apple pie is fragrant and cozy. But if you’re looking for ways to simplify your holiday meals, here’s an idea that might help: You do not need to make an elaborate dessert for Christmas.

Don’t get me wrong; I love a good holiday baking project. I’ve made towering cakes for Christmas Eve and daydreamed about trying my hand at a croquembouche. But here’s the thing—by the end of a big holiday meal, most people probably don’t actually have room for a whole lot of dessert.

If you look around your house, you likely already have the makings of a wonderful dessert spread. Just gather all the cookies you’ve made the past couple of weeks, the sweet treats that friends gifted you, the chocolate Santas and candy canes that appeared in the stockings on Christmas morning (and/or the Hanukkah gelt that your kids haven’t decimated). Add some fresh or dried fruit, if you have it, and you’ll have a beautiful snacking dessert spread. Everyone can have as much or as little as they like. (This strategy also works exceptionally well any time friends want to drop by between Christmas and New Years.)

To make the spread festive, you can set everything out on a fancy plate or arrange your items in a pretty tableau in the living room, so everyone can nibble while you play games or enjoy your new books and toys. Personally, I like to use this kind of spread as an excuse to use the fancy ashtrays and serving ware I inherited from my grandparents.

My spread usually involves a couple kinds of cookies; some homemade truffles (thanks to one of my oldest friends, who makes them every year with his family); the chocolates, candies, and tangerines we stuff into stockings; and some simple candied citrus peel, which I make every December to give as gifts and use as cocktail garnishes (recipe below). Altogether it makes for a very festive end to the holiday.

Candied Citrus Peel

These simple treats are a great way to enjoy the flavors of the first oranges and lemons of the season. I use them as cocktail garnishes and put them out to nibble at holiday parties (and sneak one or two for myself in the evenings).

Oranges and lemons with fragrant peels
Granulated sugar

1. Cut the tops and bottoms off of the fruits and then cut off the peel and pith, cutting from the top of the fruit to the bottom, and cutting off enough pith that you sometimes get at tiny bit of the fruit’s flesh in the cut. Cut the peel into long strips about ½” wide.

2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the peels to the water and let them simmer for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure they’re all submerged for a fair amount of the cooking time. Drain the peels

3. Put equal volumes of water and sugar in a pot; the total volume of liquid should be enough liquid to submerge all of the peels. Bring the water to a boil, stirring occasionally, to make a syrup.

4. Add the citrus peels to the pot and simmer them in the syrup for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. While the peels are simmering, pour more sugar into a bowl. When the peels are done, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pot and toss them in the sugar to coat them.

6. Arrange the sugar-coated candied peels on a cooling rack and let them dry overnight. Store in an airtight container. (In the right conditions they’ll be good for a month or longer.)

Photo: Georgia Freedman