In Christmas times and festivities around the table, there are classic sweets that cannot be missing on these dates. Nougats, mantecados, marzipan or the roscón de reyes flood the tables.
Many of these sweets are made with milk and egg, and other typical pastry ingredients, which is why they can be consumed by vegetarians. But be careful, there are others who have “surprises” that can be unpleasant for those who exclude all kinds of animal products from their diet.
The general recommendation is always read the labels and the ingredients of each preparation. And in case of doubt, consult the manufacturer. However, as a guide, a selection of Christmas sweets and desserts suitable for vegetarians.
Those who are vegetarians:
- most nougat: One of the quintessential Christmas sweets, it is suitable in 99% of the versions. In tablet form, it is a product made from almonds, to which egg is added and includes sugar, some type of syrup and, at most, fats of vegetable origin. If we want to make it at home, we can opt for the classic versions such as the hard nougat from Alicante and the soft one from Jijona. Same with the version with whole almonds like the Guirlache or with puffed rice, or the one with toasted yolk, among others. In the event that nougats are left over on the table, we can give them a second life and transform them into delicious cakes and desserts with a Christmas spirit.
- Marzipan: Another sweet that has become such a typical Christmas snack is marzipan. Although the origin of the sweet is disputed between Toledo, Venice or Germany, the ingredients in the traditional marzipan recipe are reduced to almonds, sugar or honey to form a dough that is worked by hand and lightly baked into shapes. In any case, since there are no ingredients of animal origin, they are perfectly suitable.
pannettone: Also called sweet Christmas bread, panettone is a brioche dough enriched with raisins and fruit. This typical Italian sweet does not have animal fats among its ingredients, but rather is a combination of flour, sourdough, sugar, yeast and candied fruits and, of course, orange blossom water, is the ingredient that makes the difference and gives a characteristic flavor. Like the nougat, when it comes to taking advantage of the leftover panettone, we can prepare a delicious panettone pudding.
Roscon de Reyes: Popular at night and on Three Kings Day, the original roscón goes without filling of any kind in order to dip it into a cup of hot chocolate. The dough with which the bun is made is based on flour, yeast, eggs, butter, milk and zest as the traditional recipe states. Then, in the coverage there are candied fruits, granillo sugar and laminated almonds. For this reason, there is no sight of any type of derivative or animal product. In addition, we can make a vegan roscón de reyes, with the practicality of making the roscón with Thermomix or in any of the best roscón del bollo recipes.
Non-vegetarians:
- Chocolate nougat. The chocolate nougat is by far the favorite of children at Christmas. Now, here I make a special mention. The chocolate nougat from being industrial usually has, obviously, in addition to cocoa, puffed rice and sugar, additives such as E-471 and E-472. Both emulsifiers are obtained by hydrolysis of fatty acids that can be of animal or vegetable type. And since the origin is not usually specified, it is recommended to avoid chocolate nougats or at least watch the labeling. Now, it is different if you opt for the homemade version of chocolate nougat with puffed rice for a safe result and suitable for vegetarians. Another classic nougat, but not so frequent, that has animal protein is the Swiss nougat, which has butter.
- Polvoron. If there is a typical sweet at parties, it is the classic polvorón. Simple to make, only four basic ingredients are involved: sugar, lard, flour and almonds. It is a sweet that includes animal fats in its original recipe, both in its artisanal version as well as those found commercially. Fortunately, butter can be replaced by vegetable fats, in rich olive oil shortbreads suitable for vegetarians.
ziidoo 6 Pcs Christmas Cutlery Bag, Santa Claus Elk Snowman, Table Decoration
- Mantecados. A cousin of the polvorón, the mantecado shares the same ingredients in both lard, ground sugar and flour. They differ in that the polvorón always has almonds, while the mantecado may or may not have it. The same with the shape, which is very characteristic; if the mantecado is round, the polvorón is oval. There are hazelnut shortbreads or almond shortbreads, but both coincide in the use of animal fat as an ingredient.
Image | iStock
In DAP | Delicious Vegan Christmas: 57 Party Recipes
In DAP | Christmas meals: 79 recipes that never fail