The best Christmas tree recipes in 8 different variations and tricks to make it easy

Baking various sweets is an indispensable part of Czech Christmas.

Are you also a lover of sweets and other typical treats?

Get inspired by our various Christmas recipes!

Butter, cottage cheese, whipped cream, there are many variations.

Which one will become your favorite?

Supple leavened Christmas cake with raisins and almonds

The addition of a small amount of whipped cream makes this version beautifully smooth. Try it, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Ingredients:

• 400 g plain flour
• 100 g semi-coarse flour
• 115 g of butter
• 30 g of fresh yeast
• 40 g of granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 200 ml of semi-skimmed milk
• 100 ml of whipped cream
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon peel
• 75 g of raisins
• pinch of salt

For decorating

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar

Method:

1. Rub the butter thoroughly in a bowl with the sugar and egg yolks.
2. Add a pinch of salt and lemon zest.
3. Crumble the yeast into the lukewarm milk, add a spoonful of sugar and let the yeast rise in a warm place.
4. Add whipped cream, raisins to the butter mixture and gradually add sifted flour and yeast.
5. You work everything into a dough.
6. Then cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rise in a warm place for at least an hour.
7. Knit a Christmas tree from the risen dough.
8. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
9. Leave the Christmas cake to rise on a baking sheet lined with baking paper for at least 15-20 minutes before putting it in the oven.
10. Then pierce it in several places with a skewer, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with almond slices.

Rich cottage cheese Christmas cake with candied fruit

A popular version of unleavened Christmas cake. It tastes great and you can prepare it much faster.

Ingredients

• 500 g semi-coarse flour
• 180 g of powdered sugar
• 200 g of butter
• 2 eggs
• 250 g of soft cottage cheese
• 1 baking powder
• 100 g of raisins soaked in rum
• 50 g of chopped almonds
• 50 g of candied fruit
• grated zest of 1/2 lemon

Method

1. Rub the butter with sugar, then add the egg and lemon zest.
2. Mix thoroughly, add cottage cheese and gradually add sifted flour mixed with baking powder.
3. Mix everything thoroughly.
4. Then sprinkle raisins, candied fruit and process into a dough.
5. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
6. Make a Christmas ball from the dough and transfer it to a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
7. Brush the Christmas cake with beaten egg and sprinkle with almond slices.
8. Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes.
9. Sprinkle the cooled Christmas cake with powdered sugar.

Soft whipped cream Christmas cake

Pastries that include whipped cream are always delicious and tender. See for yourself with this recipe!

Ingredients

• 500 g plain flour
• 150 g of powdered sugar
• 1 vanilla sugar
• 1 packet of dry yeast
• 250 ml whipping cream
• 2 eggs
• 150 g of raisins soaked in rum
• 70 g of chopped almonds
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg yolk for spreading

Method

1. Mix all the loose ingredients, i.e. flour, powdered and vanilla sugar, dry yeast and salt, in a bowl.
2. Add the wet ingredients, raisins and almonds to the mixture.
3. Work everything into a dough.
4. Cover the bowl with the dough with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for approximately 60 minutes.
5. Knit a Christmas tree from the risen dough.
6. Place it on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and let it rise for at least 15 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
8. Before putting it in the oven, pierce the Christmas tree in several places with a skewer, brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with almonds.
9. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes.

The best butter Christmas

An honest recipe for a Christmas delicacy that will melt on your tongue.

Ingredients

• 500 g semi-coarse flour
• 100 g of powdered sugar
• 200 g of butter
• 30 g of fresh yeast
• 250 ml of milk
• 2 eggs
• 150 g of raisins soaked in rum
• 50 g of chopped almonds
• grated rind of 1 lemon
• 1 egg yolk for spreading

Method

1. Rub the butter with sugar and egg.
2. Add a pinch of salt and lemon zest.
3. Crumble the fresh yeast into the milk, add a little sugar and let the yeast rise.
4. Mix the raisins, almonds into the butter mixture and alternately gradually add the sifted flour and yeast.
5. You will make a stiffer dough.
6. Then let it rise in a warm place for at least 60 minutes.
7. Knit a Christmas tree from the risen dough.
8. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
9. Before putting the Christmas cake in the oven, leave it to rise for approximately 15-20 minutes on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
10. Then pierce the Christmas tree in several places with a skewer and brush it with egg yolk.
11. Bake in a preheated oven for about an hour.
12. Sprinkle the cooled Christmas cake with icing sugar.

Christmas from potato dough

An unusual variant of this Christmas delicacy, which has one of the main ingredients in common with potato salad.

Ingredients

• 500 g semi-coarse flour
• 250 g of peeled potatoes boiled in their skins
• 60 g of butter
• 90 g of sugar
• 30 g of fresh yeast
• 200 ml of milk
• 1 egg
• grated rind of 1 lemon
• 50 g of raisins soaked in rum
• 50 g of almonds
• pinch of salt

Method

1. Rub the butter with sugar and egg.
2. Add a pinch of salt and lemon zest.
3. Crumble the yeast into the milk, add a spoonful of sugar and let the yeast rise in a warm place.
4. Add the raisins to the butter mixture and gradually add sifted flour, finely grated potatoes and leavened yeast.
5. You will work into a stiffer dough.
6. Cover the bowl with the dough with a clean towel and let it rise in a warm place for at least an hour.
7. Knit a Christmas tree from the risen dough.
8. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
9. Let the Christmas cake rise on a baking sheet with baking paper for at least 15 minutes before putting it in the oven.
10. Then pierce it in several places with a skewer, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with almonds.
11. Bake for approximately 60 minutes.
12. You can sprinkle the cooled Christmas cake with icing sugar or decorate it with egg white or chocolate icing.

Homemade gluten-free Christmas cake

Even if you can’t or don’t want to consume gluten for some reason, you don’t have to give up this sweet Christmas treat.

Ingredients

• 500 g of gluten-free flour
• 100 g of powdered sugar
• 100 g of butter
• 30 g of fresh yeast
• 250 ml of milk
• 3 eggs
• 150 g of raisins soaked in rum
• 50 g of chopped almonds
• grated rind from one lemon
• 1 egg yolk for spreading

Method

1. Rub the butter in a bowl with the sugar.
2. Add the egg, a pinch of salt and lemon zest.
3. Let the yeast rise in the milk with a little sugar.
4. Add the raisins and almonds to the bowl with the butter and sugar.
5. Then gradually add sifted flour and yeast.
6. You work everything into a dough, which is then left to rise for at least an hour in a warm place covered with a towel.
7. Make a Christmas tree out of the risen dough.
8. Transfer it to a baking sheet lined with baking paper and let it rise for at least another 15 minutes.
9. Before putting it in the oven preheated to 180°C, pierce the Christmas tree in several places with a skewer, brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with almond slices.
10. Bake for approximately 60 minutes.

An unconventional Christmas with a surprise

Everyone knows the traditional Czech version. Want to surprise everyone? Try the German variant with jams!

Ingredients

• 500 g semi-coarse flour
• 100 g of powdered sugar
• 200 g of butter
• 30 g of fresh yeast
• 250 ml of milk
• 2 eggs
• 150 g of jam
• 50 g of chopped almonds
• grated rind of 1 lemon
• 1 egg yolk for spreading

Method

1. Prepare the dough in the same way as for the butter Christmas.
2. The only difference in preparation comes in preparing the strands for braiding.
3. Roll out the dough into a wider sheet. Apply a thin strip of jam to its edge and roll the dough.
4. Cut off the formed roll and again apply a strip of jam to the edge of the rolled sheet.
5. You repeat the procedure in this way until you get the desired number of strands with jelly inside.
6. Finally, knit the Christmas tree as you are used to.
7. Before putting it in the oven, brush it with egg yolk and sprinkle with almonds.
8. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for approximately 30-40 minutes.

You can also see how to make individual springs filled with jam in this video recipe.

Gefüllter Weihnachtsstriezel

Christmas knitting

A good Christmas recipe is one thing, but how do you knit it so that it doesn’t fall off during baking? There are several variants. It is easiest to assemble the shape of the Christmas tree from three separate parts. The lower parts are knitted from four strands, the middle from three strands and the upper part from two.

Layered Christmas

Pletení vánočky

Want something more elaborate? Other variants are knitting from six, eight or nine strands at once. Thanks to this, the Christmas tree is taller, fluffier and the decorative effect looks great.

Get inspiration from these video tutorials.

Knitting a Christmas tree from 6 strands

Pletení vánočky ze šesti pramenů - Kulinář Petr Stupka

Knitting a Christmas tree from 8 strands

Jak uplést vánočku z osmi pramenů?

Knitting from a different number of strands

Jak uplést vánočku ze 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 a 9 pramenů

Christmas stocking

It is best to keep the baked Christmas tree wrapped in a clean cotton towel. On the contrary, do not wrap it in a plastic bag or food foil, it will lose its fragility and suppleness.

Christmas tree as a symbol of Christmas

The history of Christmas dates back to the Middle Ages. Back then, however, only master bakers could bake it and it was intended only for the nobility. It did not become domesticated in Czech households until the 18th century. There are a large number of Christmas recipes, most often they are made from leavened dough, but there are also non-leavened versions.

The shape of the Christmas tree is reminiscent of Jesus in a swaddling clothes. For this reason, in the past, it could not be missing from any Christmas Eve table. Her cross knitting was also symbolic, which supposedly had the power to protect the people at the Christmas table from evil forces. Individual strands were also given symbolic meaning during knitting. The four lower springs represented earth, sun, water, and air, the three middle springs reason, will, and feeling, and the two upper springs knowledge and love.

Christmas, customs and superstitions

In the past, as many Christmas cookies were baked in households as there were members in the family. The biggest Christmas tree was placed on the Christmas Eve table and only the householder could cut it. It was consumed as the last of the seven dishes that were supposed to appear on the Christmas Eve table.

Originally, one coin was also baked into the Christmas dough. According to superstition, luck, health and wealth awaited him in the next year who discovered it while slicing it while eating it. Cattle and other animals also received a piece of Christmas. Certain customs and traditions were also related to baking. It is said that the housewives had to wear a white apron and were not allowed to speak while making Christmas.