A buche de Noel from Le Petit Morceau (Photo by Julianne Tripp Hillian)
1. Buche de Noel
A seasonal showstopper, these log-shaped French desserts “evoke an intangible holiday warmth,” says baker Tra May Anderson of Le Petit Morceau. “My grandmother used to make buches de Noel to celebrate the holidays,” she says. Sold whole or by the slice, the eye-catching chocolate chiffon roulade cake is filled with Frangelico-caramelized white chocolate mousse; coated in dark chocolate ganache; and decorated with sugared cranberries and rosemary, marzipan pinecones, and mini meringue mushrooms.
2. Rum Cake
Rum cake brings cheer to the holiday table, and no one local does it better than Mama J’s matriarch Velma Johnson. Online orders begin the first week of December, just a few days after Velma’s birthday. A catering classic turned holiday hit, the boozy Bundt is simple and satisfying, with rum spiking both the cake and the glaze. Nuts are optional.
Panettone from Sub Rosa Bakery (Photo by Julianne Tripp Hillian)
3. Panettone
Sub Rosa experienced a fire at the end of November that is expected to keep the business closed for months to come. Supporters have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help those most affected by the closure.
In early December, this Church Hill bakery opens orders for the sweet, naturally leavened Italian bread. These plushy rounds come flecked with housemade candied orange and raisins, or candied orange and hunks of Costa Rican chocolate. A multiday process to prepare, after baking, the beauties are hung upside down by the wood-fired oven with care. Pluck strands straight from the panettone wedge, serve it sliced with coffee, or, if you’re feeling extra festive, use it to make an unforgettable Christmas morning bread pudding.
4. Stollen
A German staple around Christmas, stollen is a bread studded with dried and candied fruit. Before adding the dense, delicious delicacy to the menu of his Bellevue bakery in December, owner Jonathan Highland soaks cranberries, raisins and citrus in rum for up to three months. “Our stollen isn’t quite traditional,” he says. “We don’t have marzipan because we are a tree nut- and peanut-free bakery.”
Gianduja fish (Photo courtesy Olivia Wilson)
5. Gianduja Fish
These shimmering little swimmers come four to a tin and make the cutest and most compact snack. Baker Olivia Wilson first worked with gianduja, a hazelnut chocolate paste originating in Turin, Italy, while attending culinary school as a “wee teen.” An ode to the Italian treats, the chocolate fish are formed using hazelnuts sourced from Piemonte, Italy, and feature flecks of crunchy sea salt. Find them at Wilson’s pop-ups.
6. Pepparkakor Cake
A gingerbread-spiced sweet round, pepparkakor cake is a favorite of Swedish American baker Ingrid Schatz. She says her mother always had a tin of her homemade pepparkakor cookies on the table and glogg, a winter drink, warming on the stove when she came home for the holidays. Lathered with cream cheese icing and decorated with gingersnap trees and sprigs of rosemary, this cake has become a customer favorite.
Salted caramel chocolate tarts from Fat Rabbit bakery (Photo courtesy Fat Rabbit)
7. Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart
This chocolate tart is a delightful balance of sweet and toasty notes. Owner and baker Ellyn Hopper describes the treat as a “very rich and decadent dessert” intended to serve about a dozen friends or family. Buttery and barely sweetened graham cracker crust encases a toffee-like salted caramel filling, with subtle hints of tart creaminess from mascarpone. On the side: flaky sea salt meant to be sprinkled on top before serving.
8. Coquito Ice Cream
Cookies, cakes and breads can get all the attention at the holidays, but scoop lovers know that ice cream is a year-round affair. Secure seasonally influenced pints including Atlanta Santa and Chocolate Orange, or vegan varieties such as Gingerbread. Owner Rabia Kamara claims nondairy coquito as her fave: “It’s a frozen spin on the drink: lots of coconut milk and cinnamon sticks. We steep it for two days, and it wouldn’t be a coquito without Don Q rum.”
Supreme croissants from Idle Hands Bread Company (Photo by Julianne Tripp Hillian)
9. Supreme Croissants
This tiny shop on Strawberry Street churns out some of the most expertly crafted holiday treats in the city. Find traditional panettone, sticky toffee pudding and a rotating lineup of supremes — a labor-intensive pastry invented in New York in 2022. Owner Jay Metzler says the flavors of the flaky, spiraled, standing croissants will rotate between peppermint bark, eggnog and pecan pie.
An ube crinkle cookie (Photo courtesy Amusing Maria)
10. Ube Crinkle Cookies
Maria Goethals’ small-batch Filipino bakery pays homage to her heritage. “I grew up with ube everything,” she says. During the holidays, she packages special boxes stocked with treats including purple sweet potato-based ube crinkle cookies. She also offers a sampler of Filipino breads that features both ube and regular pandesal (fluffy, semisweet rolls) and buttery Senorita bread.
11. Cake Pops
Indian baker Keya Wingfield’s catalog of tasty treats — both sweet and savory — is broad, but it was through her perfectly snacky, 100% portable cake pops that she initially found success more than a decade ago. This winter, she’s channeling the early days and introducing a festive lineup of pops in flavors including cranberry-orange, chocolate peppermint, hot chocolate, vanilla-cardamom and allspice cake.
Sufganiyot from Claudia’s Bake Shop (Photo by Julianne Tripp Hillian)
12. Sufganiyot
A native New Yorker, Claudia Strobing brings decades of experience to her kosher-dairy shop in Carytown. Around Hanukkah, she whips up sufganiyot, a fluffy, jelly-filled doughnut with Jewish roots. Strobing makes two varieties of the pop-in-your-mouth, sugar-dusted nuggets: chocolate with cinnamon sugar and grape jelly with powdered sugar. Place preorders mid-month or find the treats in-house the week of Hanukkah (Dec. 25-Jan. 2).
