If you’ve been searching for a non-bitter orange marmalade recipe, you’ve come to the right place. Traditional marmalade can be a bit… much. That sharp, bitter bite from all the pith and peel? It’s not for everyone. And if you’ve always thought marmalade just wasn’t your thing, I completely understand.
But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be that way.
This easy orange marmalade recipe is ridiculously simple—just three ingredients, one pot, and about half an hour of your time. No boiling chunks of orange peel, no wrestling with bitter white pith, no complicated steps. Just fresh orange juice, a bit of finely grated zest, and sugar. That’s it.
What you get is a bright, sunny marmalade that tastes purely of oranges—sweet, glossy, and absolutely wonderful on warm toast or swirled into yoghurt or dolloped on scones. Or use it to fill these wonderfully citrusy Orange Christmas Cookies!
If you’ve been put off by bitter marmalade in the past, this recipe is your fresh start. Let’s make something delicious together!
Ingredients
This non-bitter orange marmalade requires just three simple ingredients:
Oranges
You’ll need 10-15 oranges, depending on their size – enough to yield 900 ml (about 4 cups) of freshly pressed juice. It’s better to have a few extra than to come up short!
Choose organic oranges whenever possible, since we’re using the zest as well as the juice. The zest is where all that bright orange flavour lives, and organic means no wax or pesticide residue on the peel.
Sugar
Sugar serves two purposes in marmalade: it preserves the fruit and helps it set properly, ensuring your marmalade stays shelf-stable for months.
Although oranges have natural sweetness, we still need sugar for preservation. For this recipe, use a bit more than one-third the amount of sugar compared to juice (350g sugar for 900ml juice).
You have two options:
Household sugar + pectin: Use regular granulated sugar and add pectin separately
Jam sugar: This already contains pectin, making the process even simpler
Pectin
Pectin is what makes your marmalade gel and set properly. If you’re using regular household sugar (not jam sugar), you’ll need to add pectin separately.
Check the package instructions on your pectin brand for the exact amount—it varies by manufacturer. Most sachets are designed for specific fruit-to-sugar ratios, so look for one labelled for 2:1 or even better 3:1 (fruit to sugar).
Instructions
Making this non-bitter orange marmalade is so simple, you’ll wonder why you ever bought it from the store!
Step 1: Prepare the jars
Sterilise the jars and lids you want to store your marmalade in, by using one of the methods described in this article.
Step 2: Grate the zest
Wash ALL the oranges thoroughly under warm water to remove dirt and residues. Using a fine grater or microplane, finely grate off the zest of two oranges—just the bright orange outer layer, avoiding the white pith underneath, which adds bitterness. Gather the zest in the pot you’ll use for cooking.
Step 3: Press the juice
Now, cut the oranges crosswise in half (around the “equator”). Use a citrus juicer to squeeze each half and pour the juice into a measuring jug. Continue until you have 900 ml (about 4 cups) of freshly pressed orange juice.
Don’t throw away the orange peels! In this article, you’ll learn about 12 different uses for orange peel.
Step 4: Mix the ingredients
Pour the orange juice into the pot with the zest. Add the sugar and pectin (if necessary) and stir everything together until well combined.
Step 5: Cook the marmalade
Bring the mixture to a rolling boil. As soon as it bubbles, set your timer for 4 minutes and let the marmalade cook. Keep the heat at medium-high to maintain the rolling boil and regularly stir the marmalade to prevent it from burning or boiling over.
Step 6: Gel test
After 4 minutes, test if the marmalade thickens by putting some of the hot liquid onto a cold plate. Let it sit for about 15 – 20 seconds and slowly tilt the plate.
If the mixture thickens visibly and runs only slowly, or wrinkles slightly when you push it with your finger, the marmalade is ready to be ladled into the jars.
If it’s too runny, cook the marmalade for another 1 – 2 minutes.
Step 7: Pour the marmalade into jars
Once the marmalade is ready, fill it into the prepared jars with a ladle. Be careful: it’s literally boiling hot!
Fill each jar, leaving about 1cm (⅓ inch) headspace at the top. Then, close it tightly with the lid (again, be careful: it’s hot!), and put it upside down on a kitchen towel on your counter. Leave the jars inverted for 10 minutes, then flip them right-side up.
Let the marmalade cool down completely and listen for the satisfying ‘pop’ as the lids seal while cooling.
Non-bitter orange marmalade
This easy recipe uses fresh juice and zest for sweet, sunny marmalade in 30 minutes.
Sterilise the jars and lids as described in this article.
Wash the oranges.
Finely grate the zest of two oranges with a fine grater or microplane into a large pot. Just use the bright orange outer layer and avoid the white pith underneath.
Press the oranges until you have 900 ml of fresh juice. Put the juice in the pot to the orange zests.
Add the sugar and pectin (if necessary), and mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon.
Bring the mixture to a rolling boil at medium-high heat and maintain the boil for 4 minutes
Test if the marmalade thickens as described in the blog post.
Ladle the hot marmalade into jars, tightly close them with lids, and put them upside down onto a kitchen towel on the counter.After 10 minutes, flip them back and let them cool down completely.
Notes
Orange marmalade can be stored in a cool and dry place for up to one year.This makes for 5 jars à 250 ml.
Your New Favourite Marmalade
And there you have it—non-bitter orange marmalade that’s actually a joy to make and eat. No complicated steps, no wrestling with pith, just three ingredients and half an hour of your time. If traditional marmalade has always been too much for you, this is your fresh start. And it makes for a great (last-minute) gift! Spread it generously, share it with friends, and enjoy every sunny, sweet spoonful!
Do you like jam and marmalade as much as I do? Then you’ll love these articles:
While I’m quite open to trying out new recipes when it comes to cookies, I won’t negotiate my favourite Christmas dessert: Christmas pudding. Today, I’m sharing my tried-and-tested homemade Christmas pudding recipe that I’ve refined for years.
This rich, chewy and flavourful mother of all Christmas desserts (at least in my opinion) is so much better than anything store-bought. It contains an array of dried fruit, and it’s bursting with the Christmassy flavours of warming spices, brandy and tangy citrus. Better yet, it’s also an impressive show-stopper that’ll awe your family and guests.
The only catch is that it needs at least 4 weeks to mature. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s make a Christmas pudding that’ll become your new family tradition!
The History of Christmas Pudding
First, let’s explore the tradition behind this beloved dessert, then I’ll break down the key ingredients.
Traditionally, Christmas pudding was made on Stir-up Sunday, the last Sunday before the start of Advent. That way, it leaves the pudding enough time to mature and develop its wonderful flavours.
Stir-up Sunday got its name from an Anglican prayer, recited in the churches on this day, asking God to “stir up” the hearts of the faithful. Over time, it became associated with the stirring of the Christmas pudding.
The tradition of making the Christmas pudding on Stir-up Sunday likely started in Victorian times. The family gathered in the kitchen and took turns to stir the pudding while making a wish for the upcoming year. This wasn’t only about cooking, it was about celebrating the start of the Christmas season and creating memories together.
Sometimes, a coin or a trinket was stirred into the pudding, predicting good luck in the New Year for the person who found it in their piece on Christmas Day. In my family, we refrain from adding anything other than edibles to the pudding. I don’t want to risk a broken tooth for anyone…
On Christmas Day, the pudding is decorated with a sprig of holly to represent Jesus’ thorn crown. Add a little bit of warm brandy and light the pudding before proudly carrying it to the family table.
Now that we know the tradition, let’s see what goes in a good Christmas pudding:
Key Ingredients for Traditional Christmas Pudding
Fruit mix
Traditional Christmas pudding contains loads of different dried fruit. I prefer the mixture I describe in the recipe, but you can alter the fruits and/or their amounts. Just make sure that in the end, you have the same overall amount of dried fruit. You’ll need 550 grams total of dried fruit (plus candied orange and lemon peels separately)
If you can’t get dried cherries, for example, you can easily swap them for dried cranberries. Or you leave out the dried apricots and try dried apples or pears instead.
Spices
Although you can juggle with the fruits if you want, don’t alter the spices. The blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger is what makes this recipe so unique and special. There’s nothing quite like this combination of warming Christmas spices that fills your kitchen with the most wonderful aroma while it steams.
Suet
Suet is beef or mutton fat from around the kidneys, which is usually sold shredded or in blocks. Here in Germany, I can get it at the butcher’s; I just need to call in advance and pre-order it. Sometimes you can find suet in the supermarket meat section, in speciality stores or even online.
There are many recipes that use butter, vegetable shortening or even oil for Christmas pudding. I strongly recommend, however, to always use suet, not butter or oil! Suet is in the recipe for a reason: it needs a relatively high temperature to melt. When the pudding gets steamed for hours in a hot water bath, the suet melts very slowly and distributes evenly throughout the pudding as it melts.
When you use butter, shortening or oil, it’ll pool at the bottom of the pudding bowl. When you serve the pudding on Christmas day, you’ll have a greasy top (which was the bowl bottom) and a dry remainder.
I agree that suet isn’t the best thing in the world to eat, but it’s only once a year and in a relatively small amount. And just in case you were wondering: no, it doesn’t taste of meat.
By the way: Suet can be frozen if you buy extra, making it easy to keep on hand for next year.
Booze
This recipe is not for teetotalers as it contains a fair amount (150 ml) of brandy, rum, sherry or similar spirit in which the dried fruits are soaked. Unfortunately, the alcohol doesn’t fully cook off, so this isn’t suitable for children either. If you want to make an alcohol-free version of Christmas pudding, use alcohol-free rum (yep, that’s a thing) instead.
The mould
Apart from the usual equipment like mixing bowls, a spoon (wooden or metal), and a large pot to cook the pudding in, the most important equipment is the pudding mould. Don’t worry, there’s no need to rush out and buy a specific Christmas pudding mould or worse, refrain from making the pudding because you don’t have one! A simple metal bowl that’s large enough to hold the pudding dough and still has some space below the brim will do well. I use a 1.5-litre pudding basin and it’s perfect. If you have a pudding mould of whatever shape, though, feel free to use it. There’s no law that forbids Christmas pudding in any other form than the famous half-ball.
How to make Christmas Pudding
Day 1 – 4: Soaking the fruit
Christmas pudding needs some time to make, several days, in fact. But don’t worry, most of the time is spent letting the ingredients sit and soak.
Start with the dried fruit: place the dates, raisins, sultanas, figs, plums, cherries, as well as the candied orange and lemon peel in a large bowl.
Add the rum or brandy, or whatever your favourite booze is.
Mix all these ingredients thoroughly, taking care not to crush the cherries. I recommend either using a wooden or metal spoon or just mixing everything with your hands. The ingredients are heavy – and will get even heavier as they soak up the booze as the days go on.
This fruit mix has been soaking in rum for a few days!
Once everything is thoroughly mixed, cover the bowl with clingfilm or aluminium foil and let it soak for four days. Every day during this time, take the cover off and mix the ingredients. The 150 ml of booze we used on Day 1 will usually be soaked up within two days. If the mixture looks a little dry, add more booze.
So, if you want to cook the pudding on a Sunday, for example, start soaking the fruits on Wednesday or even Tuesday evening.
Day 4
Everything’s prepared, now’s the time to bring our pudding together.
Making the pudding dough
Place the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, the spice mixture (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger), salt and breadcrumbs into a large mixing bowl. Mix these dry ingredients well before adding the next one.
Now, coarsely grind the beef suet on a cheese grater and add it to the dry mixture.
Grate the apple as well and also add it to the mix.
The same goes for the treacle, the eggs and – you guessed it – the freshly grated orange and lemon peel.
Mix everything really well, taking care not to crush the cherries if possible. When the pudding cooks, the suet melts, so it must be well distributed or else it will look clumpy. At this point, the mixture is very sticky and heavy.
Filling the mould
Grease whatever pudding mould you have with butter, so that the ready-cooked pudding will come out more easily. Gently press the sticky mixture into the bottom of the bowl or mould so that there are no holes or gaps. The bottom of the mould will later be the top of the pudding once it’s unmoulded.
If you want to stick to the old tradition of adding a penny or another token into the pudding, now is the right time. Tradition says that the person who finds the penny in his piece of pudding will get one year of good luck. Just remember to tell your guests in advance to watch out for the penny; otherwise, the new year would start with a broken tooth…
Fill the bowl or mould up to 1 cm (1/2 inch) under the brim. The pudding will expand a bit when cooked so it’s important to leave some room.
If you use a pudding mould, close and secure the lid. In case of a bowl, cover it with aluminium foil. I like to fold a pleat into the foil to give the pudding plenty of room if it likes to rise.
See the crease? That way, the pudding can rise without pushing off the foil
Seal the foil with rubber bands to prevent water from getting into the bowl while the pudding’s cooked in the water bath. Make sure you don’t get water in your pudding!
Cooking the Pudding
Now the pudding is ready to be cooked in a water bath. Fill a pot that’s large enough to hold the pudding bowl or mould. The water level should come up halfway to the edge of the pudding mould, so that water can’t get into it.
Put the mould into the water and bring the water to a boil.
Don’t put cold pudding moulds into boiling water, unless the bowl is of a tempered material. The bowl may crack from the drastic temperature change!
How long to steam Christmas Pudding
Let the pudding cook for 8 hours on low to medium heat. The water shouldn’t boil vigorously (boiling water could splash into the mould); keep it at a gentle simmer.
As the water will evaporate, you must check the pot every one – two hours and fill it up with boiling (!) water if necessary.
After eight hours, take the mould out of the water bath. Be careful handling it, it’s hot and it’ll take a while to cool down.
I usually let the steamed Christmas pudding sit for about 5 – 10 minutes on the counter to cool down before I try to unmould it. Then I place a cooling rack on top of it. Take the mould with one hand (wear an oven mitten!) and the rack with the other and flip it upside down. Usually, the pudding comes out beautifully.
Maturing
This is where the magic happens! As the pudding ages, it develops more flavour. Smell the traditional steamed Christmas pudding when it’s first cooked, and then smell the pudding on Christmas Day. You can smell and taste the difference in an aged Plum Pudding. There’s a reason for preparing homemade Christmas pudding about four weeks before Christmas and some people even start in early or mid October.
When the pudding is completely cool, sprinkle it with the booze you used to soak the fruit and cover it in aluminium foil and either store it in the fridge or a cool and dry basement for at least four weeks.
Once a week, take off the foil and sprinkle the pudding again with rum or brandy. Wrap it back up again (in the same foil) and put it back to rest. Keep up this weekly maintenance until Christmas.
Angela Braun
Christmas Pudding (aka Plum Pudding or Figgy Pudding)
Start four days before you want to steam the pudding:
Place the raisins, sultanas, figs, dates, prunes, apricots, cherries and the candied orange and lemon peel in a bowl.
Pour the brandy or rum over the dried fruit and stir to combine the mixture.
Once everything is mixed, cover the mixing bowl with cling film or a plastic wrap and let it soak for four days. Once a day, take the plastic wrap off and mix up the ingredients. If the mixture gets a little dry, add more brandy or rum.
After four days, place the breadcrumbs, flour, salt, baking powder, brown sugar and spices in a bowl and stir to combine.
Finely grate the suet.
Grate the apple.
Add the grated apple, treacle (or molasses), suet, lemon and orange zest and the eggs to the soaked dried fruit and stir to combine it.
Add the dry mixture to the fruit mixture and stir thoroughly to combine it. It'll become very thick and sticky.
Grease your pudding mould or bowl with butter and scoop the batter into the mould. Gently press the batter down and smooth the top.
Either close the lid on the form or cover it with aluminium foil that you secure with a string around the mould. Fold a pleat in the foil to allow room for expansion as the pudding cooks.
Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a low simmer.
Put the pudding mould into the water. The water level should come up halfway to the edge of the pudding mould.
Now, cook the pudding over low heat for about 8 hours. The water should not be boiling but just simmering. Check every 1 - 2 hours to make sure that there's enough water left in the pot. Add more (hot) water if necessary.
When the pudding is done steaming, carefully lift out the pudding mould and let it sit for about 5 - 10 minutes. Then, put the mould upside down and let the pudding slide out of it.
Put the pudding on a plate and let it cool completely.
When the pudding is cool, sprinkle it with brandy or rum and cover it with foil. Store the pudding in the fridge or a cool place, e.g. the basement.
Once a week take off the foil and sprinkle the pudding with brandy or rum. Then wrap it back up again and put it back in the fridge or basement.
On Christmas Day - or whenever you want to serve the pudding - unwrap the pudding and put it back into the mould it was steamed in. Recook it again on a low setting for one hour.
Flip the pudding onto a plate and light it on fire if you like (see blog post section on how to light a pudding).
Serve the Christmas pudding with vanilla sauce, whipped cream or ice cream.
How to serve Christmas Pudding
Reheating the Pudding
On Christmas Day (or whenever you want to serve your Christmas pudding), unwrap the pudding, place it back into its original mould and cover it with foil (or tighten the lid). Seal the foil with rubber bands and steam it again in a water bath on a low setting for one hour. This gentle reheating brings the pudding back to its perfect serving temperature and refreshes the texture.
Flaming (optional)
Now, you can serve your pudding traditionally with a holly sprig and a dusting of powdered sugar, or go for the spectacular flaming presentation!! It’s not necessary, of course, but it looks so spectacular, and it gives the pudding even more punch.
Safety first: This creates dramatic flames, so keep children and pets at a safe distance, tie back long hair, and have the lights dimmed for maximum effect.
Unmould the warm pudding onto a plate and make a cross-shaped indentation on top of the pudding with a wooden spoon handle – this creates channels for the flaming brandy to run down dramatically.
The trick is to use booze with more than 50% alcohol. I usually use “Strohrum” with 80 % alcohol content but any high-proof rum or brandy (50%+ alcohol) will work – the higher the proof, the better it flames.
To flame your brandy, it must be warm or even hot. Place about 50 ml of brandy in a pot and heat it until it starts to steam. Then pour the heated brandy over the pudding, letting it run down the sides of the pudding where you put the cross in.
For maximum dramatic effect, dim the lights. Then quickly light your homemade Christmas pudding with a lighter or a match. Be careful not to burn yourself! A blue flame will now cover the pudding where the brandy has run down. After a few seconds, the flame will go out.
How many servings does this Christmas Pudding make?
If Christmas pudding were a cake, I’d say you’d get out about six servings from this recipe. However, due to all the heavy ingredients like the dried fruit, suet and sugar, Christmas pudding is a relatively rich and satisfying dessert, so I recommend serving small slices. The pudding will be enough for 8 – 10 people.
Can I substitute the suet? / What can I use instead of suet?
As explained in the ingredients section, suet is essential for the best texture. However, if you absolutely can’t source it or if you’re looking for a vegetarian alternative, you can use butter or vegetarian suet. BUT: as suet has a higher melting point, it melts later during steaming and distributes evenly throughout the pudding. Butter melts a lot quicker and tends to pool at the bottom of the bowl, leaving a slightly soggy pudding top and a dry remainder.
Vegetarian suet is chemically similar to traditional suet and should work, though I haven’t tested it myself due to concerns about hydrogenated oils. If you prefer to avoid both animal suet and hydrogenated fats, butter is your best option—just expect a slightly different texture.
Can children eat Christmas Pudding?
The alcohol doesn’t fully cook off during steaming, so this recipe isn’t suitable for children. For a family-friendly version, substitute alcohol-free rum or brandy throughout the recipe, and skip the flaming presentation.
Does Christmas Pudding contain nuts?
As my son’s girlfriend is allergic to nuts, I’ve adapted this recipe to be nut-free. If you want to, however, you can add 100 g coarsely chopped hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds or other nuts of your liking to the dried fruit mix on Day 1 and let them soak alongside everything else.
How long does Christmas Pudding keep?
Christmas pudding keeps for at least 6 months when stored in a cool and dry place. If you sprinkle it with alcohol weekly, it won’t go bad and you can even store it longer, up to one year.
So, if you like to you can make Christmas pudding already in summer or early autumn, put it in the fridge and sprinkle it with alcohol once a week until Christmas. It’ll mature with time.
Can I store leftover Christmas Pudding?
Definitely! The sugar as well as the alcohol preserve it rather well. Wrap the leftover pudding tightly in foil or plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out. Then, put in the fridge, where it’ll keep for up to two weeks.
Can I freeze Christmas Pudding?
Yes, you can, but it’s best done when the pudding is already steamed. Once the pudding has cooled down completely, wrap it tightly in foil or clingfilm and put it in the freezer. It’ll last for up to one year.
To defrost, put the pudding out of the freezer, unwrap it and put it on a cake rack where you let it come to room temperature.
Can I make Christmas Pudding to be served right away?
Well, you still need to soak the dried fruit, even if it’s only for one hour. Then you could mix the pudding “dough” and steam it in the water bath, all on the same day. The pudding will taste delicious, just not as complex and deep as Christmas Pudding that had the time to mature.
So, while possible, I really recommend the 4-week maturation—the flavour difference is remarkable and truly worth the wait.
Ready to get started?
And there you have it—my tried-and-tested Christmas pudding recipe that’s been years in the making! Yes, it requires some advance planning and weekly attention (think of it as a delicious pet that only needs feeding once a week), but I promise the end result is worth every moment. There’s nothing quite like presenting a flaming Christmas pudding to your amazed guests, knowing you made it from scratch—and didn’t burn down the kitchen in the process! So don’t wait—start soaking those fruits today and make this Christmas truly special. If you have any questions along the way, leave a comment below. I’m always happy to help fellow pudding makers! Enjoy, and have a wonderful Christmas!
Looking for more Christmas recipes? These may interest you:
When the days grow short and St. Martin’s geese are finished, it’s finally time for Christmas cookies. While I love trying new recipes each year, some are non-negotiable in our family. Vanillekipferl top that list.
Compared to American Christmas cookies with their frosted sugar and chocolate dips, these pale crescents tell a quieter story. But don’t be fooled—they’re far from bland. One bite releases the flavour of vanilla sugar and toasted almonds, and those delicate half-moons crumble on your tongue in the most satisfying way.
Vanillekipferl are essential to German and Austrian Christmas celebrations, passed down through generations. My great-grandmother made them, my grandmother made them, my mother made them—and now I do too. When Mum baked Vanillekipferl each December, their vanilla scent filled the house. My brother and I could barely wait for them to cool. Mum would dust them with powdered sugar while still warm, and we’d sneak one. Or ten.
One year, we’d really overdone it—half a tray gone. Mum, naturally, scolded us thoroughly until my brother protested, “But how come Daddy can eat them?” She turned just in time to catch my dad finishing off the last Vanillekipferl from the tray…
Well, that’s the thing about Vanillekipferl: they disappear fast. Their buttery texture and subtle vanilla-almond flavour make them dangerously addictive, and making them has become as much a part of my December ritual as the eating. Let me show you how to make these beloved Austrian Christmas cookies so you can start your own tradition.
200gpowdered vanilla sugarsee blog section on how to make powdered vanilla sugar
Method
Put the flour, sugar, almonds, salt and the vanilla seeds in a bowl.
Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add it to the ingredients in the bowl.
Quickly but gently mix the ingredients with your hands until just combined - overworking makes the cookies tough.
Form rolls from the dough (see blog section for why rolls) and put them in the fridge for at least 1 hour, better overnight.
Cover a baking tray with parchment.
Remove the rolls from the fridge and cut off pieces of about 1 cm.
Roll each piece into a small rope of 5 - 6 cm, tapering the ends.
Shape into crescents by bending the ropes and set them onto a baking tray.
Chill the tray with the kipferl for 15 - 20 minutes (see blog section on chilling the cookies).
Preheat the oven to 140 °C (285 °F) upper-lower heat or 120 °C (250 °F) circulating heat.
Bake the Vanillekipferl in the hot oven for 15 - 20 minutes. They're ready when you can lift them easily from the tray and they're still pale, don't let them brown!
Right after removing them from the oven, roll the kipferl in vanilla sugar OR dust them with vanilla or icing sugar.
Let the kipferl cool down completely and layer them into a cookie box.
Notes
Vanillekipferl can be stored in a tightly closed cookie jar for up to six weeks. But honestly, they won't last that long 😉...
Great tips for even greater Vanillekipferl
There are a few things you need to observe to make really great Vanillekipferl:
Be quick
You must be quick when mixing the pastry dough. Take the butter directly from the fridge and cut it into small cubes. Then, quickly mix the ingredients with your hands until they’re well combined and the dough is homogeneous. Overworking activates the gluten, which makes cookies tough instead of tender.
Use powdered sugar
You can use granulated sugar, but powdered or icing sugar makes the dough finer and the cookies more tender in the end.
Form rolls
You can, of course, refrigerate the dough in a ball shape, but I find it more convenient if you form rolls. That way, you can cut off slices of roughly the same size and form them into the typical Vanillekipferl crescent.
Cooling the dough
I know it can be tempting to skip the cooling part of the dough, but the dough must be refrigerated for at least one hour (and preferably longer). Otherwise, the cookies will spread during baking, and instead of beautiful crescents, you’ll get flat, unshapely “pancakes”. So, when you plan to bake cookies with your family on Saturday, prepare the dough on Friday evening and let it rest in the fridge overnight.
Forming the cookies
Cut slices of about 1 cm from the cooled cookie rolls and roll them into a ball.
Then, roll them gently into a rope about 5 – 6 cm long and taper the ends.
Form the typical crescent by bending the rope.
Sometimes, the dough falls apart during rolling. In that case, press it all together and knead it slightly until it becomes more pliable.
Cooling the cookies
While forming the Vanillekipferl, the dough naturally becomes warm again. To prevent the cookies from spreading, cool the cookies before baking. As it’s usually cold outside, I normally put the trays with the ready-to-bake Vanillekipferl on my balcony to cool for about 15 minutes. During that time, I preheat the oven and clean up the kitchen.
Preheating the oven
Baking temperature must be right from the start. That’s why you must preheat the oven to the required 140 °C (285 °F) and only put the trays in when the oven has reached this temperature.
Stay close
Each oven is different and the baking time can only be an estimate. Therefore, stay close to your ovenand watch the Vanillekipferl while they bake. They should be light-coloured in the end. If they’re golden-brown, they’ve been in the oven for too long.
Homemade vanilla sugar
Don’t throw the vanilla pod you used earlier for the dough away. Instead, carefully dry it in the oven or a dehydrator and mix it with sugar in a food processor. The result is a wonderfully fine, vanilla-flavoured sugar you can use to dust the Vanillekipferl with!
Covering with sugar
When you dust the Vanillekipferl with powdered or your homemade vanilla sugar while they’re still warm, the sugar will stick better to the cookies. To dust, you can either sprinkle the sugar on the cookies with a sieve or you can carefully roll the Vanillekipferl in a bowl with vanilla sugar.
How long can Vanillekipferl be stored?
Let the cookies cool down completely after baking before you put them in an airtight container (cookie box or jar). In a cool and dry place, the Vanillekipferl store well up to 6 weeks, but honestly, they won’t last that long.
Already one missing!
If you start baking your Christmas cookies really early and want your Vanillekipferl to be at their best when serving them, you can freeze the baked cookies. Just don’t dust them with icing sugar.
By the way: you can also freeze the cookie dough. When you finally want to bake the cookies, put the dough out of the freezer and let it defrost at room temperature.
Vanillekipferl variations
Now that you know the classic, traditional Vanillekipferl recipe, you can get creative if you like:
Go nuts: Swap the almonds for ground hazelnuts or walnuts.
All things chocolate: Replace 50 g of flour with 50 g of baking cocoa for a chocolaty version of Vanillekipferl
Dark coat: dip the ends of the Vanillekipferl in melted chocolate; this is also a great way to add to the chocolate kipferl
Cinna-licious: Coat the Vanillekipferl in cinnamon sugar (powdered sugar mixed with cinnamon) instead of vanilla or pure icing sugar.
Add like crazy: Add pistachios to the dough, or freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries, or replace the almonds with ground poppy seeds. Add lemon or orange zest to the dough or – if you like it hot and spicy – 1/2 a teaspoon of ground chillies!
The tradition continues…
Making Vanillekipferl connects me to generations of women in my family who also baked these delicious Christmas cookies before me – and all the men who loved eating them (looking at you, Dad!). Now, I’d love you to start your own tradition, and it doesn’t matter if you have German or Austrian roots or have just discovered this recipe for the first time.
Admittedly, Vanillekipferl take some patience with the forming and double cooling, but the payoff is so worth it: while baking, your house will smell of vanilla and roasted almonds, and there are only a few things more satisfying than seeing the perfectly shaped little crescents on a cooling rack and powdered vanilla sugar on your fingertips.
Early December is the perfect time to bake your first batch of Vanillekipferl, and if you manage to keep them away from all the sweet tooths, you can proudly present your own Vanillekipferl at Christmas.
Whether this becomes your new December tradition or reminds you of your own family’s cookie rituals, I hope these little crescents bring you as much joy as they’ve brought mine.
November 11 is St. Martin’s Day, an important holiday in German-speaking regions. We celebrate this day extensively with lantern processions: Children (and their parents) walk through their town or village with handcrafted lanterns, singing songs about St. Martin and performing a play about his good deeds. Afterwards, everybody gets hot tea and Saint Martin’s geese, sweet yeast pastries that are shaped like geese (more on the geese connection later). Although my boys are no longer children, the scent of spiced tea and the rich dough of Saint Martin’s geese bring up treasured memories of the lantern-lit streets and the wonderful sense of community at the procession. To keep the seasonal traditions alive (and satisfy our sweet teeth), we still bake Saint Martin’s geese every year, and I want to show you how it’s done.
The Story Behind the Tradition
Martin was a Roman soldier, born around 316. When riding along on a cold winter’s day, he came across a hungry and freezing beggar. Martin, moved by pity, cut his warm cloak in half with his sword and gave half to the beggar. At night, the beggar appeared in Martin’s dreams, revealing that he was Jesus Christ.
Why geese?
After this incident, Martin converted to Christianity and studied the Christian faith. Later, the people of Tours (France) asked Martin to become bishop. Martin, however, modest as he was, didn’t consider himself worthy enough for the task and hid in a goose barn. The geese started quacking, betraying Martin’s whereabouts. He became bishop and served for about 30 years, said to have worked several miracles during that time. Martin died on November 11, 397 and was later canonised. After his death, eating goose on his memorial day became a tradition.
But is that really the reason why we eat geese (real or baked ones) on that day? Historians have another explanation for the tradition of the Saint Martin’s geese: for one, November 11 was the day when taxes or feudal dues were collected. The payment was often made in goods, such as a goose. At the same time, November 11 was the last day before the 40 days of Advent fasting (historically called “Saint Martin’s Lent”) before Christmas, and people indulged in a last hearty (goose) roast and other food that were taboo during the fast.
From harvest fires to lantern processions
I can’t believe how long it has been since that day when my boys attended St. Martin’s lantern processions! And did you see that my youngest had made a goose? 😏
And what does Saint Martin have to do with lantern processions? Light processions were already a tradition among early Christians, and this practice was adopted to honour Saint Martin on his memorial day. Additionally, people lit fires in November in the fields in gratitude for the harvest and as a symbolic farewell to the harvest year. The children crafted torches from straw and lanterns from hollowed turnips with which they wandered through the streets. Sound familiar? Rightly so: this is similar to the original Celtic harvest traditions that resulted in Halloween.
About the Dough: Enriched Yeast Dough
Now that we’ve covered the tradition’s history, let’s dive into baking Saint Martin’s geese!
While you may find recipes using different doughs, the classic dough to make the geese is an enriched yeast dough. “Enriched” simply means that apart from flour and yeast, our dough includes ingredients like butter, eggs, milk and sugar. Enriched yeast dough is perfect for special occasions as it’s sweet, softer and, well, richer than just plain yeast dough. It’s also perfect for shaping, which is ideal for cutting out our geese. Another sweet treat made from enriched dough is this braided yeast bun.
One of the secrets of enriched dough is to give it enough time to rise properly. Once you’ve got your core dough right, you allow it to rise and prove fully. You must be patient here and give it enough time; otherwise, you’ll end up with a brick.
But don’t worry: once you know what to watch for, it’s straightforward to make and a real treat to eat.
Ingredients & Equipment Needed
For making the enriched yeast dough for our Saint Martin’s geese, you’ll need
Flour: Pastry or all-purpose flour is equally good
Yeast: You can either use fresh or dry yeast, but keep in mind that you have to activate fresh yeast before adding it to the other ingredients
Sugar: either use granulated sugar or icing sugar
Egg
Milk: whole milk is best – I don’t recommend low-fat milk
Butter: alternatively, you could use margarine, but honestly, the taste will not be the same
For the decoration, you’ll need
Raisins for the eyes
Pearl sugar
You don’t need any special equipment to make Saint Martin’s geese. A goose-shaped cookie cutter makes the job easier, but it’s not essential – I cut out my geese using this template (download and print at 100%):
Put the flour and sugar in a large bowl. If you use dry yeast, add it as well. In case you use fresh yeast, however, you must activate it now: warm up the milk until it is lukewarm (not warmer or the yeast will die!) and crumble the fresh yeast into it. Stir until it’s dissolved. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour the yeast milk into it. Cover the bowl and let the yeast activate for about 20 minutes. After that time, the yeast liquid will be bubbly and considerably risen.
Melt the butter and pour it into the bowl. Now add the egg and start kneading the dough, either by hand or with a food processor. Knead for about 5 minutes. The dough is ready when it’s soft and smooth and doesn’t stick to your fingers.
First rise
Form the dough into a ball, put it back in the bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel to prevent it from drying out. Let it sit for about 60 minutes in a warm place. The dough is ready when its volume has at least doubled.
This dough has risen perfectly and is ready to be rolled out and cut into Saint Martin’s geese!
Cutting the geese
Line two to three baking trays with parchment paper or brush them with some butter, lard or tallow so that the geese won’t stick.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the yeast dough to about 1 cm (1/2 inch). Cut out the geese with a cookie cutter, the template or by hand and put them on the baking trays, leaving some space between them as they’ll expand during rising. If you use my template, also cut out one wing per goose.
Brush the wings with egg wash and gently press them onto the geese. Press a raisin into place for the eye.
Second rise
Now, let the geese sit for another 20 minutes. During that time, the dough will rise again, making the baked pastry all fluffy and soft.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 175°C (350 °F).
Last decorations and baking
After the second rise, lightly brush the geese’s wings with egg wash and sprinkle pearl sugar on them. I prefer to sprinkle just the wings, but you can, of course, sprinkle the whole goose with pearl sugar.
Put the trays in the preheated oven and bake them for 20 minutes until they are golden brown.
When the geese are baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool down. If you like, you can dust them with icing sugar.
Put the flour and sugar in a large bowl. If you use dry yeast, add it as well. In case you use fresh yeast, however, you must activate it now: warm up the milk until it is lukewarm (not warmer or the yeast will die!) and crumble the fresh yeast into it. Stir until it's dissolved. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour the yeast milk into it. Cover the bowl and let the yeast activate for about 20 minutes. After that time, the yeast liquid will be bubbly and considerably risen.
Melt the butter and pour it into the bowl. Now add the egg and start kneading the dough, either by hand or with a food processor. Knead for about 5 minutes. The dough is ready when it’s soft and smooth and doesn’t stick to your fingers.
First rise
Form the dough into a ball, put it back in the bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel to prevent it from drying out. Let it sit for about 60 minutes in a warm place. The dough is ready when its volume has at least doubled.
Cutting the geese
Line two to three baking trays with parchment paper or brush them with some butter, lard or tallow so that the geese won’t stick.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the yeast dough to about 1 cm (1/2 inch). Cut out the geese with a cookie cutter, the template or by hand and put them on the baking trays, leaving some space between them as they’ll expand during rising. If you use my template, also cut out one wing per goose.
Brush the wings with egg wash and gently press them onto the geese. Press a raisin into place for the eye.
Second rise
Now, let the geese sit for another 20 minutes. During that time, the dough will rise again, making the baked pastry all fluffy and soft.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 175°C (350 °F).
Last decorations and baking
After the second rise, lightly brush the geese’s wings with egg wash and sprinkle pearl sugar on them. I prefer to sprinkle just the wings, but you can, of course, sprinkle the whole goose with pearl sugar.
Put the trays in the preheated oven and bake them for 20 minutes until they are golden brown.
When the geese are baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool down. If you like, you can dust them with icing sugar.
Notes
The baked geese store well in a linen bag or bread bin for several days. Alternatively, you can freeze them for up to 6 months, but remove any sugar because it will turn liquid when defrosted.
FAQs
How to tell when the yeast is properly activated?
After 20 minutes, properly activated yeast will be bubbly and noticeably risen. If it looks flat or unchanged, your yeast may be dead, or the milk was too hot.
What’s the right dough consistency?
Once you have added all ingredients to the bowl, mix them well together and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Another option is letting it knead in a food processor. Anyway, the dough is ready for rising when its surface is smooth and it doesn’t stick to your fingers, your work surface or the bowl.
How do I keep the shapes defined during rising and baking?
The geese will enlarge by about 10% during rising, but the shape will stay the same, only become, well, larger. After rising, you can make small adjustments if you deem them necessary, like changing the bend of the neck, for example, or sharpening the beak. All in all, though, the shapes will stay much the same as the freshly cut out dough.
During baking, there may be a slight additional rise, but that’s it.
How long can I store baked Saint Martin’s geese?
Put any leftover geese in a linen bag or the bread bin, where they can be stored for several days.
Alternatively, you can freeze them. Just make sure not to use icing sugar and scrape off the pearl sugar, as it would turn liquid when the geese are defrosted. Frozen geese can be stored up to 6 months.
Serving Suggestions
Traditionally, Saint Martin’s geese are given to the children after the lantern procession, but they also make a great gift for friends and neighbours. A few years ago, I brought a batch to work and left them in the teachers’ room. Boy, it was like throwing a steak in a lion’s den! The geese were gone within a few minutes.
If you host a tea or coffee party at St. Martin’s Day, the geese make a wonderful treat with coffee, spiced tea or hot cocoa (my favourite!). Any seasonal hot drink, like pumpkin spice latte or gingerbread hot cocoa, as well as chai tea, is also a wonderfully fancy pairing for Saint Martin’s geese.
If there are some geese left the day after baking (or if you’ve made enough to store or freeze them), try them instead of bread for breakfast. The sweet pastry goes marvelously with butter and jam, for example one of these pear jam variations.
Variations & Creative Ideas
Now that you’ve mastered the sweet yeast dough, you can get creative.
Different shapes
Who says that you can only make geese from this dough? Try making large gingerbread men shapes that you decorate with raisins for the eyes and buttons for the shirt. For New Year’s Eve, you can form tiny pig heads or fish; they‘re considered to bring luck. Or you can just make this braided yeast bun.
Flavour additions
In this post, I’ve shown you the recipe for a basic enriched yeast dough. If you like, you can add different flavours to the dough, like for example the zest of an orange, the pulp of half a vanilla pod or ¼ teaspoon of cardamom.
Filling options
Try filling the geese with marzipan, Nutella or jam. For that purpose, roll out the dough only to 0.5 cm (1/4 inch), cut out the geese and put your preferred filling in the middle of the belly of half of the geese. Brush the edges of the geese with egg wash and stick the unfilled geese on top, gently pressing the seams closed. Let the geese rise as described in the recipe, decorate them as you like and bake them for 20 – 25 minutes.
Bake Saint Martin’s Geese!
Although we have stopped attending lantern processions, we still make Saint Martin’s geese every year to celebrate this day – and indulge in these sweet, fluffy pastries. I think it’s important to keep traditions, even if you bend them slightly. It would be a pity if these recipes and traditions vanished! And besides, for me, this seasonal recipe is the signal to start baking Christmas cookies!
These geese are so easy and fun to make that I encourage you to try making them with your children or grandchildren, nieces, nephews or friends’ kids. They’ll love it, cherish this memory of baking geese with you forever and hopefully will carry on this tradition.
Looking for Christmas recipes? These may interest you:
When the leaves start to paint warm hues on the landscape, it’s time for us gardeners to roll up our sleeves for the last time this year and do an autumn garden cleanup.
But what does autumn garden cleanup mean? In short, it’s the process of preparing your garden for its winter rest. Just like preparing a child for bedtime by brushing their teeth, giving them a bath and putting on their PJs, we clear out dead plants from our garden, manage fallen leaves and protect it from cold weather damage.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through the essential steps of autumn garden cleanup, from timing your efforts to sustainable practices that benefit both your garden and local wildlife.
Importance of an autumn garden cleanup
An autumn garden cleanup isn’t just for appearances, but helps our garden to stay healthy for the seasons to come.
It prevents the overwintering of pests and diseases and improves soil health for the next growing season.
Additionally, an autumn cleanup enhances our garden’s appearance during the winter months.
And lastly, it will reduce our workload next spring.
Timing your autumn cleanup
It’s important to choose the right timing for your autumn cleanup. Starting too early may deprive beneficial insects of their habitat, while starting too late may make cleaning up more difficult.
Roughly put, an autumn garden cleanup typically takes place between late September and early November. There is no one-size-fits-all date, though; it rather depends on the climate you live in:
Northern regions have earlier frost dates, starting in September to early October, while southern regions have their first frost later in the year, sometimes not before November or even December. In coastal areas, frost also comes late.
Also, growing seasons are shorter in northern areas and longer the nearer you get to the equator.
An additional factor is the altitude of our region: the higher we live, the earlier the first frost may come.
Knowing all that, we’ll want to start cleaning up our garden early in colder and/or wet climates. The warmer the climate we live in and the drier, the later we may leave the time to clean up.
Keep in mind, however, that these are general guidelines. Local weather patterns, microclimate variations, and specific plant needs should always be considered when determining the optimal timing for autumn garden cleanup.
Signs that indicate it’s time to begin
There are several signs that indicate it’s time to start a garden cleanup:
Nighttime temperatures consistently drop below 10 °C (50 °F).
The first frost date is approaching.
The leaves change colour and start to fall.
Annual plants finish their life cycle.
Perennials begin to die back.
Tasks for autumn garden cleanup
I always recommend a gradual approach over several weeks to cleaning up your garden. It’s way better than trying to do everything at once, which will only lead to overwhelm. Besides, a longer cleanup time allows for a longer enjoyment of all those beautiful late-blooming plants.
Vegetable garden
✅Harvest late vegetables like beetroots, carrots, celery, parsnips and parsley roots.
✅Before the first frost, cover spinach and winter lettuce like lamb’s lettuce with a special gardening mesh that will protect your vegetables from the cold.
✅ Plant garlic and winter onions to give them a head start for next year’s harvest. Look here for a comprehensive guide on cultivating garlic: How To Grow Garlic: Complete Planting Guide
✅ If you haven’t sown cover plants in August or early September, cover the soil with mulch.
Orchard
✅ Harvest the last fruits from the trees to avoid pests and diseases from overwintering and spreading.
✅ Remove and destroy any mummified fruits, that is, dried, shrivelled fruits that are still on the branches. Also, clean up fallen fruit to prevent disease spread.
✅ Check for and remove pest egg masses or cocoons.
✅ Trim dead, diseased or crossing branches from trees and shrubs. For the overall pruning of fruit trees and bushes, late winter is a better time.
✅ If your area is prone to winter sunscald, consider whitewashing the tree trunks. The white colour will reflect the sunlight so that the bark will not heat up too much. The tree temperature changes only slightly, which is great, considering that extreme temperature fluctuations are the cause of sunscald.
✅ Rake fallen leaves and remove those with a disease. Use the remaining leaves as mulch, either under the trees or in the vegetable garden. You can also create a leaf compost. The leaves will rot very fast, and the compost will be available in spring. Additionally, this compost heap will make a shelter for hedgehogs and insects.
✅ Spread compost or well-rotted manure under fruit trees and shrubs. Make sure to avoid direct contact with the trunks.
✅ Cover the soil beneath the trees and shrubs with mulch and make sure to extend the mulch to the trees’ drip line, which means the radius of the treetops.
Ornamental garden
✅ Remove spent annual flowers and compost any disease-free plant material.
✅ Cut back the dead foliage of perennials but leave some stalks for wildlife habitat. Note that some plants, like ornamental grasses, can be left standing for winter interest and wildlife habitat as well.
✅ Spread mulch around perennials and shrubs, and give sensitive plants insulation with extra mulch.
Remember, a thorough fall cleanup doesn’t mean creating a sterile environment. Leaving some areas slightly untamed can provide crucial winter habitats for beneficial insects and wildlife. That way, we can strike a balance between garden health and ecological responsibility.
Protecting sensitive plants
Depending on your hardiness zone, some plants require special protection to survive cold winters. In my garden, for example, I need to care especially for Mediterranean herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano, as well as the artichokes in my DIY greenhouse.
I mulch the plants with leaves, hay or straw. Then, I put straw onto them so that they are covered with it and fix that with twigs. You can also use protective wrapping made of non-woven material or jute. Do not use plastic, though, as moisture will build up beneath it and cause the plant to rot.
During winter, especially when it’s wet, you should check the plants for rotting. In that case, remove the mulch and protective layers and replace them with new, dry material.
Tool maintenance
Once you’re finished with cleaning up your garden, it’s time to care for your garden tools.
✅ First, clean all your garden tools thoroughly by removing any dirt and debris. Soak the tools in warm, soapy water, then scrub the dirt off and rinse. Let them dry well.
✅ If necessary, sharpen your tools with a file or a sharpening stone.
✅ Repair any damage (if possible), tighten loose screws, bolts and nuts and replace any broken or worn parts.
✅ Apply vegetable or machine oil to the metal parts to prevent rust and keep them moving smoothly.
✅ For wooden handles, use linseed oil to protect and nourish the wood
✅ Lastly, store your tools in a dry space, for example a garden shed, a garage or the basement, to prevent moisture build-up.
Conclusion
A garden cleanup in autumn is more than just tidying up: it’s an investment in the health and vitality of our garden.
By removing spent plants, protecting sensitive specimens and using fallen leaves as mulch or compost, we not only prevent pests and diseases from overwintering but also create a fertile environment for the next growing season.
Your garden has given you months of joy and abundance; now is the time to return the favour by preparing it for its winter rest. So, embrace the crisp autumn air, put on your gardening gloves, and tackle your autumn cleanup with enthusiasm.
Happy gardening, and here’s to a productive autumn cleanup and a glorious garden in the year to come!
