They say that the best part is the anticipation, So why not indulge yourself and your children this Advent with my sweet Christmas treats from all around the world. Read on to find out more...

While children in the UK and central Europe excitedly count down the days until Father Christmas or the Christkind comes, Spanish children have to wait patiently until the start of January for the Three Kings to bring them their presents. All the different regions of Europe have their own Christmas traditions; yet everywhere you find excited children, and adults fervently cooking and baking delicious specialities and sweet delicacies.

Oh, come, little children!
This is not only the title of a popular Christmas carol from the German-speaking world, but it also encapsulates the tradition of involving children in the Christmas preparations during Advent, in particular the Christmas baking. Baking biscuits as a family is an extremely popular tradition. Children can let their creativity run wild, cutting the Spitzbuben dough into stars, hearts or angel shapes and adding their choice of chocolate coating, sugar sprinkles or icing. (Spitzbuben are "little rascal" jam sandwich biscuits, also known as Linzer Augen (Linzer eyes) in Austria.) The Spitzbuben, Vanillekipferl (vanilla crescent biscuits) and other biscuits — some families bake up to 50 different types — are then stored in biscuit tins, placed under the beautifully decorated Christmas tree and traditionally not opened until everyone has received their presents on Christmas Eve. Quick tip: bake the Chräbeli biscuits first and store them in a biscuit tin; they taste best after 4–5 weeks.

Sinterklaas and Père Noël
Further to the north west of Europe, children receive presents even earlier. In Belgium and the Netherlands, on the night of the 5th December, Sinterklaas rides over the roof tops on his grey horse, leaving presents in the boots left out by the children. Belgium is home to some especially sweet Christmas treats such as caramel biscuits and Lebkuchen, which was originally created in Dinant almost 1000 years ago. In the Netherlands, nuts are an essential ingredient in traditional biscuits such as almond moppen, nut moppen, mini moppen and all kinds of nougat creations.

The French celebrate on Christmas Eve with delicacies such as goose liver, roast turkey and oysters. The traditional bûche de Noël — you can find the recipe for this naturally gluten-free delicacy on my recipe pages  — marks the highlight and often the close of the family celebrations on Christmas Eve.

Christmas cake the Mediterranean way
In southern Europe, biscuits do not form such an essential part of the Christmas traditions. In Spain, the Roscón de Reyes (kings' cake) is cut when the Three Kings bring the children their presents (or a lump of coal if they've been naughty). A bean and a small figure (muñequito) are baked inside the cake. The unlucky person who finds the bean in their slice must pay for the cake, while the person who finds the muñequito is king of the family for the day. In Italy, year-round favourite Panettone is the culinary highlight of the Christmas festivities, both in the south where presents are brought at Epiphany by the La Befana and further north where they are brought by Babbo Natale as per the central European tradition.

Yours, Oscar

OSCAR’S TIP FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS BAKING
Dancing snowflakes, tinkling bells, Christmas carols and the deliciously sweet smell of freshly baked biscuits: for me Christmas is one of the most enjoyable times of year. When doing your Christmas baking in preparation for the main festivities, I would recommend that you take particular care when handling and storing your ingredients. The simplest way to avoid problems is either to bake gluten-free biscuits for all the family or to make sure that you finish baking and storing all your gluten-free biscuits before you start on the traditional ones. Don't forget, when using flour, it's easy to leave traces all around the kitchen.

I wish you a peaceful and happy Christmas and, of course, lots of fun baking!