How to Get a Jump Start on Holiday Desserts

There are so many great conversations on the Hotline — it’s hard to choose a favorite. But we’ll be doing it, once a week, to spread the wealth of our community’s knowledge — and to keep the conversation going.

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Today: Save yourself from the last-minute scramble by stocking your freezer with sweets.

Believe it or not, the holidays are already looming. For each upcoming gathering there are menus to plan, recipes to save, and grocery lists to be made. At times it can feel daunting — but now’s the time to get ahead.

Food52er Anna is already thinking about the desserts she has been asked to prepare for her family’s holiday gathering. She’s in search of desserts that she can make ahead of time, freeze, and then thaw just before the get together. She asked our community, via the Hotline, what they would suggest and they came up with a number of great ideas for make-ahead holiday sweets.

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• Our Associate Editor, Marian Bull, likes freezing cake, unfrosted. ATG1177 agrees, and suggests wrapping each layer in plastic wrap and then foil, before placing them in freezer bags.
• EmilyC suggests baking a few loaves of Date, Apricot, and Walnut Cake, which she dubs “a sophisticated version of fruit cake.” The cake freezes well, but also gets better with age, so it can be baked three or four days in advance without having to freeze it.
• Chocolate truffles are always a crowd favorite and freeze well too, according to ChefJune. She recommends thawing them completely before boxing them with candy papers, “as the moisture will make the little cups soggy.”

• ChefJune also suggests frozen mousse, which is both festive and easy. Amysarah calls out the Italian version, semifreddo, which is a standard on her holiday menu. Amysarah likes to freeze cheesecake and flourless chocolate cake too.
• Pegeen suggests baking tartlets filled with jam or curd and freezing them. When defrosted, she likes to serve them with whipped cream.
• Kimhw likes to freeze batches of chocolate mousse and lemon curd, which she serves defrosted, alongside berries, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce — guests can assemble their dessert with the toppings of their choice.

What are some of your go-to make-ahead desserts for the holidays? Tell us in the comments or join in the conversation over on the Hotline!

Photos by James Ransom