by Julie Reitsma
Sure, the weather outside is getting relatively frightful, but with the snow comes a full social calendar and the promise of enough food and drink to give you the all over warm and fuzzies. Just remember, a full dance card isn’t all champagne and fake reindeer antlers¾along with your yuletide popularity comes responsibility. You could, of course, take out your apron and get out your books, cover yourself in sugar and flour and be that guest who brings the from-scratch dessert, but let’s be honest, time is limited, and with all these parties to get to, and all this eggnog to down, you may need to put the wooden spoons away, and get your mitten’d self out to the shops.

Every baker and their horde of elves is going to be whipping out something for the holiday season, but you don’t want to be bringing just anything to where you’re going. If you’re going to go store bought, then you should bring the best, and luckily, in our fair city, there is no shortage of dessert deliciousness to be had.  So, where oh where shall you sled to? To start, and for a little Canadian tradition à la Français, procure yourself the rolled up fun that is a Bûche de Noël.  Made to resemble a hearth-ready log, and slathered with chocolate frosting, this cake is best for sit down dinner parties, preferably involving tourtière, with the most top notch specimens to be had at Le Comptoir de Célestin ($30 – $60 and six different kinds available last year, including chestnut pear), and Patachou ($40 – $50 with three flavours to be had in 2007).

If sitting isn’t the theme, then you’ll need to grab some finger ready sweets, and what’s better under the mistletoe than you, chocolate and gingerbread? Soma, home of some of Toronto’s finest chocolate, is gearing up for Christmas with special seasonal truffles. Creations include an Ice Cider and a Douglas Fir truffle ($2 each), as well as a collection of fruits, including papaya and figs, hand-dipped in the scrumptious stuff ($9 per half dozen). Gingerbread-wise, we are loving the edible men from Mad Batter Bakers¾a tub full of them will run you $25, with other possibilities including a DIY gingerbread house kit, and individual ginger-ladies.

For those of you who are more “festival of lights” oriented, don’t fret, you can gorge yourself on sugary goodness as well, in the form of savguniyot. Jelly-filled, deep-fried and sprinkled with icing sugar, these are no ordinary donuts, and in the case of the best bakeries¾we hear that Amazing Donuts is the cat’s pajamas¾should be ordered ahead.

We know that the wintery season isn’t all Hanukkah and Christmas; there’s Kwanzaa, Eid, and of course Festivus (for the rest of us), but we weren’t able, despite blustering about the city from bakery to bakery, to find anything that truly captures those particular traditions (and we’re pretty sure that Festivus protocol just calls for a handful of M&Ms). However you decide to roll this December, be it Santa-lover, dreidel-spinner, or muttering humbug, your tums will need protection against the cold, so you might as well fill it in style. Just add some spiced rum and you’ll be festive in no time.  Fa la la, ladies!