It's Beginning to Taste a Lot Like Christmas Quiz

Answer: White Christmas

White Christmas is made by melting hydrogenated coconut oil (which doesn't sound that tempting, so it's usually referred to by the brand name Copha) and allowing it to cool before mixing through the raisins and cherries, along with desiccated coconut, icing sugar, powdered milk and rice bubbles.

Other dried fruits, such as dried apricots or glace pineapple, may also be added, along with nuts for a bit of crunch. A friend of mine uses white chocolate instead of Copha as the binding agent for her slice.

The mixture can be set in a tray and cut into bite-sized squares, or placed into cupcake cases for easy handling.

Answer: Monkey's tail

The origin of the name for this drink is obscure, and none of the suggestions I found were very convincing. Suffice it to say that monkeys (with or without tails) do not actually figure into any of them! The drink is said to resemble a White Russian, being made from coffee, milk, sugar and (for the adults) 'aguardiente', an alcoholic beverage similar to Italian 'grappa'. Of course, as is the case for almost any mixed drink, there are many variations, including the addition of spices such as cloves or vanilla, and decoration with cinnamon as a swizzle stick.

Answer: Provence

The thirteen desserts, set out at the end of the traditional big feast on Christmas Eve, are said to represent Christ and the twelve apostles. There is no fixed list of dishes, although some are more commonly included than others, but the total of thirteen is a must.

The 'four beggars' - raisins to represent the Dominican monks, walnuts or hazelnuts for the Augustinians, dried figs for the Franciscans, almonds for the Carmelites - represent the four mendicant orders of monks and nuns. They are usually served on a single plate, sometimes joined by dates, symbolic of the Middle East where Jesus lived. For those with a sweet tooth, there is often a Yule log, and two kinds of nougat - 'nougat noir au miel' is a hard confection while 'nougat blanc' is soft and chewy, being made with egg whites. Both contain honey and almonds, and 'nougat blanc' also usually includes pistachios.

Aside from these usual desserts, the balance of the thirteen can be made up in any number of ways - fresh fruits, sweet biscuits, cakes, whatever suits the individual family's preference.

Answer: Hansel and Gretel

A 'pfefferkuchenhaus', or gingerbread house, is made from thin slabs of gingerbread glued together with sugar paste, and decorated with icing (to represent snow, and to hold the other decorations in place) along with any of a wide variety of candy items.

In its simplest form it has four walls and a gabled roof, but much more elaborate cakes can be seen. Sometimes soft gingerbread dough is molded into figures to make the house seem inhabited; sugar crystal windows can be included; in fact, the possibilities for creative decoration are virtually unlimited! The tradition of making gingerbread houses for Christmas originated in Germany around the time that the Brothers Grimm published 'Hansel and Gretel', a story in which two children discovered an edible house inhabited by a witch who used the house to lure unsuspecting children inside.

Answer: Hungary

The Hungarian tradition of wrapping small pieces of chocolate-covered fondant in brightly colored foil and hanging them on the Christmas tree started with German immigrants early in the 19th century. They called the treats 'salonzuckerl', meaning 'sugar in salons', because the salon was the room in which the Christmas tree traditionally stood.

This name was modified in Hungary to become 'szaloncukor', or 'salon candy'. Mechanised production developed in the 1880s, which made the candies much more widely available than had previously been the case, when they were made by hand. Like some other kinds of Christmas tree decoration (I think of popcorn balls, candy canes and cookie ornaments from my childhood), they tend to disappear during the Christmas season, so the tree is at its festive best in the days before family members start enjoying their taste rather than their appearance.

Answer: Fried flat bread decorated with leaf-like patterns

'Leaf bread' consists of round flat pieces of bread with a leaf-shaped pattern cut into their top side, either manually or using a roller with a raised pattern. Traditionally an entire extended family will work together to produce dozens, even hundreds, of pieces of the bread, which are then shared among them.

The bread is rolled into extremely thin circles - you should be able to read a newspaper through it - the size of a bread plate. Nowadays you can buy pre-made dough (or even the finished product), but the tradition of making them from scratch lives on as a part of the festive preparations.

Answer: Milan

From Milan, this cylindrical cake with a dome-shaped top has spread around the world. It is made from a dough that requires several days to prepare (it has to rise three times to produce the appropriate fluffy texture), and contains a range of candied fruits (orange, lemon zest, citron) and raisins.

Many variants exist, of course, but those are usually the main flavoring ingredients. The cake is cut into vertical slices, and served with sweetened coffee or hot chocolate or a sweet desert wine. Sometimes it may be accompanied by mascarpone cheese that has been mixed with amaretto, an almond-flavored liqueur.

Answer: Cake made of rice flour and coconut milk

'Bibingka' is made from rice flour and coconut milk, usually with eggs and milk included. In the traditional preparation, the batter is poured into a terra cotta dish that has been lined with a banana leaf; the dish is placed on hot coals, then covered with another banana leaf, on top of which are placed more coals.

It has a spongy texture, and a distinctive taste from the charred banana leaves. Commercial versions use a regular oven, but keep some of the traditional flavor by retaining the use of banana leaves to line the pans. Toppings for 'bibingka' usually include one or more of butter, sugar, cheese and grated coconut.

Answer: Fava bean

A fava bean may be more familiar to some as a broad bean. It was traditionally baked into the King's cake as one of the items symbolising the gifts the Three Kings brought for the infant Jesus. People who make their own cakes often still include a number of small trinkets, but their inclusion in commercially-produced cakes (aside from the fava bean) has been discontinued.

The King's cake is in the shape of a circular wreath (or crown, depending on how you want to describe it), and is covered with crystallised and dried fruit and nuts, some of which are also mixed into the dough. Sprinkled with powdered sugar, it makes a festive display. King's cake is traditionally consumed between Christmas and Epiphany, the date on which the Roman Catholic Church celebrates the arrival of the Three Kings (or Three Wise Men, or Magi) to greet the infant Jesus Christ.

Answer: Saffron

Saffron, one of the world's most expensive spices, produces a yellow-orange color and adds a subtle flavor to these sweet buns. Due to its expense, the color is often enhanced by the use of artificial coloring agents, especially in commercial buns, but some saffron is still included for its flavor. Scandinavian saffron buns are made from a yeast-leavened dough that is baked in any of a number of shapes, including the popular S-shaped scroll.

In other parts of the world, it is common to add cinnamon and/or nutmeg to the mix, and currants may replace the raisins found in Sweden.