13 French Christmas Desserts: The Provence Tradition

Every December, my neighbour Françoise makes a big batch of mendiants and hands a little bag to every neighbour on the street. Nobody asks her to. She just does it, year after year, and I think that’s lovely.

I didn’t grow up with the 13 desserts myself, even though I grew up in the south. And I’m not religious either. But this is the part of a French Christmas I love most: not the presents, but sharing real food with family, friends and neighbours. To me, that’s the real holiday spirit, don’t you think?

So what are the 13 desserts? In Provence, Christmas Eve ends with thirteen sweet things on the table: nuts, dried and fresh fruit, nougat, sweets and an olive oil bread called pompe à l’huile. They stay out for three days, and everyone helps themselves. In this guide I’ll walk you through each one, what it means, and how to set your own table at home.

Where the 13 desserts of Provence come from

The 13 desserts are the sweet end of the “gros souper”, the “big supper” Provençal families eat on Christmas Eve. Funny name, because it’s actually a meatless meal: seven lean dishes (plats maigres), often fish (including brandade de morue), vegetables and snails, said to stand for the seven sorrows of Mary.

The table itself is full of meaning too. Traditionally it gets three white tablecloths, three white candles and three little saucers of wheat, all linked to the Trinity. The wheat is called “blé de la Sainte-Barbe”, because it’s sown on 4 December, Saint Barbara’s day. If it grows green and thick by Christmas, the coming year will be a good one. I love that one and I like doing it every year with lentils of Puy instead as I personally don’t have access to wheat.

And why thirteen? It stands for Jesus and the twelve apostles at the Last Supper. Families have served many sweets at the end of this meal for a very long time, but the number thirteen was written down surprisingly late. The first known mention is from 1925, when Dr Joseph Fallen of Aubagne, a member of the Félibrige (the movement that protects the Provençal language and culture), wrote in a Christmas issue: “il en faut treize, oui treize, plus si vous voulez, mais pas un de moins”. In other words: you need thirteen, more if you like, but not one less! So there’s no single official list. Every family, every village, has its own version.

What are the 13 French Christmas desserts?

Here’s the most common list. Remember, families swap things in and out, so treat it as a guide, not a rule.

1: Pompe à l’huile: the olive oil bread

The star of the table. It’s a flat, soft, slightly sweet bread made with flour, sugar, olive oil, orange blossom water and orange zest. And yes, it’s a yeasted bread, so it rises before baking. You never cut it with a knife: you break it by hand. Tradition says cutting it brings ruin within the year. Can you imagine? I wouldn’t risk it!

2 to 5: The four mendiants

The mendiants (“beggars”) are four nuts and dried fruits, each one matching the robe colour of a monastic order that lived on charity:

• Walnuts or hazelnuts for the Augustinians
• Almonds for the Carmelites
• Dried figs for the Franciscans
• Raisins for the Dominicans

On the table they’re simply served in little bowls. But they also inspired the chocolate mendiants, those little discs of chocolate topped with nuts and dried fruit. That’s the mendiants Françoise makes every year.

6: White nougat

Soft and chewy, made with honey, sugar, egg white, almonds and often pistachios. It’s said to stand for purity and the good things in life. The most famous ones are the nougats of Montélimar, just north of Provence, and they are to die for!

7: Black nougat

White nougat’s darker twin. Honey and almonds are cooked straight over the heat, without egg white, until they turn dark and crunchy. Careful with your teeth! Together, the two nougats are said to stand for good and evil, light and dark.

8: Quince paste

Quince paste (pâte de coing) is a firm, amber fruit jelly made by slowly cooking down quinces with sugar. It’s sweet and a little tangy, and an old saying goes that it softens the problems of the year ahead. Some families serve it in little squares rolled in sugar.

9: Candied fruits

Provence is famous for its fruits confits, especially from Apt and Carpentras. Think candied clementines, melon, cherries and pears, glossy like little jewels. They’re expensive, so a small plate goes a long way.

10: Fresh winter fruit

Mandarins, oranges, apples, pears and white grapes kept since the harvest. Some families also add a verdaou, a green winter melon that keeps for months. After all that nougat, a juicy mandarin is very welcome.

11: Calissons d’Aix

Calissons d’Aix are almond-shaped sweets from Aix-en-Provence, made with ground almonds, candied melon and orange peel, set on a thin wafer and topped with royal icing. A sweet called “calisone” is already mentioned in Italy in the 12th century. The lovely legend says a cook made them for King René’s wedding to Jeanne de Laval in 1454, to make the young queen smile. When she tasted one, someone said “Di calin soun” (“they’re like cuddles”). True or not, I like it!

12: Dates

The only exotic fruit on the table, a reminder of the Holy Land where the Christmas story is set. Even the stone has a meaning: its oval shape is said to be a symbol of Christ.

13: Navettes, oreillettes or another family favourite

The thirteenth spot changes the most. Many families pick “navettes”, crunchy boat-shaped biscuits flavoured with orange blossom. They were first made in Marseille in 1781 by a baker called Aveyrous, and their shape is said to recall the boat that brought the Saintes-Maries to the Provence coast. Others go for “oreillettes”, thin, crispy fried pastries dusted with icing sugar. And some just add their own favourite: a fruit tart, chocolates, fruit jellies.

How to set your own 13 desserts table

In Provence, the desserts are usually eaten after midnight mass on Christmas Eve, and everyone has to taste a little of each one for good luck. Then they stay on the table for three days, until 27 December, so people can nibble whenever they like. The whole Christmas season there (the Calendale) actually runs from 4 December to Candlemas on 2 February. That’s a lot of nougat!

You don’t need to live in Provence to do this at home. Here’s how I’d do it:

1. Buy most of it. Nuts, dried figs, raisins, dates, fresh fruit and candied fruit are easy to find. Nougat, calissons and quince paste you’ll find in good delis, French or Spanish shops (Spanish membrillo is very close to pâte de coing) and online.
2. Make one or two things yourself. If you only bake one, make the pompe à l’huile. Breaking it together is the heart of the tradition. Mendiants are another easy one, and lovely to give away.
3. Set the table. Three white tablecloths if you have them (or one!), three candles, and a saucer of wheat or lentils sown on 4 December if you’re organised.
4. Use small plates. Thirteen little dishes look so much prettier than three big ones, and nobody needs a mountain of nougat.
5. Leave it out. Put everything on the table on Christmas Eve and let people help themselves for the next few days.

Here’s my tip: make a little extra and share it. A small bag of mendiants or a few squares of nougat for your neighbours. That’s exactly what Françoise does, and I can tell you, it makes people very happy.

Other traditional French Christmas desserts

Outside Provence, most French families finish Christmas with something else. Here are the classics you’ll see all over France:

• Bûche de Noël (French yule log): The big one! A rolled sponge cake filled with cream and decorated to look like a log, in memory of the real log families used to burn in the fireplace at Christmas. Today you’ll find everything from classic chocolate to frozen ice cream versions.
• Papillotes: Chocolates from Lyon wrapped in shiny paper with a little joke or message inside.
• Pain d’épices: Honey spice bread, lovely in thin slices with butter or foie gras.
• Bredele: Little Christmas biscuits from Alsace, baked by the tin-full in December.
• Marrons glacés: Candied chestnuts, the fancy Christmas treat.
• Galette des rois: Not strictly Christmas, but it arrives right after, for Epiphany in January.

FAQ

Over to you

Thirteen desserts, three days, one table, and plenty to share. Even if you only try three or four this year, give a little to someone next door. Françoise would approve!

Do you have a version of this tradition in your family? Tell me in the comments.

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