The idea of these Savory mini-Christmas trees bread were inspired by this Christmas season. You can clearly notice the Christmas spirit in them from the tree-shaped cakes. I used very traditional ingredients for this month with a cheesy twist to make the perfect side dish or appetizer on your Christmas table.
The texture of these Savory mini-Christmas trees bread is so fluffy and melts in your mouth. Also, these savory Christmas dry figs and cheddar mini tree bread are super easy to prepare. And with very simple at-hand ingredients.
I prepared this recipe in a Nordic ware evergreen cakelet pan for a beautiful Christmas-themed presentation on your holiday table. But you can easily swap it for a normal mini-Bundt tray or muffin tray or even one big bread loaf tray.
These cute little savory Christmas fig and cheddar mini tree bread are the perfect elegant side dish. I love to prepare these little trees each time I have a raclette party for the Christmas season. It goes wonderfully with all kinds of cheese. My favorite combination: cut the tree in half, add some raclette grilled meat on top of it, and then pour some melted raclette cheese on top of it. Heaven!
The flavor of these savory mini tree bread is easily adjustable to your liking. And you can mix and match them with the choice of cheese you want to add. And you can add more or fewer dry figs to the bread if you like more or less of that sweet touch in it.
I added a little dry oregano also to this bread, but this bread is also super delicious without the herbs if you want.
This recipe is perfect for your make-ahead preparations. You can make a big batch and store it in a closed container at room temperature for around 4 days. And to keep it fresher you can store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
If you like this savory Christmas bread make sure to check my other savory date and parmesan mini Bundt cakes version, which will also look amazing on your Christmas or any dinner table.
Make sure you check also my other Christmas occasion-inspired recipes for some more ideas for your next Christmas or new year party.
Savory dry figs and cheddar mini-Christmas trees
Equipment
- 1 evergreen cakelet pan Nordic ware
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 ½ cups of white flour 300g.
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ tsp cardamon powder
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
- 3 eggs
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ cup yoghurt
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated 100g
- 1 tsp dry oregano optional
- 1 cup dry figs diced 150g
- 120 g mild yellow cheddar cheese diced to 2cm cubes
Additional ingredients:
- Tahini to brush the Bundt pan
Instructions
- Preheat your oven on 180 C °
- For the cake:
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add the oregano and the spices to the dry mix and mix a little. Set aside
- Then whisk together the eggs. Add the yoghurt and mix. then add the olive oil and mix. Then add the dry mixture into batches and mix until well mixed. Add half the grated parmesan cheese to the mixture and fold.
- Gently fold the dates and cheese cubes to the mixture until fully incorporated.
- Brush your pan with tahini and pour the cake mixture into the tree’s pan. Sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese on top of each tree.
- Bake for 15 minutes in a 180 C° preheated oven, or until the cheese is bubbly and crips. Double-check with a wooden skewer to make sure they are done. Remove from oven and allow the cakes to rest in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping into a cooling rack.
- You can enjoy it warm or after it cools down.
Video
Notes
- baking tray: in this recipe, I used one of my favorite Nordic ware evergreen cakelet pan linked in the article. but you can use any baking cake pan of any shape you like instead. make sure to increase the baking time for bigger pans like bread loaf pan and reduce it for smaller pans like muffin trays. increase or decrease by 10 minutes at the time and check if it is done with a wooden skewer before adding more time.
- cheese combinations: you can mix and match with the cheeses of your choice. I recommend trying camembert cheese or a creamier texture. or fetta cubes for saltier taste. and also, goat cheese combines well with this cake.
- Dry Fig ratio: if you like your bread on the sweeter side you can add more figs, or less also works.
- herbs: you can skip the oregano I added for the recipe or swap them for zaatar if you have them on hand also taste fabulous!
- storing: you can store those mini trees in a closed container at room temperature for up to 4 days for a fresher taste.
- making-ahead: you can also make those little cakes ahead of time and freeze them for up to 3 months. and let it defrost overnight in the fridge or 30 min on the countertop before warming it up a little bit before serving.
- bread for every occasion: these mini bread trees are perfect not only for Christmas but for breakfast, brunch, or a quick snack with some cheese aside and some tea or coffee. their 1 portion size makes the perfect for defrosting on need.