Banket or Letterbanket is a sweet pastry

Pastry

Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder and/or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked products are called "pastries."...

 that originated in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and is popular in the Christmas season

Christmas season

Christmastide is one of the seasons of the liturgical year of most Christian churches. It tends to be defined as the period from Christmas Eve to the evening of 5 January, the day before Epiphany...

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Banket is made by rolling pastry dough around an almond paste

Almond paste

Almond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar, typically 50-55%, with a small amount of cooking oil, beaten eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added to bind the two ingredients...

filling and then baking it. The log is then cut into short lengths for serving. It can also be frozen and enjoyed after the holiday season.

In some families, the term Letterbanket or Banket Letter refers to the tradition of taking the logs and bending them into letters before baking. The letters would then be used to spell out Merry Christmas on a holiday feast banquet table.