Christmas is celebrated by many Australians. The way it is celebrated may be dependant on our cultural background or family traditions. Many families get together for a Christmas dinner, which often involves in finishing the meal with a (special Christmas) dessert.
For the December 2022 food challenge, let us know what is the dessert you have most years - or plan to have this year if you are an advanced Christmas dinner planner:
Plum Pudding
Pavlova
Frozen Dessert/Ice Cream
Cheese Cake
Cheese Platter
Tiramisu
Fruit Platter
French Yule Log
Hungarian Beigli
Italian Panettone
Pumpkin or Pecan pie
other
0voters
Let us know below what accompaniments you serve with the dessert and if it is hot, warm or cold.
This year I’m inspired by black berries. Not certain how best to show them off. Short crust base pie or a biscuit base? Perhaps a cheese cake and tartlets on the side for snacks. They grow like weeds, they are weeds, on our place. The price is right with lots of dedication and love in not only the prep. There’s also the stumbling through the undergrowth, the black snakes and thorny canes when reaching for the harvest. New gum boots on the Santa list this year as last years now leak.
May I suggest a short crust pie?
For the filling marinate the fruit plus sugar and some lemon zest for a few hours at room temperature.
If you like add diced apples or yogurt.
Flavour it with vanilla and lemon essence.
The wife woman has been experimenting with home made ice creams.
One of the more successful and delicious ones which will most likely be repeated for Xmas had crumbled plum pudding mixed thoughout the icecream. The base icecream was made with cream & custard. What better way to celebrate on a hot day in a warm climate?
Or a tart, lacking a lid is easier. If you pre-bake the crust you also have the option of filling with stuff like mascarpone, cream patisserie etc, that would otherwise melt, as well as your berries. One can also cheat one more step by using a crumbed biscuit/melted butter crust that requires no baking and is quite foolproof.
We’ve lemon myrtle in wild abundance, might that add a little Aussie flavour?
Apple sounds great. It has me thinking of another ingredient here in quantity, riberries (Small leaf lilly pilly), which are tart and a bit apple like. It’s a cool wet start to summer, which may push them back into the new year.
A well honoured family tradition. A crumbed biscuit base offers opportunity to introduce one more flavour.
There’s always some mascarpone in the fridge. It or the slightly more effort crème patisserie would be a step up from the thickened syrup we’d fill with.
I suspect a few trial tartlets will be in order when I have all together. Thanks for your suggestions. I might also try a few different combinations including some with Christmas inspired spices.
As a child it was always home made plum pudding, cooked in a pudding cloth for hours a month before and then reheated on Christmas morning; served with brandy cream. This was after a hot Christmas lunch. These days we have eschewed this tradition in favour of something more suitable for a Christmas in Australia - pavlova with berries, whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce or maple syrup, maybe even some vanilla ice cream.
Seems the obvious one is missing - Trifle! A must-have for a summer Christmas table. And that includes all the many permutations that can be made. After all, Tiramisu is simply one flavour type of Trifle.
Our family Christmas dessert is what you list as plum pudding, but in my case is steamed fruit pudding, cooked to a recipe handed down from my mother-in-law’s grandmother. No plums, just currants and raisins. It regularly wins a prize in the local show, and is a favourite in the family. Served cold with custard and ice cream. Occasionally we have a hot one in mid-winter with brandy sauce.
If it’s a Pav - raspberries, flake bar, whipped vanilla cream sweetened, flake bar crumbled on top. If it’s Tiramisu - as is is perfect. If mum wants a coffee, I make her a latte or macchiato.
