FESTIVE RECIPES

Try a twist on a classic Christmas dessert for a summery end to the feast this year, writes Dan Stock

Steaming hot pudding with warm custard? It doesn’t really fit a Christmas Down Under, but traditions at this time of year can be hard to break. But we can have our (Christmas) cake and eat it, along with the mince pies and gingerbread, pudding and trifle, too. Here are some delicious summery twists on Christmas classics for the end of the festive feast that are bound to have your family making traditions anew.

Cool to the core

Christy Tania has a twist on the classic plum pudding, making it suitable for a hot Christmas by turning ice cream into the hero.

“I think it’s exciting to make an ice cream plum pudding, but in the traditional plum pudding itself,” she says.

The MasterChef regular and owner of Glace ice cream bar in Windsor says as ice cream is simply an aerated custard, it’s a great way to turn the traditional pudding with custard upside down — or in this case, inside out. First, take a good quality store-bought pudding, and blitz in food processor with melted butter until it reaches a dough-llike consistency. Line the sides of a pudding bowl with the dough. Take good quality vanilla ice cream, softened until it’s workable and fill the pudding. Freeze until firm, then cover with the remaining plum pudding dough. Freeze until ready to serve unmoulded from the bowl.

“Serve with warm brandy butterscotch sauce for extra festivity,” Christy says.

Go troppo

“You know, they say don’t mess with the classics but traditional mince pies really do work better in the northern hemisphere’s colder Christmas setting,” says candy king Darren Purchese. “These Aussie summer-inspired mince pies are much more appropriate and could become a new seasonal favourite in your house.”

Darren suggests switching out the traditional dried fruit for a mix of chopped fresh mango, pineapple, cherries, apricots, peach and coconut flakes. Ditch the usual ground spices and instead add grated fresh ginger, lime zest, vanilla seeds and light muscovado sugar, with chopped toasted macadamia nuts that will add a touch of crunch. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Fill sweet tart cases and top with a pastry lid. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with demerara sugar before baking as you would traditional mince pies. Serve warm with coconut ice cream.

Building chocs

“I love seeing gingerbread houses at Christmas time. Sometimes though they don’t taste as great, the gingerbread can go stale and I’m not a huge fan of sweet sugary icing,” Darren says. “I still bake traditional gingerbread panels for my house but coat them all in thick milk chocolate to help preserve the gingerbread and add a luxurious touch.” Decorate the house with chocolate garnishes. Darren prefers to use raspberry marshmallow as the adhesive.

Kirsten Tibballs from Savour Chocolate School in Brunswick — whose dastardly fruit concoction was the ultimate hurdle for this year’s MasterChef grand finalists — has combined the best of the season with a gingerbread Christmas cake topped with silky meringue (see recipe).

Go (dough)nuts!

Michael James from Tivoli Road bakery says each year they like to put a festive twist on the tried and true favourites, and their famous doughnuts are no exception.

“For our take on gingerbread, we do a spiced gingerbread custard doughnut,” the master baker says.

Roll the doughnuts in cinnamon sugar, before piping with spiced custard.

To make the custard, infuse milk with gingerbread spices — nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, ground ginger — before following a standard custard recipe. When cool, use this to pipe into the doughnut as a filling.

“Then I add small baked gingerbread biscuits on top of the doughnut, just poke it into the custard filling, and any leftover pieces and broken bits I would simply crush and sprinkle on top as well,” Michael says.

No trifling matter

“A trifle is such a great dessert for a large group of people, it’s easy to prepare and really, there are no rules,” Darren says, who suggests leaving out the booze for an all-ages version.

“I have never made the same trifle twice opting to layer my dessert with whatever takes my fancy. This year I am using fresh cherries, cream, chocolate brownie and chocolate mousse but really whatever you want is definitely the go.”

Make a day or two in advance for a stress-free dessert on Christmas Day.

And if Kirsten’s showstopping gingerbread cake is too tricky to make, perhaps give her supersimple 15 minute Christmas trifle a whirl (recipe above).

Use your Nog(gin)

“I love eggnog and shortbread,” Michael says. “So why not make an egg nog ice cream shortbread sandwich?

“We are in Australia after all, and this would be great on a hot Christmas Day.”

To make, bake rectangular slabs of shortcake dusted with cinnamon sugar. Then, jazz up some vanilla ice cream with eggnog flavours, such as brandy or rum with nutmeg and cinnamon. Spoon the softened ice cream onto the shortbread and use a