Christmas Baking Downunder

[helenjp]

I'm curious - I get the impression that New Zealand is more "traditional" in Christmas baking than Australia, but I'd appreciate a reality check!

What desserts or sweet things do you make or eat at Christmas? And which items do you really enjoy most?

My family made all the traditional British sweet things, from mincemeat pies to Christmas pudding, to Christmas cake, to black bun for New Year.

And trifle or watermelon fruit salad as well, most years, though sometimes a strawberry water ice or a "cassata" frozen dessert managed to fight it's way onto the Christmas table. Or pavlova with strawberries.

Baking cookies/biscuits other than a batch or ten of shortbread wasn't something that happened - the shortbread and the mince pies were made partly for big staff "tea-times" as Christmas was the busiest time of year for my parents' business.

My December birthday usually meant that my mother made me yet ANOTHER fruitcake, even though I always protested that I would rather a) make a different cake for myself, or b) do without one! Even though I hated fruitcake then I enjoy it now, just not in December.

I thought Christmas pudding was forgivable, because it tastes as good cold as it does hot, but if I were living in NZ now, I think I'd make a Christmas cake at Christmas for fun, with all my family involved, ...and then store it till winter!

Alternatively, the white Summer Solstice version of The Old Foodie's Chocolate Alcohol Cake (in Recipe Gullet), with it's sharper-tasting glace fruits, and laced with lemon zest and/or shredded fresh ginger, is a compromise I'm willing to make.

[Adam Balic]

Generally it is hotter in Australia then NZ.

In Anglo-Aussie households fruitcake, shortbread and common. Always mincepies, I make these, most buy them. Other people from other ethnic backgrounds will have other traditions, but will likely bake soemthing.

This year I am going to make Nesselrode Pudding as an alernative to plum pudding.

[Natho]

We are cold lunch/dinner people. Salads and cold meats but we do bake some things that get served cold. We always have a cold chicken pie that is pretty much the best thing ever and the usual sweets i.e rum balls, apricot balls, shortbread, fruit cake, mince pies. It's way too hot in queensland at christmas to bake or roast a hot meal although plenty of people still do it.

[Ce'nedra]

Being an Asian-Australian family, our Christmas dinners/parties are a mix of cultures. We almost always have chicken cooked in one way or another, various Asian and Western salads, various Asian dishes (aunts/uncles would bring their own home-cooked meal to share), Chinese sweet soups and fruits (yes, like watermelon, etc) for dessert, and the ULTIMATE dessert being a nice, rich Christmas log cake

Unfortunately, this was awhile ago as we stopped hosting the whole extended family Christmas party thing due to personal reasons

Nowdays, we just have a nice family (ie mum, dad, me, and sis) Christmas dinner.

But since my sister isn't in Sydney anymore, this will be the first Christmas dinner where there's only 3 of us *sigh*.

We're planning of making roasted duck or something like that this year.

[Pat Churchill]

I usually make Christmas mince pies and a Christmas pudding. I don't bother with a Christmas cake as no one in the family likes it much. I cook either lamb or turkey. One of the best legs of lamb was one I cooked on the Weber when we had one. It was brilliant. The sons like a traditional Christmas roast.

We usually have a seafood starter. In NZ it was often smoked rainbow trout, caught by an angler friend and smoked by a butcher or poached trout, or crayfish (another generous angler friend). In Oz we've had prawns and Morton Bay bugs.

This year I think I might put a leg of lamb on the BBQ rotisserie. Only four of us here for Christmas, the quietest we've had in many years.

Edited December 15, 2007 by Pat Churchill (log)

[LucyInAust]

My family do the very traditional British Christmas ... hot turkey, hot pudding (got to have the hard sauce / brandy butter (depending on what you call it!)!), lots of mince pies and a christmas cake!!

Very unadventurous, but I think there is always something fun about sitting down for a hot lunch on a very hot summer's day!!

And my favourite bit - left overs ... love cold pudding with cold hard sauce!! mmmmm!!! Or Turkey gravy sandwiches!!

[helenjp]

Talking of mince pies, does anybody have any favorite tricks for making the filling lighter and less cloying for summer? Green grapes baked in with the mincemeat filling?

Japanese friends in NZ used to mostly head to the beaches for a big group BBQ, because the crowds were all home eating hot dinners. Between the beer and the home-made sushi (people only bothered making the really elaborate types for these annual events), I don't recall that sweet foods got a look in. I know that most of my Japanese friends hate fruit cake passionately, too!

[CaliPoutine]

I know I dont live in Australia/NZ but I did grow up in Florida( Hot and Humid).

I've spent the last 7 xmas season's in Ontario, Canada( freezing cold, lots of snow).

We're heading to Florida tomorrow. I've already decided we're going to BBQ( seafood, chicken, etc, etc).

I just can't imagine eating cold weather foods in the heat. I'm assuming you all have A/C because I can't imagine cooking a hot turkey/roast beef dinner in the heat.

[helenjp]

I'm assuming you all have A/C

We wish!

But it is true that traditional Queensland houses are built for maximum ventilation - high ceilings, raised floors, verandahs.

In NZ, the weather is often bad from mid-December - my memories are of hot weather during end-of-year exams, breaking out my new summer clothes for my birthday...and then shivering through the rest of December until New Year.

Funnily, most people who eat hot dinner and heavy pudding on Christmas Day wouldn't dream of doing the same thing on Boxing Day or New Year's Day.

I think one reason why people switched from roast lamb to roast chicken for Christmas was because chicken salad is a much more attractive summer left-over than a big piece of roast hogget.

Thinking of desserts again, I recall that green and white was one of my favourite Christmas colour schemes, and a dessert from Jane Grigson's Fruit Book went well with it - bavarian cream and greengage plum puree layered in a glass dish. It's good with any sharp-tasting green fruit, like grapes or kiwifruit.

An Australian friend told me that pomegranates are in the shops around now too (imported?) they taste sharp and the scattered seeds look both summery and Christmassy in desserts!

P.S. Have a great Florida Christmas!

[Pat Churchill]

Talking of mince pies, does anybody have any favorite tricks for making the filling lighter and less cloying for summer? Green grapes baked in with the mincemeat filling?

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I usually put chopped apple in mine, though some years in NZ it was almost impossible to get apples round Christmas time. I like the idea of some grapes mixed through. I've got three mincemeat recipes on my site - one from Hannah Glasse's book, another from Mrs Beeton's and my own. The early recipes were pretty heavy going, by the look of it. Here's the url.

I usually make tiny mince pies in mini muffin tins. Good for those who want a taste but not a whole lot.

Edited to add: I did have another thought on additions - soak some dried cranberries in hot water and when they are plump, add them to the mincemeat, either whole or chopped. They can be nicely tart.

Edited December 18, 2007 by Pat Churchill (log)

[piazzola]

I'm curious - I get the impression that New Zealand is more "traditional" in Christmas baking than Australia, but I'd appreciate a reality check!

What desserts or sweet things do you make or eat at Christmas? And which items do you really enjoy most?

My family made all the traditional British sweet things, from mincemeat pies to Christmas pudding, to Christmas cake, to black bun for New Year.

And trifle or watermelon fruit salad as well, most years, though sometimes a strawberry water ice or a "cassata" frozen dessert managed to fight it's way onto the Christmas table. Or pavlova with strawberries.

Baking cookies/biscuits other than a batch or ten of shortbread wasn't something that happened - the shortbread and the mince pies were made partly for big staff "tea-times" as Christmas was the busiest time of year for my parents' business.

My December birthday usually meant that my mother made me yet ANOTHER fruitcake, even though I always protested that I would rather a) make a different cake for myself, or b) do without one! Even though I hated fruitcake then I enjoy it now, just not in December.

I thought Christmas pudding was forgivable, because it tastes as good cold as it does hot, but if I were living in NZ now, I think I'd make a Christmas cake at Christmas for fun, with all my family involved, ...and then store it till winter!

Alternatively, the white Summer Solstice version of The Old Foodie's Chocolate Alcohol Cake (in Recipe Gullet), with it's sharper-tasting glace fruits, and laced with lemon zest and/or shredded fresh ginger, is a compromise I'm willing to make.

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If the weather permits it then yes we may be ar par with NZ but lately we've had quite a few days hitting the 40C,41Celsius and above making cooking let alone baking almost impossible