Christmas recipes from our favourite food bloggers

Want to know what food bloggers serve up for Christmas? Three of our favourite Aussie foodies give us a sneak peek into their festive feasts — now all you have to do is follow the recipes!

Fig, raspberry and ginger ice-cream cake from The Hungry Australian

Christina Soong-Kroeger is known for her delectable dishes and it’s no surprise that she has foodie fans hanging on to her every word. This fig, raspberry and ginger ice-cream cake is sweet yet tangy and filled with perfect summer flavours. It’s a great addition to any Aussie Christmas menu.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1.5 litres of vanilla ice-cream
• 1 packet of Ginger Nut or ginger biscuits
• 50 grams of butter
• 200 grams of frozen raspberries
• 6 ripe figs (or 1 jar of figs), cut into eighths
• 8 pistachios

Directions:

1. Leave the ice-cream out to soften for 10–15 minutes until it’s easy to mix.
2. In the meantime, place the biscuits in a strong plastic bag and crush with a mallet or rolling pin until they become a fine rubble (the finer the better).
3. Spray a pan with cooking or baking spray.
4. Melt the butter in the microwave and then combine with the biscuit crumbs in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.
5. Press the mixture firmly into the bottom of a cake tin, using an offset spatula to get it nice and even.
6. In a large bowl, mix the ice-cream, 150 grams of frozen raspberries and figs until well combined.
7. Pour onto the biscuit base, and again use the offset spatula to make the surface smooth and even.
8. Use the last 50 grams of raspberries to decorate the top of the cake. The best way to do this is to rub the frozen berries between your fingers and scatter them randomly.
9. Freeze the cake for at least three hours or, even better, overnight.
10. To serve, remove from the freezer and stand in a sink that you have half-filled with water (making sure the water will not go over the cake tin top).
11. Leave for a minute and then remove the cake from its tin.
12. Place on a cake stand and garnish with pistachios. Voila!

Photo credit: Christina Soong-Kroeger

Christmas apricot-glazed ham from A Table for Two

MasterChef contestant-turned-blogger Billy Law puts a twist on the traditional Christmas ham with this recipe. Best of all, you don’t need to be a pro to prepare this one — but your guests will be none the wiser!

Serves the whole family

Ingredients:

• 1 large cold leg of smoked ham
• 500 grams of good quality apricot jam
• 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1-1/2 cups of dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
• A handful of cloves

Directions:

1. Thin the apricot jam with a little sherry and heat until it becomes a sticky spread.
2. Prepare the ham by lifting off the skin but leaving the fat. Diamond cut the fat before removing the skin from the bone.
3. Rub the ham well with cinnamon and stud with cloves (each cut into a diamond shape).
4. Spread half of the apricot glaze over the ham — keep the rest for basting when cooking and dressing before serving.
5. Once the ham is covered with the apricot glaze, press brown sugar over the entire top part of the ham. Make sure that some sugar gets into the diamond-cut bits.
6. With the ham in the roasting dish, add 2 centimetres of water and cook for one and a half hours on 200 degrees Celsius.
7. Continue to baste with more glaze every 20 minutes, but be careful not to burn it.
8. Once the ham is cooked, let it stand for 30 minutes before carving. (For the best results, cook it overnight and serve it cold, or warm it up a little in the oven over low heat).
9. Add wholegrain mustard to the remaining glaze and heat it up again. Pour over the carved leg ham slices. Your Christmas ham is now ready to be served up!

Photo credit: Billy Law

Chocolate pavlova with chocolate cream and cherries from Lemonpi

Named one of the top Australian food blogs by none other than Jamie Oliver himself, Lemonpi is a dessert heaven. The baker behind the blog, Yu-Ching Lee, isn’t afraid to experiment with sweets and the results are always amazing. This chocolate pavlova is flavoursome but not heavy, making it the perfect dessert to round up a Christmas meal.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

For the pavlova:

• 4 egg whites
• A pinch of salt
• 250 grams of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vinegar
• 35 grams of processed Dutch cocoa powder

For the chocolate cream:

• 4 egg yolks
• 300 millilitres of milk
• A pinch of salt
• 80 grams of sugar
• 30 grams of cornflour
• 50 grams of bittersweet (70 per cent) chocolate, chopped
• 150 millilitres of cream, whipped (to finish)

Directions:

For the pavlova:

1. Preheat the oven to 120 degrees Celsius.
2. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar, whisking until there is a shiny meringue with firm peaks.
3. Gently fold in the vinegar and cocoa powder.
4. Transfer the mixture onto a tray lined with greaseproof paper. With a spatula, form a circular blob with a flat top, which is roughly 18 centimetres in diameter.
5. Place the pavlova in the oven and bake for two hours.
6. Once baked, turn the oven off but leave the pavlova inside until it has completely cooled and decorate with plenty of cherries. Add chopped hazelnuts and chocolate curls if you wish.

For the chocolate cream:

1. Heat the milk in a medium pan.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the yolks, salt, sugar and cornflour to combine.
3. Pour the hot milk over the yolk mixture and whisk.
4. Return this custard to the pan and heat until it just comes to the boil, whisking at all times to prevent lumps.
5. Add in the chocolate and then strain the mix into a bowl. Cover with cling film so that a skin doesn’t form.
6. Chill the custard for a few hours until it’s completely cold.
7. Just before you need the chocolate cream, loosen the custard with a whisk and then fold in the whipped cream.

Photo credit: Yu-Ching Lee

More Christmas recipes

3 Christmas snacks to impress your guests
Low-fat summer Christmas pudding
Spice up your Christmas