Christmas falls in the middle of summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere. To us a 'White Christmas' means you are covered in sunscreen to protect you from the biting, hot sun; 'Jingle bells' accompanies the slight breeze that you long for in the heavy summer air if you happen to have a wind chime nearby & 'Rockin around the Christmas tree' more resembles lying around the lounge room fighting for position under the air conditioning vents! Typical Christmas family activities generally revolve around water of some kind ~ swimming, slip & slides or boating at the lake! It sure wouldn't feel like Christmas without a good old water fight of some kind (although not too much this year as we are short on water here a the farm) followed of course by a game of cricket with a plate of cold watermelon to quench those summer day thirsts.
Being so hot, we've had to become a little adventurous with the more traditional Christmas food that is designed for those in the midst of a blistery cold white winter. Who wants to fill up on heavy food when the heat of the day is already so draining? I will admit that in our family we do hang onto our European roots & have a roast turkey ( although not this year ~ I have too many people here for me to confidently do a turkey lunch & have everything cooked on time & properly). We also have our traditional Christmas fruit cake & the lots of tasty little treats that we are in the midst of making right now here at Sunnyside. I do however generally forgo the traditional Christmas 'plum' pudding ( although both our mothers' make these & I am definitely looking forward to my mother- in- laws this year when they visit the farm) & instead I make an ice cream Christmas pudding which is cool, refreshing & delicious!
I thought this year I'd share my recipe with you. This is one of the easiest recipes you'll ever use & I recommend putting your young daughter in charge of it's assemblage. She will feel so proud to contribute to the Christmas dinner.
I'm not sure where this recipe originated & I know I've changed it over the years so it probably doesn't even resemble the original ( if there was one).
This year my family was more than happy to 'sacrifice' & have two so I could make one early just to get the photos for you ( kind aren't we ;).
ICE CREAM CHRISTMAS PUDDING:
INGREDIENTS:
2L vanilla ice cream;
2 tbs of sherry (optional);
250g milk chocolate;
1/2 cup dried pineapple;
1/2 cup craisons;
1/3 cup sultanans;
lollies to decorate;
METHOD:
1. Remove icecream from the freezer & allow to soften.
2. Chop up half of the chocolate into small chunks.
3. Once icecream is soft add sherry & stir well.
4. Add dried fruits & chocolate & mix.
5. Place in a mould & return to freezer until hard. ( This takes a few hours).
6. Remove from mould & put on freezer proof serving tray. Place back into freezer.
7. Melt remaining chocolate & pour over ice cream pudding. Decorate with lollies.
8. Put back into freezer until you are ready to serve ( giving time for the chocolate to harden).
9. Enjoy!!
~ It is rather rich so start with small pieces ~
Maybe it will become as much a part of your Christmas traditions as it is ours here at Sunnyside!!
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| I ended up having troubles with the decorating & it didn't turn out the way I was hoping, but you can imagine if you are artistic how well it would go!! |
As you prepare for Christmas this year don't forget the true reason we celebrate it ~ Praise the Lord for coming to earth as a baby !!
Blessings
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