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Read time: 2 min. read
Home Care
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Read time: 2 min. read
Head of Food Culture Sarah Brown shares her favourite festive recipes, and the importance of honouring personal memories at Christmas.
Christmas - a time of year that’s filled with memories of gathering and cooking together, eating summer fruits on warm days, and sharing lots of delicious food. Memories may be quite different for some people; it's important we take the time to respect, honour and understand these differences.
Music, singing, decorations, familiar aromas, and preparing and enjoying delicious food together – this sense of community is an essential part of the spirit of Christmas.
These recipes encourage everyone to get involved, however they’d like to, engaging the senses – chopping, peeling, stirring, crumbling, crimping, or simply watching it all come together in the kitchen or around a table. Perfection is not the goal here!
The mango ‘trifle’ (although not a classic trifle) is a fresh, seasonal dessert that can be transformed for a special breakfast, or for different texture modified diets, and the star pastries make a perfect festive finger food for those who prefer to graze or eat on the go, or to picnic outdoors.
I encourage you to get creative with ingredients based on your own favourites, memories - and what’s in season!
Mango Trifle 
A fresh, seasonal dessert that can be transformed for a special breakfast.
Serves: 8 individual trifles
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
Fresh fruit:
- 4 mangoes, peeled and thinly sliced
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1 punnet raspberries
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4 passionfruit
Alternatives: kiwi fruit, mixed berries, sliced peaches
Creamy fillings:
- 1L Greek yoghurt
Alternatives: whipped thickened cream, tinned coconut cream (chilled in the fridge overnight, then whipped with icing sugar and vanilla), custard or vanilla mousse
Crumble:
- 250g packet Shredded Wheatmeal biscuits, crushed
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
Method
- Combine crushed biscuits and melted butter in a bowl.
- Assemble the dessert in each of the 8 glasses, by dividing ingredients evenly in layers: carefully spoon ¼ cup creamy filling, followed by fresh fruit and crumble.
- Repeat layers until each glass is filled, finishing with crumble.
- Chill in the fridge until required.
For people who experience challenges with chewing or swallowing, this recipe can be easily adapted for texture modified diets (follow relevant instructions for the individual’s requirements). Simply replace the fruit with pureed fruit, use the same thick creamy filling, and use texture modified cake instead of the crumble/nuts. Layer in the same way inside a glass.
Star pastries 
A perfect finger food to graze or eat on the go.
Serves: at least 8 individual pastries
Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
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4 sheets pastry (puff or shortcrust), partially thawed
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Egg wash: 1 egg lightly beaten + 1 tablespoon milk
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1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
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¼ cup dark chocolate chips
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Icing sugar to decorate
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Custard, to serve (for dipping)
Method
- Preheat oven to 200C (fan forced).
- Using a large star shaped cookie cutter, cut out at least 4 squares from each sheet of pastry. Roll scraps and cut extra stars if desired.
- Place a heaped teaspoon of raspberries in the centre of 1 star, sprinkle with choc chips. Top with another pastry star. Crimp the edges of the stars together using a fork.
- Repeat with remaining pastry and filling, until you have at least 8 filled stars.
- Brush stars with egg wash.
- Transfer to baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake for 15-20 mins or until golden.
- Use a fine sieve to decorate with icing sugar and serve with custard for dipping.
You could replace the raspberry chocolate mixture with your choice of sweet or savoury filling. Cheese and spinach, ham and cheese, stewed apples and berries, sliced peaches, fruit mince - the options are endless!
Discover more about the HammondCare approach to home care.
