Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Easy Christmas Ice Cream Wreath with Mixed Berries and Chocolate



Easy Christmas Ice Cream Wreath with Mixed Berries and Chocolate

With Christmas in Australia being a rather warm affair, ice cream is the perfect addition to a Christmas dessert table.

 Recently, I saw a pavlova wreath over on Pinterest and I thought this lovely idea would be easily transferable to an ice cream wreath.


To say I am delighted with the results, would be an understatement.  I think she came up beautifully. 
This was so easy, it's almost criminal.  The beauty is, you make it the day before or even the week before.  All you need to do on the big day is, dress it with fruit and some greenery and dust with icing sugar, just before serving.



I really love creating new recipes at Christmas time.  For me it is almost the best bit of the season.


So here 's what I did. The recipe is below, but here are a few tips I learned along the way.  I used a  22cm spring form tin with the largest Vegemite jar wrapped in baking paper, to make the hole in the centre of the wreath. Make sure you line the base of the tin with baking paper. Next time, I would probably remove the Vegemite label and not bother wrapping the jar in baking paper, as it would make a more perfect centre for the wreath.  Oh well, next time.


It needs to be a jar, so you can pour some warm water into it, when it comes out of the freezer.  This allows the jar to be easily removed,  from the centre of the wreath.  Make sure the water you pour in is not too hot, as it will crack the jar.


I used grated chocolate and some stewed strawberries in the ice cream, but you could use choc chips, nuts, dried fruit, crushed honey comb, crushed meringue, or whatever you like.


I just used a good quality low fat ice cream, which I softened, so I could mix the strawberries and chocolate through easily.


I also swirled the strawberries through with a chopstick to create a pretty pattern.




Easy Christmas Ice Cream Wreath with Mixed Berries and Chocolate

Serves 10-12

500g or 2 punnets of strawberries
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup water
2 litres of good quality vanilla ice cream
100 g or 1/2 block of cooking chocolate grated or roughly chopped
1 packet of frozen berries or fresh berries to dress
Icing sugar to dust
Mint to garnish
Good quality Chocolate sauce to serve

Prepare your spring form pan as described above.
Allow ice cream to soften for about 20 minutes
Meanwhile hull the strawberries and place in a small pot over a medium heat on the stove, with the sugar and water.  Just before they boil, turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer for 20 minutes uncovered.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Once the ice cream has softened  sufficiently, stir through the grated chocolate.   Mix well.  Then dollop the strawberry mixture in with a spoon and swirl with a chop stick through the ice cream.
Pour or spoon the mixture into your prepared spring form tin.
Ensure the top is smoothed over.
Freeze over night.

To decant the wreath from the tin, put some warm water into the sink and immerse the tin into the water, so the water comes up the sides, being careful not to let the water come up too high and touch the ice cream.  Carefully pour some warm water into the jar in the centre.  Remove the tin from the sink after about 1 minute and open the spring.  The tin's ring should easily be removed  Remove the centre jar.

Return the wreath to the freezer to refreeze the edges for about 45 minutes.  You can do all this the day before your event.

Just before serving, dress with fresh or frozen fruit, dust with icing sugar and garnish with mint.
Drizzle each serve with chocolate sauce if desired. 

Serve immediately

Note:  One thing I noticed when I sliced the wreath, was the strawberries and chocolate had sunk to the bottom and formed 2 distinct layers, which was quite pretty.  You can kind of see it in the shots below.  My ice cream was quite soft, so I think that's why they layered up like that.


I went a little crazy with the chocolate sauce.



If you enjoyed this recipe, you might like some of my other Christmas baking and craft ideas, which you can check out here.

I am also giving away a Coast and Country Homewares $100 gift voucher to spend in that gorgeous on line store here.

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14 comments :

  1. I love the image of the chocolate sauce! This looks so festive, Caro. I love it. What pretty colours and when traditionally we have such a hot Christmas Day (the last few have been disappointingly cold), a frozen ice cream dessert is the best way to finish the meal xx

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  2. Ooooooh yummo.....I am going to steal this idea for Christmas Day evening with family. Soooooo easy, prepare ahead of time and looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G !! Thankyou for the inspiration and recipe. Neen :)

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  3. You've outdone yourself this time Carolyn. This is gorgeous. I'm keeping this in mind for Christmas myself.

    Anne xx

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  4. This looks really lovely! I find it too difficult to make but it looks delicious!AriadnefromGreece!

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  5. Love! This is fab Carolyn, inspiring yet you make it achievable, great.

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  6. Wow that looks great and very festive. Shame I just started the Dukan Diet, or I'd be into that. Maybe I'll have to break my fast for Christmas. Your photography is really lovely.

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  7. What a wow dessert. Would love to celebrate with this at my table.

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  8. This looks too beautiful to eat! Seriously you are such a star in the kitchen, I wish I had your baking talents :)

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  9. seriously, this is flippin' amazing ... surely it can't be quite that easy ... cos it sure packs a punch ...

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  10. This is soooooo clever! Love it and your food styling looks great too. Rx

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  11. What a BEAUTIFUL looking dessert!!!! It looks so delicious, and so festive, too! Even though it's very cold here, it can't keep me from eating ice-cream!!!! :) This looks fabulous!

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  12. This is so pretty! Can't wait to make this!

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  13. This is such a beautiful dessert! i love it! http://www.handmadeintheheartland.com/

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