I do love Christmas (I really do), but sometimes I find it’s all a bit too hard. I hate it how you slave away to make it a ‘perfect day’, but then you’re so exhausted on the day that you barely enjoy it all. Well, this easy Christmas dessert is the kind of thing that help a lot when it comes to planning a fab Christmas.
Let’s face it, once you’ve done the ham / turkey / salmon (what do you most like to eat at Christmas? For us, it’s glazed ham all the way), you’re pretty much over the whole thing. Your heart wants a showstopper of an ending, but your head is saying ‘make it super easy, pleeeeease!’. And here we are.
This easy Christmas dessert looks anything but easy, and yet it’s ready to roll in mere moments. It’s so beautifully festive and darling to look at too, but it’s even more fabulous to eat.
All you need is a Pandoro panettone loaf, which is the Italian Christmas bread-slash-cake you can pick up in most delis and plenty of supermarkets these days. I always go for the plain version, but you might like the fruitier numbers. Then all you need to do is fill it with vanilla mascarpone cream, add some fresh raspberries, sprinkle on the pretty and you’re good to go. Try it this year!
Cut the Pandoro horizontally into five even sections.
Starting at the bottom (!) spread a thick layer of mascarpone cream along bread, layer raspberries all along the outside edge and then space five or so into the middle, top with next layer, making sure you line up the star shapes evenly. Spread this layer with mascarpone, layer with raspberries and so on until you reach the top layer.
Spread top with especially generous layer of mascarpone cream and then bundle remaining strawberries attractively on top. Dust with icing sugar, allowing sides to catch icing sugar as well as the top.
Serve straightaway or keep refrigerated until required.
Vanilla mascarpone cream
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup pouring cream
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 vanilla bean pod
Using electric beaters, whip mascarpone, cream and sugar together until thick and firm (a nice strong whipped cream).
Carefully slice along the vanilla pod with a sharp paring knife, being careful to slice only half way through. Open the pod and flatten and then run a teaspoon along the pod to extract the seeds. Press firmly to extract all the seeds. Add the seeds to the cream and the spent pod to your sugar canister (it makes the sugar taste extra good and smell even better).