A Rustic Aussie Christmas

WRITE OFF WINTER AND CELEBRATE THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WITH THIS LOOK BY ANNA HOGBIN OF MAMA BEAR'S KITCHEN.

I've spent many Christmas seasons silently wondering how to reclaim the essence of an Australian Christmas while being bombarded with a tirade of unseasonal paraphernalia inspired by the Northern winter.

Snowflake tree decorations, Frosty the Snowman and delicious hot chocolate drinks might evoke thoughts of Christmas for our northern neighbours, but surely, I reasoned, there must be a way to express the joy of the season while embracing our natural beauty, vibrant colours and golden sunshine, preferably without resorting to putting Santa on a surfboard, or heaven help us, in board shorts.

It is with these thoughts rattling away in my mind that I was prompted to style a Christmas dessert table which reflects our unique Australian beauty, while still holding onto the traditional elements that we all love.

The theme was undoubtedly inspired by a gorgeous sideboard I own with vintage hot air balloons painted along the front. The colours of ruby red, Christmas tree green and golden yellow became the chosen palette for the entire display. These hues were also reflected in the vibrant native flowers, herbs and summer blooms used.

I started by gathering vintage props and tins from my collection, to use as risers and cake stands, giving height to the display. Old tool boxes, kitchen scales, checked shortbread tins and vintage thermoses brought cohesion to the colour scheme while also adding points of interest.

I wanted to keep the backdrop simple, so as not to compete with the sunshine colour of the wall behind the dresser. I propped up two old window frames picked up from the tip shop and street rubbish collection. Using tartan checked ribbon, I tied three iced gingerbread cookie rings to the glass panel.

While I cringe at the tacky snow inspired decorations filling our stores, there are some traditional elements of Christmas I chose to include in my display. To me, Christmas is not Christmas without gingerbread cookies, reindeer, rosemary springs and tartan checks. In keeping with the colour scheme, the tartan ribbons matched perfectly.

As the table is quite busy with two generous flower arrangements and vintage props, I wanted to keep the baked elements simple in terms of decoration. Gingerbread cookies were left plain with the exception of a tartan ribbon and a sprig of rosemary or cinnamon stick. Tying ribbon around a stack of gingerbread men makes for an easy and very cute Christmas gift.

A naked gingerbread cake was adorned with two adorable deer and an abstract cookie Christmas tree. To give the cake a woodland feel, I put rosemary, yellow daisies and gum nuts behind the deer and sprinkled star anise, crushed cinnamon sticks and dried cranberries at their feet. Let me tell you, the cake smelled amazing!

The star of the show was the tall red velvet cake decorated with dried orange slices and star anise, placed around the white chocolate buttercream frosting. This is an easy, yet stunning way to decorate any cake and suits the Christmas theme beautifully.

Cupcakes were also decorated with gingerbread star cookies tied with string or gold dusted cherries and edible gold stars, for a bit of Christmas magic.

It did not escape my notice that there is a strong green and golden yellow accent throughout the table. In keeping with my desire to create an Aussie themed display, I felt these elements, along with the addition of ruby red to keep it all in the spirit of Christmas, helped bring together a richly coloured, bright and joyful dessert table, perfect for our Australian Summer.

VENDOR CREDITS

Concept, design, styling, baked goods, props and photography: Mama Bears Kitchen; Flowers: Alstonville Florist and also Mama Bears' own garden