Christmastime for the family of Carol and Ken Pelgrave provides a great opportunity to get-together and enjoy festive delights such as Carol’s peppermint rolls and traditional Christmas pudding, both of which have become family favourites.
Carol has started her own traditional Christmas fare by introducing peppermint rolls.
“I originally got the recipe, which I also refer to as an after-dinner mint slice, from a girl I worked with in the 1980s and now it is a `must have’ every Christmas,” she said.
Carol and Ken, of GemLife Bribie Island, have two children and four grandchildren who all love her peppermint rolls so tweaking the recipe to cater for different tastes happens every year.
“My granddaughter doesn’t like cherries so we take those out, while Ken and I love extra peppermint,” said Carol.
Peppermint rolls also make great gifts and can be wrapped up like a bonbon, covered in cellophane, and tied with ribbon very easily.
In addition to Carol’s peppermint rolls, Christmas Day fare on the Sunshine Coast often sees the family enjoying cold ham, salads, potato, pasta bakes and Christmas pudding.
Carol and Ken say their fondest memories of Christmas were when the kids were little and they would get together with their extended family for a big celebration.
Peppermint roll
(after dinner mint slice)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 block of mint chocolate (with runny peppermint inside)
- 8-10 Nice biscuits (or similar)
- 1/2 tin of condensed milk
- 24 glazed cherries (mixed colour)
Method
- Cut chocolate up into small pieces, cut cherries into halves.
- Crush biscuits with a rolling pin (Carol puts 2 freezer bags inside each other, places biscuits in bag and crushes biscuits by rolling over with rolling pin to avoid mess).
- Mix all ingredients together, divide mix, should make 5 rolls, roll in coconut, wrap in foil then freeze until you want to serve, then slice.
Carol adds a drop of peppermint essence to enhance flavour.