As the silly season approaches and desserts fill our fridges to the point of collapse, we delve into the origins behind many of the iconic Australian Christmas desserts.

The great debate - who claims pavlova?

Australia and New Zealand are friendly rivals over the owner ship of many things - Crowded House, Russell Crowe and Pharlap to name a few - but one of the most contentious at this time of year is the meringue miracle known as pavlova.

The dessert was named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who was a megastar when she toured both countries in the 1920s.

On the Australia side, chef Herbert “Bert” Sachse is said to have created the pavlova at Perth's Esplanade Hotel in 1935, and it was named by the house manager, Harry Nairn, who remarked it was “as light as pavlova”.

In an interview with Woman’s Day in 1973, Sachse said the proprietress, Elsie Ploughman, and Nairn recruited him to make something “different and unique” as a cake or sweet.

“I had always regretted that the meringue cake was invariably too hard and crusty, so I set out to create something that would have a crunchy top and would cut like a marshmallow,” he said.

“After a month of experimentation – and many failures – I hit upon the recipe, which survives today.”

New Zealanders often cite the story of an unnamed chef at a Wellington hotel, who is said to have invented the pavlova during the ballerina’s only tour of the country in 1926.

But emeritus professor Helen Leach, a New Zealander who specialises in food anthropology at the University of Otago and authored The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand's Culinary History, was unable to verify this version of events.

A brief history of a Christmas favourite The Christmas pudding originated in the 14th-century as a sort of porridge, originally known as “frumenty”, which bears little resemblance to the dessert we know today.

It was originally made with hulled wheat, boiled in milk, sea soned with cinnamon and coloured with saffron.

It was associated with meatless days, lent and advent and was often served as a plain dish.

But there are a variety of recipes which included additions such as beef, mutton, raisins, currants, prunes, wines and spices.

In some instances, this was the staple food for Christmas eve, although in Yorkshire it was eaten first thing on Christmas morning. In the 17th-century changes to the recipe were made.

It was thickened with eggs, breadcrumbs, dried fruit and beer or spirits were added – and came to resemble something a bit more like a sweet pudding. However, it was the Victorians who fine tuned the recipe into the Christmas pudding many of us enjoy today.

The country bakery staple - vanilla slice Alleged to have been inspired by the French mille-feuille (though this is up for discussion), the Australian vanilla slice is a childhood favourite.

Charmingly referred to as a ‘Snot Block’ due to the custard’s consistency, the vanilla slice is seen in all parts of Australian life: the school canteens, country bakeries and cake stalls. The Australian version is a multi-layered pastry liberally dusted with either icing sugar or icing.

Sharps's Bakery in Birchip took out 'The Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph 2022' having won the prestigious title in 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016 and now in 2022.

Leftovers to legend Legend has it that the lamington was created when Lord Lamington, the Governor of Queensland, called upon his chef to feed unexpected guests.

The chef apparently only had a few ingredients available, so he dipped some leftover sponge cake in chocolate and coconut – and the lamington was born!

This humble baked treat has become one of Australia’s most loved snacks at afternoon tea and even has a day dedicated to it (National Lamington Day is on 21 July, if you want an excuse to sit around and eat Lamingtons for 24 hours - no judgement here!)

Sales pitch to party popper Chocolate Crackles are small, chocolate-flavoured cakes made from Rice Bubbles, coconut and Copha.

The earliest Chocolate Crackles recipe so far discovered was printed in an advertisement in the Australian Women’s Weekly on Saturday 18 December 1937.

The advertisement was placed by Edible Oil Industries, a subsidiary of Unilever, who made Copha – a uniquely Australian ingredient made from solidified coconut oil.

Few Australians need an introduction to Chocolate Crackles.

They’ve been a favourite for children’s parties and cake stalls for more than 80 years.

It’s probably because they’re chocolate flavoured and easy to make – you just melt and mix.

That first Chocolate Crackles recipe seemed to be the property of Unilever.

Although it calls for Rice Bubbles, there’s no mention of the Kellogg name.

However, Kellogg subsequently asserted their rights to the recipe. In 1953, they gained a trademark over the term Chocolate Crackles – a trademark the company still owns.

Named by the newspaper Fairy bread is sliced white bread spread with butter or margarine and covered with "Hundreds and Thousands", often served at children's parties and typically cut into triangles.

Although people had been putting hundred and thousands (or nonpareils) on bread and butter for some time, the first known reference to this dish as Fairy Bread was in the Hobart Mercury in April 1929.

Referring to a party for child inmates of the Consuptive Sanitorium, the article proclaimed that

"The children will start their party with fairy bread and butter and 100s and 1,000s, and cakes, tarts, and home-made cakes..."

From fool to family favourite Originating in England, the history of trifle is a rags to riches story.

Originally regarded as a way of using up left over cake and fruit, the first known reference to a trifle-like dessert dates back to the time of Elizabeth 1 and by the 18th century it reigned supreme as a special dessert to be grandly carried out as the finishing touch for many a family’s Sunday lunch.

It has gained popularity as a Christmas dessert in Australia where temperatures can be sweltering, and a chilled dessert is preferable to a hot one.

Trifle appeared in cookery books in the sixteenth century.

The earliest use of the name trifle was in a recipe for a thick cream flavoured with sugar, ginger and rosewater, in Thomas Dawson's 1585 book of English cookery The Good Housewife’s Jewel.

This flavoured thick cream was cooked 'gently like a custard, and was grand enough to be presented in a silver bowl.’

These earlier trifles, it is claimed, 'derived from the flavoured almond milk of medieval times'.

Early trifles were, according to food historian Annie Gray, 'more like fools (puréed fruit mixed with sweetened cream)'.

Trifle evolved from these fools, and originally the two names were used interchangeably.

Jelly did not make an appearance as a trifle ingredient until 1760.