Honey-glazed ham and berry pudding

If you honey glaze a ham and make a summer berry pudding you'll be set for a relaxing Christmas day.

Now I know you all want to be superwomen or supermen, but why do it to yourselves! Haven't you worked hard enough this year, juggling work, the kids, keeping fit and being fabulous?

Surely you deserve a break. Don't run around like a chook with your head cut off this Christmas. Do yourself a favour and keep it simple; take a deep breath and follow these easy steps for a stress-free Christmas lunch.

Firstly, you need to recruit at least two people — friends or family — who are the dedicated helpers for the day. These people need to be carefully chosen and resourceful, and naturally intuitive in the kitchen. This will take a big burden off you as you can share the workload.

Set up a cocktail station with a couple of blenders, lots of ice, fresh limes, sugar syrup, tequila and cointreau. Get a cute blackboard and write the margarita recipe down and hang it on the wall, and let your guests make their own cocktails.

I love the idea of glazing a big ham served with my pineapple relish. Or serving my gorgeous green mango salad with the smoked trout served on a big piece of banana leaf, which always goes down a treat.

As for the turkey, that can be cooked a day in advance and served cold with a beautiful spicy cranberry relish on the side. Remember: you're better off purchasing your turkeys fresh and going for two smaller birds rather than one large one as they will cook more quickly and stay moist.

The best summer salad

My favourite salad for this time of the year is the caprese salad. All you need to do is find the ripest, reddest tomatoes at your greengrocer and slice them quite thickly on a lovely big white platter. Tear some creamy buffalo mozzarella over the top and add some basil leaves and a big drizzle of the finest virgin olive oil you can find. This salad is so dramatic and looks so incredibly festive on the table and only takes three minutes to prepare. How easy is that?

I really loathe turning on the oven at this time of year because the weather is already often quite hot, so I opt for a pavlova or my summer berry pudding for dessert.

The pavlova

A pavlova is a wonderful crowd-pleaser and you can make your pav the day before and on the day, when your guests arrive. Whip up the cream and adorn it with loads of brightly coloured summer berries. You can even cheat by asking your favourite cake shop to make the pavlova shell for you!

Summer berry pudding

The same goes for the summer berry pudding; it too is a dessert that everyone loves! All you need to do is find a nice sized pudding bowl and spray with oil. Line the bowl with plastic wrap and you are ready to begin. Make a berry salad with strawberries (cut into quarters), blueberries and raspberries and pour your favourite liquor over the top. I like to use Frangelico and a little sugar. Let the berries marinate for a couple of hours or overnight.

Make mascarpone cream by whisking a few egg yolks with 4 tablespoons of caster sugar. Add 250g of mascarpone cheese and beat until combined. Lightly fold in 300g of whipped cream.

To make your pudding, start with a layer of savoiardi biscuits then a layer of the berry salad and then a layer of the mascarpone cream. Continue layering until you finish with a layer of biscuit. Refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to serve, turn your pudding out onto a platter and adorn with more berries and, as I do, beautiful, blood-red rose petals.

Click here for my honey-glazed ham recipe.

I love to pass hot towels around after lunch. Just wet them down and scent the towels with lavender or lemon grass oil and roll them up (à la Chinese restaurants) and pop them in the oven wrapped in foil on a moderate heat. Pass around on a lovely big bamboo platter with a few frangipanis to garnish.

It's the little things like these that make your day stand out.

YOUR SAY: What are your tips for stress-free Christmas Day entertaining?