Talented young chef and baker Morgan Hipworth who started cooking from age seven has shared what Christmas looks like in his household - and his top kitchen secrets during the festive season.
The 21-year-old from Melbourne told FEMAIL he'll be preparing a slow roasted lamb shoulder along with crispy skin poached turkey breast, pork crackling, roasted duck fat potatoes, broccolini and fresh salads.
'For me Christmas is all about sharing and bringing loved ones together, so I always make a variety of classic shared dishes to enjoy,' Morgan said.
He usually starts preparing the main meals in advance and gets into the kitchen at 8am on Christmas morning to have everything ready by lunch at 12:30pm.
This year he has also developed two new recipes revolving around Ferrero Rocher.
Melbourne chef and baker Morgan Hipworth (pictured) has revealed what he'll be cooking for his loved ones this Christmas
The 21-year-old from Melbourne told FEMAIL he'll be preparing a slow roasted lamb shoulder (left) along with crispy skin poached turkey breast, pork crackling, roasted duck fat potatoes, broccolini and fresh salads. And one of his favourite desserts to bake is pavlova (right)
When asked whether he prefers to keep his Christmas simple or over the top, Morgan said it all about 'finding a balance' between the two.
'Of course as much as I want to have some great food, I also want a lovely day with family and friends,' he said.
'So I try to prepare what I can in advance - I could make a trifle or pavlova the day before.
'With the roast lamb shoulder, that can be slow roasted for half the time the day prior then wrapped in foil, popped in the fridge, and finished off the next morning. That way you don't need to get up super early on they day to start cooking.'
How to make Morgan Hipworth's perfect roast potatoes:
INGREDIENTS
- Duck fat potatoes
- Peanut oil or sunflower oil
- Sea salt and pepper
- Celery salt
- Thyme
- Rosemary
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees.
Peel and wash the potatoes. Boil in salted water until you can just poke a fork through.
Place potatoes on a tray and drizzle with peanut oil. Season with sea salt, pepper, celery salt, thyme and rosemary.
Roast for 45 minutes at 220 degrees or until crispy and golden all over, turning half way.
Remove the tray from the oven and serve.
Morgan, who has more than 1.1 million followers on TikTok, also revealed his secrets to cooking turkey and pork belly.
'Quite often turkey dries out, so poaching it keeps the meat nice and moist. Then searing it in the pan gives it a beautiful crispy skin finish,' he said.
The 'perfect' side dish that's always a crowd pleaser is duck fat potatoes seasoned with salt and rosemary (pictured)
As for pork belly, Morgan recommended starting with a 'good quality' meat and to ensure the skin is 'completely dry' before cooking for the perfect result.
'Scour the skin of the pork to help increase the surface area to create more crispiness then rub it with a nice amount of salt to draw the moisture out of the pork,' he said.
'Bake at a high temperature of 220-240 degrees Celsius for the first 30 minutes then reduce it down to 180 to cook the pork through. Take it out and it should be good to go!'
Morgan's favourite seafood starter are lobster rolls, which can be served an hour before mains.
Oyster Kilpatrick and barbecue prawns also tend to be crowd favourite starters.
'For those who don't usually like oysters you can usually disguise the taste and texture with an oyster Kilpatrick. As for the prawns, I usually top them with salt, pepper, garlic paste and chili for a bit of a kick,' Morgan said.
Morgan's top five kitchen rules
1. Plan ahead - before you start cooking, take some time to plan out what you're going to cook and when you're going to make it all. The last thing you want to be doing is being stressed on Christmas day. Plan weeks in advance if you can and prepare meals ahead of time if possible
2. Don't overcomplicate it out of your reach - don't attempt too many complicated dishes you haven't made before or aren't confident in
3. Stay organised - keep the kitchen clean as much as possible. A clean bench helps with clear thinking and can help get things done more efficiently
4. Don't overdo it - three or four dishes that are done really well is better than 10 average dishes. Don't stretch yourself too thin
5. Enjoy it, have fun and don't stress out too much
This year Morgan has also teamed up with Ferrero Rocher and developed two new recipes to make this festive season, including a dacquoise recipe - a type of dessert made with layers of meringue and whipped cream (pictured) - and a tart
A timeline of how Morgan started his doughnut empire Bistro Morgan
2008: Morgan started cooking at the age of seven when he turned his family's dining room into a restaurant, in which he called it 'Bistro Morgan'.
2013: Morgan was just 13 when he was offered a job to be a cake supplier for a cafe
Between the ages 13 and 15, he was supplying doughnuts to 20 cafes, with 30 to 40 venues on his waitlist
December 2016: Morgan opened his own permanent store called Bistro Morgan Bakehouse at the age of 16
October 2020: Morgan appeared on Junior MasterChef Australia as a guest judge
2021-2022: The now-21-year-old has since built a million dollar business
Since hosting Christmas can be stressful, Morgan recommends planning what you're going to cook in advance.
'Don't try and cook something for the first time on Christmas day - plan ahead and make sure you can do it. The last thing you want is to be stressed on the big day,' he said.
'I think Christmas should be enjoyed and the food should be a way of bringing people together, not something that's stressful.
This year Morgan has also developed a new dacquoise recipe - a type of dessert made with layers of meringue and whipped cream - and a tart.
But the dacquoise recipe seems quite detailed and may be too much for an amateur to attempt. On the other hand, the tart looks a little easier.
How to make Morgan's Ferrero Rocher tart:
For the filling:
- 225g cream
- 100g butter
- 75g milk
- 250g Nutella
- 1 gelatine leaf
For the hazelnut pastry:
- 140g flour
- 50g icing sugar
- 50g hazelnut meal
- 4g baking powder
- Pinch sea salt
- 100g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon ice cold water
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
- For the mousse topping:
- 2 egg yolks
- 150g white chocolate
- 125ml cream
- 25g sugar
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 4 leaves gelatine
- 50g shelled hazelnuts, roasted, coarsely crushed
- For the chocolate velvet spray
- 300g dark chocolate
- 200g cocoa butter
To garnish:
- 50g dark chocolate, melted
- Gold Leaf
- Ferrero Rocher
Method
To make the hazelnut pastry:
- Combine the flour, icing sugar, hazelnut meal, baking powder and
- salt in a bowl of a food processor and blitz until combined. Add the
- butter and blitz until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add
- the eggs yolks and water and pulse until the mixture is formed into
- a dough. Shape the dough into a smooth disc, wrap with plastic
- wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Grease 8x8cm tart rings. Remove the plastic wrap and roll out the
- dough on a lightly floured surface until it forms a rectangle about
- 5mm thick.
- Carefully place the dough into the tart rings. Trim the edges and
- prick with a fork. Cover the tarts and chill for at least another 30
- mins.
- Preheat the oven to 190C.
- In a bowl combine the egg and milk and whisk until smooth, set
- aside.
- Line the inside of the tart with baking paper and fill with pastry
- weights or uncooked rice. Bake blind for 8 minutes, then remove
- the weights or rice. Brush the pastry with the egg wash and bake
- for a further 5-8 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside to fully cool.
For the filling:
- Add the gelatine leaf to a bowl of cold water and allow to soak for
- at least 5 minutes.
- In a saucepan over low heat, combine the cream, butter, milk and
- Nutella and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, squeeze out the
- excess water from the gelatine leaves and stir through the cream.
- Pour the mixture between the tart shells and place into the fridge to
- set for at least 3 hours.
- For the mousse:
- Add the gelatine leaves to a bowl of cold water and allow to soak
- for at least 5 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks and vanilla to the melted white chocolate and
- stir to combine.
- Add a 1/4 of the cream to a pot and bring to the boil, remove from
- the heat, squeeze out the excess water from the gelatine leaves
- and stir through the cream. Add this to the chocolate mixture and
- stir to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment add the
- cream and sugar until soft peaks form and stir through the
- chocolate mixture. Stir through the hazelnuts.
- Spread the mixture between 8 x 8 cm silicon dome moulds and
- place into the freezer for at least 3 hours to set. Once set remove
- from the moulds and keep in the freezer till ready to glaze.
To make the velvet glaze:
- In a bowl over a double boiler melt the chocolate whilst stirring,
- add in the cocoa butter and stir until combined.
- If you have a paint sprayer then load this with the mixture and
- carefully spray on to the frozen mousse. If not then set up a rack
- over a baking tray and carefully pour the glaze over each mousse
- to create a mirror glaze effect.
- Place the mousses back into the freezer for 10 minutes to set
- before serving.
To assemble:
- Place a dome on top of each tart, top with a spoonful of melted
- chocolate and top each with a Ferrero Rocher and gold leaf.
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