A Possum Magic inspired Australian Party

Capture the magic of Australia with a Possum Magic-inspired party! In her bid to keep Hush safe, Grandma Poss made Hush invisible. But soon Hush wants to be seen again, so they both go on an adventure trying magic food, in the form of ‘classic’ Australian food, in each city around Australia.

photo of Karri trees of Boranup Forest in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park by Paulkyranc, used under creative commons licence: [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

free possum magic printable invitation and menu

Set the tone for your Australian party with the invitation. I’ve created a free Possum Magic invitation template for you, using the free Eucalyptus Vectors by Vecteezy.
In the photo, you’ll see I’ve created an example for a 1st birthday by writing text ‘Our little possum turns 1!’ followed by the party details.

However, you might be wanting to use this invitation for an Australia Day party, so I’ve made the design ‘blank’, allowing you to put your own text around the ‘Possum Magic’ design. Wanting to make a printable menu for the table? I’ve pulled together a menu based on the invitation as well. Use Canva or Microsoft Word to drop your file in, then lay text boxes over to add your own party information.

possum magic menu and prep planner

As Grandma Poss and Hush make their way around Australia, they’re on the lookout for ‘magical food’. Through their journey, they try a sample of some traditional Australia foods that create the baseline for your Possum Magic menu.

• Lamingtons. A sponge cake, that is baked, sliced into squares when cooled, then dipped in chocolate sauce before being rolled in desiccated coconut.
• Anzac biscuits. An oats and coconut cookie.
• Pumpkin scones. Scones made with cooked mashed pumpkin. Pumpkin, like the butternut, has been an easy vegetable to grow in Australia since colonial times, so has appeared in Australian recipes since the 1800s.
• Pavlova. A meringue dessert, soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. Topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit like strawberries, kiwifruit and passionfruit.
• Vegemite sandwiches. Sandwiches with the ‘iconic’ Aussie spread, vegemite. Vegemite is savoury spread made from leftover brewers’ yeast extract. Spread a layer of butter on each piece of bread before spreading a thin scraping of Vegemite on top.
• Steak and salad. Turn this into a one-dish, by slicing up the cooked marinated steak and tossing into a fresh garden salad.
• Mornay. A tuna casserole using a cheesy mornay sauce, with pasta noodles, peas and corn.
• Minties. A chewy mint-flavoured candy. Mentioned as ‘mornay and minties’ in Possum Magic, likely because you need one after the tuna.

Wanting to make all the recipes from Possum Magic? Fortunately, many of the recipes are easy to make in advance, freeing you up on the day of the party for finishing touches.

Two days before the party:

• Bake the sponge cake from the lamington recipe.

One day before the party:

• Finish making your lamingtons by dipping in the chocolate sauce and rolling in the desiccated coconut.
• Bake your Anzac biscuits and pumpkin scones and place in an airtight container.
• Bake your pavlova last so you can leave in the oven overnight after baking.
• Marinate steak and place in the fridge overnight.
• Chop up vegetables for your salad- like cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots- and place in the fridge, covered.
• Chop up fruits like strawberries for the pavlova. Place in an airtight container in the fridge.
• Cook the pasta and mornay sauce for the tuna mornay. Follow instructions until ready to place in oven. Cover instead and place in the fridge overnight.

Day of the party:

• Make your Vegemite sandwiches. Spread butter in each piece of bread, then a thin, thin layer of vegemite. To keep them fresh until later in the day, just dampen a paper towel with water, lay them over the sandwiches in an airtight container and place in the fridge until ready to serve.
• If planning to add your steak to the salad, cook in advance, let cool and toss into salad.
• Place tuna mornay in oven ½ hour before guests arrive.
• Pull together pavlova as close to serving time as possible. The whipped cream and fruits soften the meringue otherwise.

Possum Magic party decorations

The native Australian bush is a beautiful source of inspiration, using rustic materials like wood and burlap, and preferably a table centrepiece of Australian native plants like eucalyptus, banksia, or kangaroo paw.

australian Music

• Use music to set the scene for your Possum Magic party.
• For a more sophisticated party, put on a background track of Australian nature and wildlife sounds. Nothing like a cackle of laughter of the kookaburra to make you feel they’re just outside your window. A Google or search on Spotify for “Australian nature sounds” will bring plenty of options.
• Or you can make your party more playful with jaunty tunes like Waltzing Matilda’, through to ‘Down Under’ and ‘Great Southern Land’.

Ready to get started? Grab all your party planner needs with the booklet and downloads below.