All posts filed under: Desserts

Maple, Banana & Dark Chocolate Tray Cake

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You will never need another banana cake recipe once you have tried this. It’s so easy rustle up and is the perfect way to get rid of the bananas browning in your fruit bowl. The finished result is a sticky sweet banana bread that’s still spongy and light, perfect served hot with ice cream or custard, or enjoy cold with a cup of tea. 130g butter, softened 100g golden caster sugar, plus extra for dusting 2 medium eggs 3 medium ripe bananas, well mashed or pureed using a hand blender 45 ml milk 1 tsp vanilla bean extract 100g dark chocolate, broken into small chunks 1 tsp cinnamon 250g self-raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 pinch of salt 3 tbsp maple syrup   Preheat your oven to 180C and butter a small deep baking tray. Using a wooden spoon, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Now crack in the eggs, add the mashed/pureed banana, milk and vanilla extract and beat until until smooth. Into the wet mix pour the chocolate chunks, …

Mulled Wine Poached Pear and Berry Cheesecake

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This is a cracker of a cheesecake that is absolutely perfect for winterNot the baked type – oh no that’s far too much faf! I like the ones that you just throw together using a packet of biscuits, butter, cream cheese and fruit, then leave in the fridge for as long as you can until set. I’ve put a twist on the classic summer berry cheesecake by adding winter berries and pears, poached in red wine, orange zest, cinnamon and cloves – the classic aromas and flavours of mulled wine. Serves 6-8 people For the base: 100g butter 250g digestive biscuits 100g soft light brown sugar For the cream cheese topping: 180g/ 1 tub of cream cheese 300ml double cream a pinch of sea salt For the mulled wine poached fruit: 1 pear 75g frozen berries (forest fruits/ blueberries/ blackberries etc.) 75g caster sugar 125ml red wine 1 cinnamon stick 5 cloves the zest and juice from ½ an orange Method Peel the pear, cut it in half lengthways then cut each half into 8 long …

Salted Peanut & Sesame Dark Chocolate Truffles

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All those toasted seeds and nuts give a roasted aroma and the perfect crunchy texture for smooth, buttery chocolate ganache. Although it might sound a bit strange sea salt heightens the wonderful deep flavour of dark chocolate. You cannot beat a good chocolate truffle and they always get demolished by my dinner party guests, even when they’ve just devoured a side splitting 3 courser – I believe everyone has that extra stomach reserved solely for chocolate. The other great thing about truffles is that they are really easy to rustle up. You can make them in advance and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to serve them. Serve with post meal coffee, a cup of masala chai, or a sweet dessert wine or dry sherry. Yum! Makes around 50 truffles For the truffles: 300g 70% dark chocolate 50g salted butter 300g double cream For the  coating: 6 tbsp sesame seeds 6 tbsp salted peanuts 1 1/2  tsp sea salt flakes Break up the chocolate into pieces, cut the butter into cubes and put both into …

Mango & Lime Lassi Possets

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My inspiration for this dish came from the delicious mango smoothies (lassis) you find all over India, freshly made on the roadside by wallahs who hand pick the sweet mangoes from the trees and hand squeeze them to a pulp. Over in India there are lots of different ways to prepare lassi; sweet, salted fruit based or yoghurt based- but they all contain lots of sweet spices. My favourite combination is mango with earthy cardamom and cinnamon, sharp lime and savoury, salted yoghurt. I’ve taken these key elements and come up with a set dessert for a perfect post spice sweet. It’s rich but still light, and not too sweet. Such a crowd pleaser! Serves 4 Ingredients 100ml mango pulp from a can (works just as well as fresh mango) 2 limes 150g soft light brown sugar 300ml double cream 200g full fat greek yoghurt a pinch of salt 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cardamom a pinch of ground nutmeg a pinch of dried rose petals (optional) Add the zest and juice from both …

Blackberry Marble Cheesecake

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More fool you bakers! This ‘no bake’ cheesecake looks like it has taken ages to prepare, but in reality it takes 20 mins to put together and 2 hours to set in the fridge. Try it now while blackberries are in season and free on the roadside! Sit down and watch this week’s Great British bakers struggle to work their ovens while you tuck into ‘no bake’ cheesecake heaven. Serves 6-8 people in an 8 inch loose based tart tin For the buttery bisuit base: 100g butter 250g disgestive biscuits 100g soft light brown sugar For the cream cheese topping:  180g/ 1 tub of cream cheese 300ml double cream 200g icing sugar For the blackberry marble drizzle: 250g blackberries 1 lemon 50g caster sugar mint leaves Reserve 10 blackberries for garnish later and add the rest to a small pan with the juice of half a lemon and the caster sugar. Heat until bubbling then simmer for 10 minutes until the berries have broken down and the sauce has thickened. Then leave to cool. Gently heating the butter in a small …