Desserts

If you're planning a dinner or food event and need some inspiration for a dessert, browse the list below.

Allegra McEvedy's Cox Granita

If you can make ice you can make granita, because that’s all it is, just flavoured water ice – but instead of doing it in cubes on a tray, you texture it by disturbing and layering the freezing crystals.
 

Darina Allen's Blackberry, Apple and Sweet Geranium Tart

The pastry is made by the creaming method so people who are convinced that they suffer from 'hot hands' don't have to worry about rubbing in the butter.
 

Darina Allen's Homemade Buttermilk

If you can’t buy commercial buttermilk easily, or want full-fat buttermilk, here is a simple method for producing your own.
 
Geetie Singhs Port Stewed Damsons and Blackberries with Vanilla Shortbread

Geetie Singh's Port Stewed Damsons and Blackberries with Vanilla Shortbread

Quintessential British fruits, damsons and blackberries, and stewing in port with shortbread couldn’t celebrate that more. Double the shortbread mix to keep some for the next day or two.
 

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Chocolate and Beetroot Brownies

The international success of the carrot cake has surely paved the way for experimenting with root vegetables in other cake recipes. Well, this is my contribution to the genre. It’s a corker – rich and velvety, and a tad ligh...
 

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Chunky Fig, Apricot and Prune Cake

This moist, lightly spiced, fruit-packed cake, devised by my friend, Nikki Duffy, is a bit different from your average fruit cake, with its citrussy aromatics and slightly chunkier dried fruit. I absolutely love it. A thick ...
 

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Seasonal Smoothies

I’m sure I’m not the only parent who fives thanks for the advent of the smoothie – an irresistible and fun way to funnel fresh fruit into otherwise reluctant children. Smoothies can be great for fruit-shy adults too, packing...
 

John Wright's Bramble Mousse

I am most grateful to my friend Pam Corbin for this substantial recipe. Blackberry picking is gruelling, exacting and dangerous work, so you deserve the best reward for your labours. Here it is.
 

Lynda Brown's Berry Syrup

Home-made syrups, cordials, and juices make the most of seasonal fruit and taste much fruitier than those you can buy. Use this syrup to flavour milkshakes and smoothies, as a sauce for ice creams, and stirred into fruit sal...
 

Nikki Duffy's Apple Muesli

This is a very simple, very scrummy breakfast - a cool alternative to a bowl of steaming porridge, but just as filling. It takes a few minutes to put together the night before, then it’s all ready for you in the morning.
 

Pam Corbin's Apple Cake

You should be able to throw this homely country cake together easily, since it uses ingredients that we usually have in our kitchens. You can make it with cooking or dessert apples, whichever is to hand. To peel or not to pe...
 

Pam Corbin's Blackberry and Apple Leather

Fruit leathers are thin, pliable sheets of dried, sweetened fruit purée with a flexible consistency exactly like leather. To be truthful, I had always avoided making them, thinking they sounded complicated. But, in a spirit ...
 

Pam Corbin's Blackberry and Apple Muffins

The beloved pairing of blackberries and juicy apples makes the homeliest of muffins. Blackberries, those cherished gifts of the hedgerows, can be picked in season and frozen to use later in the year. For this recipe, you can...
 

Pam Corbin's Spiced Pickled Pears

I love pickled fruits and always look forward to opening a jar to serve with cold poultry and ham. Small, hard pears such as ‘Conference’ are ideal for use in this recipe, and it’s a very good way to deal with a barrel-load ...
 
Raymond Blancs Cherry Clafoutis

Raymond Blanc's Cherry Clafoutis

Clafoutis is one of the great classics of French family cuisine. Of course, my Mum created the best recipe. This dessert is often featured both at Le Manoir and at Brasserie Blanc. Every household, every family, should know ...
 
Rude Healths Banana Granola Muffins

Rude Health's Banana Granola Muffins

This recipe for delicious Banana Granola Muffins comes from Rude Health whose 'The Granola' won the 'Cakes and Morning Goods' category in the 2012 Organic Food Awards.
 

Sybil Kapoor's Pain Perdu with Cinnamon Plums

Pain perdu (French toast) dates back to the Normans in Britain, although this is very much a twenty-first century version. It’s gorgeous eaten with Marjorie Seedlings or other English plums. You can serve it for pudding or f...
 

Tim Bouget's Ginger Pudding

This recipe is great all year round, we serve it with butterscotch sauce and lemon ice cream in the summer and clotted cream in the winter.
 

Tim Bouget's Lemon Posset

Delicious served with shortbread and candied lemon zest.
 
Valentine Warners Rhubarb and Stem Ginger Fool

Valentine Warner's Rhubarb and Stem Ginger Fool

Early rhubarb is such a wondrous thing. Startling in its tartness and colour, flirting from the market barrows, it shocks me from my slow winter stasis and has me sniffing around for spring. If you can’t be bothered to make ...
 

Xanthe Clay's Raspberry Millefeuille

A huge piece of patisserie oozing vanilla cream and raspberries, this makes a showstopper of a pud.
 

Contact

For more advice and support with your event contact Abi Edgar in the Membership Team on 0117 314 5181.

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