What's your go to 'easy to make but bloody delicious' pudding or cake type thing?

[Thallo]

I feel this is something I'm missing from my repertoire. Shop bought desserts can be disappointing yet I often don't want the faff of making something that takes more than 15 mins to prepare.

I feel this is probably where Nigella's books excel.

Any suggestions will be gladly tested!

Lemon bread and butter pudding

Spread thick slices of brioche with lemon curd and layer in a dish. Mix double cream with an egg yolk and pour over brioche. Bake for 30 minutes. Delicious.

Very quick to prepare, takes a while to cook so i do mine while i am sorting out the batch cooking / Sunday roast .
Rice pudding
4oz of pudding rice 2oz sugar one pint of milk ( I prefer whole cows milk )
Bung it all in a pan simmer for a few mins till the sugar has dissolved bung it in a large oven proof bowl ( use a bigger one than you think as it swells up by about a quarter )
Cook for about 2 hours on gas 5 ish stirring once about 15 mins into the cooking time , it is very forgiving so can be left in the oven for longer with no harm done

Nigella's chocolate and pear pudding was my go-to but having discovered Quebec Sugar Pie I have a new favorite:

Pour one cup of soft brown sugar into a pie case. Add one tablespoon plain sugar and use your fingers to mix and break up any lumps of sugar. Pour on 200 MLS double cream and stir in with a finger.

Cook at 160 for 45-75 mins. You want the middle to be wobbly but a solid wobble. Cool for 2 to 3 hours. Try not to eat all at once!

Sandwich ginger nuts together with whipped cream and then cover the whole thing with whipped cream. Chill overnight in the fridge. Cut on the bias for a sophisticated stripes effect.
( kids like doing the first bit)

Just came here to post what whizzler did - but it needs sherry. When I searched for a recipe to paste, I found it on Mumsnet...

https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/foodandd_recipes/939485-You-know-that-pudding-that-was-fashionable-about-20-yrs

Another vote for the lemon meringue 'ice cream' cake. Very easy and quick. I substituted ginger cake for my base.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2982/lemon-meringue-ice-cream-cake

Place marking😋

Strawberries soaked in a bit of amaretto and sugar served with whipped vanilla cream in brandy snap baskets with dark choc curls (potato peeler) on the top. Takes about five mins but so delicious and looks impressive.

Eton mess but with passion fruit and orange segments. You can drizzle with Cointreau if you have it too.

That lemon meringue pie cake looks like a genius recipe!

I’ve done an Eton mess ice cream, where you buy good vanilla ice cream, soften it a bit. Mix in shop bought meringues and summer fruit, then cram it into a loaf tin and freeze. Take out 30 mins before serving and leave in fridge. Slice and serve. Maybe with a raspberry sauce.

I have an all in one chocolate cakey number in my recipe book downstairs. Will post shortly.

Clafoutis (cherry batter pudding) is v nice and super easy.
Tinned black cherries (fresh too good to use unless very cheap or you have a glut) drained, a good layer in an ovenproof dish with a sprinkling of caster sugar underneath.
An enriched batter on top, maybe half single cream, whack in the oven.

Recipes often tell you to soak the cherries in liqueur, or otherwise ponce it up, but it's not necessary and IMO nicer without.

Can be a good standby if you can keep a couple of tins of cherries in the cupboard and, unlike me, not be tempted to scoff them!

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER what kind of batter do you use for this?

My go to pud is Suzy Wong's chocolate Brownie recipe (back from ye olde days of Mumsnet) and it never fails, plus you can add nuts, choc chips or whatever depending on what you fancy/have lying around! It's in the Mumsnet cookbook btw (not on commission)

Also banana bread (from same Mumsnet cookbook) brownies or banana bread served 'posh' with ice cream is decent enough for guests

Benwill, you will find plenty of recipes online, , but a standard one is 60 g plain flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 60g sugar, 3 large eggs, 300 ml milk - whole is probably best.

Plus a little butter for greasing the dish, and a little sugar to sprinkle over the butter.

I have made at least double this for a crowd. Always goes down well.

1 can sweetened condensed milk mixed with whipped cream and lemon juice. Top with crushed gingernuts. Gorgeous

@clucky3 - I occasionally make a marmalade bread and butter pudding - just like your lemon recipe but with dark marmalade - it is delicious.

I will definitely try your lemon curd verson, which sounds luscious - and I wonder whether it would be nice with lime curd, as an alternative?

Jamie Oliver's semi fredo recipe - really, really lush. You just whip several things separately (egg whites, egg yolks, double cream) them combine with a flavouring (or none!) and freeze. So lush, and because it's frozen, you can do it ages in advance. Here it is with snickers bars as flavoring. Only comment would be - make sure you whisk the whites first not last, as in the recipe.

Summer pudding (basically bread, sugar cooked berries and time).

Apple snow. Sugar cooked apples, egg white, and cream. Easy!

These little lemon creams - literally lemon curd & whipped double cream but taste amazing!
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/251625/little-iced-lemon-mousses

I do maple syrup roasted pears, pears, maple syrup, lemon rind, and Marsala served with crime fraiche.

Pears keep in a jar in the fridge for a few days.

Eton mess for sure. Easy to make, (if you buy the meringue obviously) looks beautiful served in a big glass bowl. I made one the other day for a party, loved by the kids and adults, it all got eaten and I had to make seconds!

OK. I'm back as promised....

This came to me via a kind of chain letter/ recipe thingy about 10 years ago.

STICKY CHOCOLATE CAKE - all out of the store cupboard.

Take saucepan and melt 100g butter.

Cool in saucepan (saves washing up), mix in 285g castor sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 5 tbsp cocoa, 100g plain flour and pinch of salt.

Bake in a lined buttered 18cm cake tin for 30 mins@ 200C

Take out and cool on a rack.

Serve as cake.

OR...

Tip carton of rasberries or strawberries over the top and dust with icing sugar. Serve with cream or ice cream. Feeds 4-5 hungry people.

Delia's chocolate bread and butter pudding for cooler times of the year.

here

Nigella's slut red raspberries in Chardonnay jelly for warmer times!

here

Apple crumble
Banana splits

DH used to love tinned fruit cocktail and custard. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it since. It's easy though and really nostalgic.