Impressive but easy pudding ideas

[MammyKaz]

I'm having lots of family to dinner this weekend as an early Xmas celebration as we won't be together. I don't normally cook puddings but I'm spending soooo much on Turkey & all the trimmings I can't justify M&S this time

Any suggestions for relatively easy but tasty & good looking puddings to go with our Xmas dinner? I'll be doing trifle but want something else too, not
Xmas pud

I'm planning to make Mary Berry's Christmas Pudding Ice-cream for the members of the family that don't like the Real McCoy

I like this chocolate dessert
I do it in ramekins, looks good, tastes divine, is an absolute doddle to make :)

Ooohhh thanks both of those look yummy. Huevos I can't believe how easy that cake is, even I can't muck that up. Could onto a winner.....

Baileys choc mousse- 3 ingredients , easy to make
No bake choc cheesecake, delicious and easy to make

Fruit salad with rose water sprinkled on it is always popular with a big meal.

A big pavlova? Big meringue is easy to make ahead then just dollop on cream and fruit (frozen forest fruits from Lidl are dead cheap and very nice when defrosted!)

microwaved sponge pudding ? I did it using marmalade last night which was lovely - tasted a bit more grown up than with syrup.

Really is a bung-in-all-the-ingredients job, then sneak out to the kitchen 5 mins before you need pudding to turn the microwave on!

Sticky toffee pudding. See my thread just posted!

Easiest thing ever is chocolate ganache! You can make it in little tea cups/pots and serve with strawberries or posh biscuits to dip in. Or you can pour it in the ready made pastry cases to set, or even make it in to little truffles. Made a chocolate tart with it to take to a friends last weekend and went down a treat.

300ml double cream, 200g chocolate (I always buy a good quality 70% cocoa or more dark chocolate, then a super cheap bar of Asda smart price chocolate as it's about 30p and tastes lovely), 50g butter.

Stick the cream in a pan and heat until it's just boiling. Take it off the heat straight away as it will split and go weird if you boil it too long. Add the butter and chopped up chocolate and stir it all together so it melts in. It will look odd at first but after a minute or so it will stir in to smooth chocolate goodness. Pour in to your pastry cases or whatever you're serving it in and stick it in the fridge overnight. You can add baileys or use chocolate orange in the mixture to make it a bit different, but trust me it is DELICIOUS. Dust with cocoa to make it look fancier. It's something you can prepare in advance too

lime cheesecake - v easy to make, can be made 1 or 2 days in advance (to make the day easier for you) and tastes grown up. I'd change the digestives for ginger nut biscuits though.

or a mixed fruit crumble?

These...

Mary berry's Divine Lemon pots - basically a posset type cold make ahead dessert. I do in little espresso cups and serve with a shortbread biscuit.

kerrycooks.com/mary-berrys-zesty-lemon-cream-pots/

Or Mary Berry's apricot and brioche tart (basically ready sliced brioche, sweetened mascarpone, tinned apricot halves and crunchy demarara sugar, baked - lovely and buttery). Doesn't sound all that exciting but is lovely, super easy and impressive looking as a whole.

www.maryberry.co.uk/recipes/desserts/apricot-brioche-tart

So much yummy choice. Thanks everyone. I'm a big cheesecake fan but haven't made it since I was about 15 (a long time ago!). One guest is coeliac so that would work with gluten free biccis & definitely make them taste nicer .....but then there's chocolate....... Tough choice. I need to decide tonight so I can add to my shopping delivery tomorrow.

Tarte Tatin, Queen of Puddings, Pineapple Upside Down Cake?

Suggest you google Good Housekeeping's white chocolate and raspberry brioche bread pudding. Absolutely divine, everyone loves it. Really easy, make it in advance and stick in oven for 30m.

www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/swiss-swirl-ice-cream-cake

www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/swiss-swirl-ice-cream-cake