Help! I've just offered to bring dessert for a meal tonight

[mosaica]

The meal is at 7.30 and I only get home from work at 4.30-5.00. What can I make? The meal is for a friend who is moving abroad; there will be five of us and one of them is a professional baker, so I would like the dessert to be easy but impressive and ideally, fool-proof. I am a reasonably competent, if nervous, baker.

Thanks!

Maybe too simple but keylime pie ? Very quick and will be set by then.

Tiramisu, doesn't matter too much if it doesn't set.

Eton mess (with shop bought meringues, obvs).
Cranachan (dodgy spelling).
A crumble?

My emergency deserts are:

Banoffie Pie (biscuit base, caramel middle, sliced bananas mixed with whipped cream on the top) - simply but tasty

I have a rich tasty Chocolate Mousse receipt (Delia) might be too old school, but everyone loves it, I make it with eggs, cream and Green n Black chocolate and serve it in tiny glasses or coffee cups

Finally, cheats Eton mess, with shop bought meringue, strawberries, raspberries and cream.

good luck

A fruit crumble or a fruit pie (shop bought pastry). Apples - maybe some rhubarb.

A tub of ready made custard.

Easy

Eton mess is so quick & easy...

A sort of lime cheesecake.

Blitz ginger biscuits with softened butter and press into flan tin. Chill.

Put a large tin of condensed milk and the same amount of whipping cream into a bowl, whip together, and add the juice and zest of either lemons or limes, to taste. Usually about 1.5 lemons or 3 limes, but you can add a bit more if you like (or if they aren't desperately juicy).

When this thickens, pour it onto the base and chill again.

The acid in the fruit juice will set the condensed milk/cream mixture to a cheesecake consistency.

This is one of my family's favourite desserts - and it is so quick and easy to make - no cooking, almost no chopping or prepping, apart from zesting and halving the limes or lemons.

Open Puff Pastry Tartlets, with shop-bought puff pastry? Cut circles around 5" diam, and prick with a fork 1/2" of the edge. Cover pricked area with sliced dessert apples (unpeeled), and sprinkle with a little sugar (and cinnamon if liked). Bake for around 10 to 12 minutes, then glaze with apricot jam and pop back in for 1 min. Serve with top-notch vanilla ice cream or even clotted cream.

Some great ideas, thanks! The key lime pie sounds delicious, are you sure it can set in the short time I have?

Might try the banoffee pie too, just wondering if the cream will be cold enough in the space of time I have. Mmmm. The Eton Mess is totally yummy, but rasperries/strawberries are not in season and I wonder if it is worth making it with winter fruit.

I used to make a gorgeous Tiramisu but haven't made it for years, not sure why. I do think it matters if it doesn't set, though- not the same texture if it's all wet?

We do a version of SDTG's cheesecake - it really s foolproof and lovely.

Another idea is a self-saucing pudding. Really easy to make up; takes about 30 mins in the oven and uses ingredients that I'd normally have in. this butterscotch one is my favourite, but probably not one for today as it wont travel as well as the cheesecake would.

Frozen berries with hot white choc sauce is my very very very last minute 'recipe'. You'd have to take the constituent parts, and make the sauce there though.

Sticky toffee pudding. Can make a toffee sauce to take with whilst it bakes. Maybe some fresh custard?

Lemon drizzle cake

My hot chocolate sauce is foolproof and and easy way to fancy up a pudding:

1 big bar of bournville or other dark chocolate (approx 200g)
Tablespoon of honey
Walnut sized knob of butter
1 small carton of double cream

Melt the first three ingredients together gently, cool slightly before stirring in the cream. Taste, add more honey if required, taste again. and again. and then maybe share with guests... you might want to warm it up again if serving over ice cream, then it will sort of set when it goes on the ice cream.

I often use it with nice ice cream and fruit and brownies - people then can have whatever combo of things they like.

Terrys chocolate orange Cheesecake

Digestive & Butter base whizz up and put in cake tin to firm up while you make the rest

1 tub cream cheese, 1 284ml carton of double cream, 125 grams caster sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 1 tin of drained mandarin oranges and 1 terrys chocolate orange (if you can't get the orange about 3 or 4 of the bars will do)

Whisk the cream until thickened then mix with the sugar, cream cheese & vanilla.

Fold in the drained oranges and grate in the chocolate.

Add to biscuit base and try not to eat it straight from the tin!!

You can always refrigerate in friend's house as you won't be eating it for a while.

My personal fav is baked cheesecake. A simple vanilla one. People always love it and you can have mixed berries/ pouring cream on the side if people want them.

But surely you offered to bring dessert, not cook it.

Can't you just buy a naice one from Waitrose or somewhere (ie not Aldi - it won't look good even though it would be fine )

PS - going on the fact that nobody else has suggested buying one, does that mean all the years I've been doing this my friends have been calling me a slattern behind my back?

I'd make red velvet cheesecake swirl brownies because they're really easy, delicious and look fairly interesting/impressive.

Peaches, strawberries, amaretto biscuits topped with whipped cream and cinnamon.

Those brownies look lush !

Baileys cheesecake is my go-to.

Biscuit base (butter and crumbled chocolate digestives)
CHeesecake topping - 300ml double cream, 600g plain philly, 100 grated dark chocolate, 2 tablespoons baileys.

For those who say 'I don't like baileys' - there's really so little in it that you can't really taste it, but I think it acts like the lemon juice in lemon cheesecake to help set it.

The base is made and sets quickly in the fridge while the topping is being made.

Then the topping is spread on top and sets almost straight away.

Baileys cheesecake is my go-to.

Biscuit base (butter and crumbled chocolate digestives)
CHeesecake topping - 300ml double cream, 600g plain philly, 100 grated dark chocolate, 2 tablespoons baileys.

For those who say 'I don't like baileys' - there's really so little in it that you can't really taste it, but I think it acts like the lemon juice in lemon cheesecake to help set it.

The base is made and sets quickly in the fridge while the topping is being made.

Then the topping is spread on top and sets almost straight away.

Ooops.

They are, ken. You have to force yourself to cut it into small squares and not just eat them all.

You can make normal brownies and do the cheesecake swirl thing on top too. And there's a recipe on there featuring brownies, cheesecake and raspberries too. Or you can swirl melted peanut butter through the top instead.

In fact, I'd say that blog is stuffed full of ridiculously delicious things.

I know what I'm making with DD at the weekend

STDG, I ended up making your cheeseless cheesecake and it was lovely, thank you! It set very quickly as you said, and it was really tasty. I'll definitely make it again.

The other suggestions were fantastic too and I will try and make them all. Thanks!!!