Easy dessert for a crowd?

[TinyBit]

Feeding 20 at the weekend and desserts are not my forte. Any suggestions for something easy peasy that I can chuck together in advance?

My brain only gets as far as Eton Mess...

I was about to suggest Eton Mess.

Or there's my version of Eton Mess, which involves whipped cream, rum and mashed up Crunchie bars?!

To be honest, for that many people, I'd probably do a plate of meringues with a bowl of fruit and some cream served separately, perhaps a flourless chocolate cake or some brownies, and a cheeseboard.

Don't stress and just get a supermarket dessert platter

www.nigella.com/recipes/view/caribbean-creams-45 delicious and simple!

Honestly? I'd go to marks and spencer and buy a selection. I might do a big trifle as well but I wouldn't want lots of stuff to prepare and store in addition to the mains.

Whatever you make there will be someone who doesn't like it/can't eat it!

I agree, if they're not your forte, concentrate on making a lovely main and buy in an assortment of desserts.

I sometimes buy a big bag of profiteroles from Costco, but Tesco also do a pack of frozen ones for £1 (about 20 in a pack I think) so you could just buy loads of those.

The sauce that comes with them is a bit lame so I make a chocolate sauce (melt dark and milk choc into 1/3 the quantity of cream e.g. 6 x 100g bars of choc in 200ml of cream, like a ganache) which adds a bit of luxury and makes them seem homemade!

I would do a selection of desserts
Choc mousse cheesecake (no bake one), lemon tart and a trifle

ach, maybe you're right and supermarket is the way forward!

I don't particularly enjoy making puddings and I will already be making 5 curries plus accompaniments...

A selection of grown up ice creams and sorbets, some thing like Magnum After Dinner minis.

Ice cream! And sorbets! And meringues or biscuits, and raspberries, if you want to get fancy. Then you are covered, and also don't have to clutter up the fridge, just the freezer.

at this time of year what's wrong with a large bowl of strawberries and some cream?

If you have an Asian supermarket nearby you could get a tray of Indian sweets and some frozen kulfi, mango or pitaschio are nice flavours

Concentrate on the curries! Supermarket is your friend here. Sounds lovely btw.

I suppose a small selection of cheese for the non sweet toothed and a dry crispbread for the dieters

Nigella's Guinness gingerbread would feed 20 cut into small squares and is gorgeous with diced mango (if you have an Aldi near you, their ready diced mango is good at the moment and would save time) Would be nice after an Indian meal, if not entirely culturally appropriate.

Big Tirimasu (sp?)

Vanilla Cheesecake

Chocolate Cheesecake

For that number of people I make a batch of chocolate brownies and buy good quality vanilla ice cream and some hot chocolate sauce or just some strawberries/raspberries to go with.