Ideas for Christmas desserts - no chocolate.

[GlowWine]

I'm struggling for inspiration - I always try to make something 'light' and fruity, and was also trying no to to repeat what I made in recent years. It's for actual Christmas dinner (we have Goose as the main). We'll also have birthday cake left over from the previous day which inevitably will contain a chocolate element so I'm trying to avoid a second choc dessert.
We'll only be 4 adults and 2 school age kids (so no alcohol...)

In the past I have made:
Pavlova with Raspberries and passion fruit (Nigella recipe)
Lemon honeycomb
I think one year I made chocolate fondants (before I had figured out that you can overdose on chocolate)

I can't recall further back...

And anything traditional christmassy involving Christmas pudding or mince pies or marzipan is out for the majority. As are most dried fruits and nuts: only pistachios or cashews are okay, and almonds if hidden as ground almonds for example. Trifle / anything heavy on custard is also not such a favourite.

Please can you point me in some direction. I was wondering about tarte tatin or something, but it needs to be prepared the day before at the latest. Or a swiss roll type creation? Something frozen would be good but minimal freezer space means it's not an option.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions!

Lemon meringue pie?
Cheesecake?

Tiramisu
Lemoncello tiramisu (it's actually orange and lemoncello but it's good!)

lemon meringue roulade. just heaven

I would do something meringue based, you could make it Christmas themed for the children.

Creme brulee, I'm doing this with a pecan, banana and rum caramel sauce.

We often have a homemade version of sticky toffee pudding made with ginger cake. Is yummy!

Mmmm THANK YOU for these ideas! I love the lemon options, and creme brulee would take us in a different direction altogether (do I need to ask for a blowtorch from Father Christmas now?)

Yes, absolutely, I love mine.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2003/jun/08/foodanddrink.shopping
The lemon pots on the link above are lovely and easy (and fine made with decent bought lemon curd)

we love creme brulee here - I do one enormous one ( Nigella recipe - can't stand her, but the recipe is divine!) and we use DH 's working blowtorch - the little ones you get just don't hack it

Other idea - pannacotta with either a red berries compote or home made lemon curd

www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/sticky-toffee-cake-recipe

This is deliciously light and keeps really well so you could make it a few days in advance.

I know chocolate is off the table, but nigella's chocolate gingerbread cake has really Christmassy spices in it, or you could do a plain gingerbread loaf.

Or what about a big bowl of fruit salad, and include some slices of star fruit and lovely jewel-like pomegranate seeds? As something not too heavy?

This cranberry orange meringue cake is lovely - I make the meringue (just one layer) the day before.www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/desserts/item/cranberry-orange-meringue-cake

A posset

goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/raspberry-and-lemon-posset/
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/644643/lime-possets-with-raspberries

Sticky toffee pudding all the way for me.

Thank you for helping me see a new directions. The panna cotta looks like a good idea, also because i can make it in individual portions, and combined with Lemon this is what I found: Lemon panna cotta with blackberries

I made a salted caramel roulade last year which was very well received by young and old. A fairly basic meringue roulade mix but using soft brown sugar rather than caster. Then filled with double cream and salted caramel sauce )nigella does a good recipe or you can just buy a jar!)

GlowWine good choice - its my DD's favourite pudding so I make it quite a lot- and its easy to make earlier or the night before :)

Someone's beat me to posset so I'll second it. It's ridiculously easy and can be done a day or two in advance. I make some shortbread to go with it - some Christmassy shapes would be fun.

Brioche bread pudding

Clementine steamed puddings.

fantastic caramelised orange trifle in Delia's christmas book.

What about a Tarte Tatin, with a big dollop of vanilla ice cream.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say christmas pudding. My grandma used to be a school cook so I have a scaled down county council christmas pudding recipe and it's more cakey than stodgy so not too heavy after a full roast