Please Help! Need an impressive make-ahead dessert for in-laws!

[DeedlessIndeed]

Hi all,

Please can I pick your brains!? We are hosting my PIL next week for 5 days. DP is cooking, booking and arranging everything apart from the dessert course on Friday night.

Main course will be Duck.

I need ideas/recipes for a dessert that can be made ahead of time either the day before or that morning/afternoon. Ideally something that isn't too chocolately or cream heavy.

Extra points for something with a bit of wow factor!

Thanks for your help! :)

Pavlova?

baked cheesecake?

x 2 big packs soft cheese, 3 eggs, 3 tbsp sugar mixed up and put on a biscuit n butter base. Gas mark 5 30 mins. Fruit on top when chilled.

A no bake cheesecake would be even easier. And a cheese board.

Tiramisu

If you can lay your hands on brandy baskets. Combine lemon curd say a jar with an equal amount made of half mascarpone and half whipped cream. Keep the filling in the fridge. After the main course fill the brandy baskets with the filling, decorate each one with 3 perfect raspberries, melt some plain chocolate over a pan of water (takes 3 mins) then with a fork criss cross the hot chocolate over the top of the baskets. Place in the centre of the dessert plates and arrange mint leaf, raspberry, mint leaf, raspberry about 1.5 inches apart and in a circle. Dust with icing sugar mixed with silver baking glitter.

Zero cooking and always looks stunning.

or what I often do, order a fabulous fruit flan from a patisserie

I’d do pavlova with heaps of raspberries and strawberries or a nice trifle. I’ve got a high-sided trifle dish and even the most basic trifle looks impressive 😊

Thanks for ideas.

Pavlova sounds great, but creaminess makes MIL feel iffy. Would pavlova without cream but lots of berries and fruit be a bit dry?

I'm worried similar feelings about the cheesecake and tiramisu although the latter is my absolute favourite.

Trifle could work well if I maximise the fruit/jelly/sponge layers and just do a few small artful dollops of cream/custard. I'm sure I have a fancy cut glass trifle bowl too somewhere...

or what I often do, order a fabulous fruit flan from a patisserie

@RosesAndHellebores Fantastic idea - I might order one just incase my endeavour flops. Worst case scenario DP and I can enjoy that after PIL leave

This is the recipe I use. You can make days or weeks ahead and freeze. Take it out of the freezer and transport in a cool box or bag, but it doesn't matter if it does thaw a bit as you eat it chilled not frozen anyway. I decorate with curls of chocolate - you can buy or you can make your own with a sharp knife and a bar of chocolate
www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/frozen-lemon-souffle-in-a-chocolate-shell/

I’d just buy a nice lemon tart and/or chocolate tart and some berries. Serve with cream for everyone but MIL.

Tarte au pommes?
Tarte au citron?

Neither are v hard to make

Or chocolate mousse in individual glasses, with strawberries?

There is also a fab raspberry and almond cake on the BBC website that could work as a pudding, if served with dollop of Greek yoghurt and extra raspberries on the side

Cook ahead spiced pears. Look great and are refreshing.
Proper fruit salad
Tarte tatin with apples or plums

Or just get something similar from Waitrose or the like, decorate a lemon tart with raspberries. Cream on the side for those who like it.

Lime or lemon tart.

Blitz ginger biscuits with melted butter and line a flan tin, chill in the fridge.
Mix a big can of condensed milk with the same amount of double cream and start whipping. Add the zest and juice of 3-4 limes or 2-3 lemons (to taste), and whip until it thickens. Pour into the biscuit base and chill.

Or Nigella’s Clementine cake - it’s really easy to make - boil the clementines for a couple of hours, cool, then blitz with the ground almonds, eggs and sugar, then bake. It is gorgeous as a dessert, with whipped cream - but your MIL could have it without, or with just a little. I have also served it with a citrus syrup - boil sugar, lime or lemon juice and strips of the lime or lemon zest until syrupy, then cool and serve with the cake.

And it’s a cake that keeps well - it is dense and moist, so it doesn’t dry out - but it never lasts long in this house.

Fruit salad but instead of putting it in a bowl put the fruit in stripes on a large flat dish. You can offer small bowls of cream (not for MIL), yogurt, chopped nuts, grated chocolate and so on. For some reason people find this much more wowy than fruit salad in a bowl.

Id just do a really nice fruit salad, and serve with dairy free vanilla ice cream.

Duck is very rich - what are you serving it with?

Perhaps something lemony? This Mary Berry lemon and pistachio roulade is delicious and easy to make
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lemoncurdandpistachio20948/amp

If not lemon then cherry - cherry clafoutis

Personally I would not do trifle.

The other quick dessert I do which everyone loves: young, old, posh dinner party, Sunday lunch.

Fresh strawberries (or a mixture of strawberries and raspberries) hulled and halved if necessary, sprinkle of vanilla sugar, really good vanilla ice cream and a flake. Can add a mint leaf if you like.

Would your MIL eat a millefeuille if you use Creme patisserie instead of cream, or if you go with a raspberry and orange filling (instead of the usual berries) you could even use the lemon curd mix above.

Ready rolled puff pastry in three equal sized oblong, sprinkle with light brown caster sugar and bake in the oven for 15/20 mins. Remove, cool, and assemble the three layers. Pastry, Creme, fruit, pastry, Creme, fruit and top with pastry. Again sift with icing sugar. Would look nice to dress the plate with a dark green leaf and some slices of orange and lemon.

A Bakewell tart you could make ahead and serve with raspberries

www.jusrol.co.uk/pastry-recipes/bakewell-tart

Deffo order something in m&s desserts, patisserie Valerie?

Jelly and ice cream!

Gin & tonic jelly (Nigella Lawson has a recipe) served with orange and basil ice cream. You can google the recipes

Summer pudding. A bit old school, but soft fruits are in season right now.
Easy, but looks more impressive than it is.

Or make/buy some nice sorbets rather than ice creams.

The other stunner is fresh pineapple. Leave on the leaves, pare off the skin and then with a sharp knife cut the brown nibs out following the diagonal pattern of the growth. Always looks stunning sliced at the table and served with raspberries and a mango sorbet

I’m putting on weight just reading this thread!😂

No bake lime and mascarpone cheesecake is my go-to.