What dessert would you do for THIRTY people??

[ianshe]

Xmas eve bash, MiL is doing dinner for us all and somehow I've been roped into bringing the dessert. Argh!
14 adults, 16 kids ranging from 6months - 15yrs

Can I have some ideas?

I'm leaning towards two (or three??) big pavlovas. One mixed berry and one mango/pineapple ?

Maybe a big chocolate tiffin no bake tray bake also.

Doesn't have to be particularly christmassy, but I'd make the pavlovas into wreaths and throw some edible glitter on it. And maybe some holly sprigs stuck in the tiffin 😆

Whenever I've catered for that size of group I've done big pavlovas plus cheesecake

No fuss brownies or tiffin. Throw in some cream or ice cream for good measure to make it a bit more fancy.

What is tiffin?

Are you on a budget?

I think a good option is fruit (maybe in the form of some sort of compote as it’s winter), meringue nests, good quality ice cream, squirty cream and maybe that chocolate drizzle stuff that hardens on ice cream - help yourself. You’d need quite a lot for that crowd.

😮

Tiffin is broken biscuits, fruit, seeds, nuts (whatever you fancy) set in cooled melted chocolate and then topped with chocolate.

It's amazing and massively easy.

I mean did you even read the question? Unless the OP is a professional caterer, it’s unlikely she’ll have a large dish that will do crumble for 30, and how on earth it’s supposed to be kept warm or cooked in a domestic kitchen whilst all the other food is going on is beyond me.

The Mary Berry brownies are fairly fail safe. Most people will take a little bit of each dessert .
So a choc one, a creamy one and a pie one maybe.

Definitely a choice as you won’t please that many people with one thing. I’d do a tiramisu, a fruit salad and something child friendly like ice cream. Wouldn’t do anything hot as the kitchen will be full as it is.

Large bowls of fresh fruit salad with a healthy tot of Grand Marnier added to each, served with Amaretti biscuits. And cream.

Simple to prepare in advance, can't go wrong, serve in punch bowls with ladles.

I’d do the nigella brownies (my top tip to getting them really fudgy is to cool them on the side, cover and stick in the fridge overnight before you cut them the next day, I don’t know why this works but they are still gooey in the middle), dh makes a mincemeat lattice thing at Christmas, it has marzipan in - I hate anything mince meat but it appeals to the traditionalist, the brownies and the mincemeat thing can be prepped in advance and are easy to transport.
Then maybe something like a cheesecake.

Costco does decent tasting giant portion profiteroles, I'd buy that for one part.

2 chocolate Yule logs
One Eton mess
One lemon torte
Mince pies & brandy butter
Fruit salad
Lots of cream & ice cream

That was our contribution to a birthday bash around Christmas last year, similar numbers to you. Somebody also brought a home made Christmas cake.

I think I’d do an eton mess, a big batch of brownies and a traybake lemon cheesecake cut into little squares.

SURELY there’s another adult in the 30 who could contribute though?!

Curiously following.

I enjoy when there is a a choice at this type of meal. But I’ve been to one where someone made a large cake and since it was delicious it was fine.

Tiramisu

I do croqembouche for big crowds - buy frozen profiteroles, defrost them on the journey there, then stack them high, make a quick pan of caramel and pour it over the top. Looks spectacular but actually pretty easy so long as you can have ten minutes or so to assemble it.

I'd do two or three different desserts.

Big tiramisu.
Big pavlova.
Something Christmassy like a chocolate roulade or maybe a bought Christmas pudding.

I wouldn’t do anything that requires sitting down with a plate to eat. Does mil had table for 30? If not you have toddlers eating palava on the floor making a mess and more cutlery ( who has 30 spare sets of spoons?! )

If the main is buffet I would assume she’s expecting buffet finger food style deserts?

I would just take a selection of homemade mince pies, tray bake something like Bakewell slices or millionaires shortbread and cut into squares ( or half for smaller triangles), and buy some profiteroles from m and s.

Easy for 30 people to grab and eat standing or no cutlery, and people can carry on snacking on them a few hours after main food if it’s easy to grab.

Nutella Christmas tree.
ingredients: a roll of puff pastry, Nutella, egg wash, and icing sugar to dust.

Really easy to make. Guests just tear off a strip to eat. Every time I’m made it for a group it’s been devoured.

https://www.facebook.com/fitwaffle/videos/656034203282189/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

yeh i'd be going to the supermarket and buying stuff. can't be doing with that

Eton mess, as there are simple minimal ingredients and it can be assembled quickly on the day and in volume.

And 4 decent chocolate logs for people who don't like cream/Eton mess.

I'd do cupcakes

If you have access to slow cookers, rice pudding. Can even be cooked in a bedroom if bench space is a problem. Just bring out when it’s time to serve. Can use rice milk if there are vegans.

Add poached fruit of some sort etc etc.

For the kids -ice cream with sprinkles. Sprinkles are basically bars like crunchie. Mint aero , malteasers, flake etc and chopped nuts, bought meringue bashed up together to sprinkle on ice cream. Like a random, home make, McFlurry. Always a winner!

Thanks for all the replies, it's given me lots to think about.

I think I'll probably go for

1 huge winter berry pavlova
1 big tray bake - choc based

These are both easy to do in advance

A big crumble is also a great idea but I take on board what PP have said about oven space and the madness in the kitchen.
So it'll either be another pav or maybe a lemon tart or something like this.

I like the idea of a dessert station with mini meringues, cream, ice cream, sprinkles etc but really I think with the number of people it may end up as carnage.

To give further context, this is the first year MiL will have all her family (her descendants!) in the same country for Christmas and is absolutely INSISTENT that we spend Christmas Eve together. She has 7 children! We are in France so eve is the big day really. Not one member of the family has a house big enough for that many people but we will be making do . Everyone will be bringing their own cutlery etc, it's going to be chaotic but lovely I'm sure. As I mentioned though, it's alcohol free and I might be needing IV wine by the time I get home. A few of us have looked into an Airbnb for the day but MiL doesn't want that, so it'll be hosted at one of my BiL house.
One branch is bringing 'toasts' (salmon, foie gras pate, etc)
One is bringing the fromages
One bringing the meat while MiL does the sides etc
Two branches are travelling in that day so are off the hook
But generally everyone is playing a role.

Tbh I don't know how I, the only English member of the family, got stuck with dessert because the French are soooooooo good at that. Should've given me spuds!

And I know I said I'm not a fan of trifle but I'm having second thoughts now because actually that would be an easy make ahead choice AND it's typically British so maybe it'd be appreciated by them?