Disgracefully Decadent Tiramisu (with a Tried and Tested Gluten Free Option and Thermomix instructions)

Put your biggest, stretchiest pants on, and attach steel girders to your dining chairs... this is not for the faint-hearted!!!

To be fair, it's only a centimetre or so of whipped cream more decadent than a standard tiramisu... and a lil' bit of grated dark chocolate... oh, maybe a couple of other bits... but don't be scared! Start this off the day / evening before you want to serve it, and it will keep for a few days in the fridge (well, if it lasts that long!).

I first started making and tweaking this almost thirty years ago, and then there was a period of drought, whereby there were delightful small people around (for which it's wholly unsuitable, unless you omit the alcohol and cook the egg yolk mixture to 70C, but more of that later!), and then coeliac disease, diabetes etc.... but now that the small people are in their twenties, it's come back as a decadent dessert option, and I had to research, re-vamp and remember a lot of it all over again!

It took me a fair while to get it all back to my version of perfection; so now that I've re-perfected it with a gluten free alternative, I'm getting it down onto my blog ASAP before I forget any of it!

I'll put "OPTIONAL" in brackets for the things that I like to add, which may stray a little from Nonnas' recipes, but it's fairly true to what would be acceptable to Italians, so you can make your own choices!

Whichever way you choose to do it, I hope you and your guests love it as much as we do!

Should serve at least 10, depending on your guests' appetites! Try to stay in charge of serving the initial portions and let people come back for seconds, and you might even be able to serve more!!! If you want to serve in individual glasses/dishes, I'd probably go with half portions of the ingredients, to make a good six portions.

Impossible Lemon and Coconut Tart - Gluten Free

A delicious dessert that you only have to make one simple mix for!

There's no faffing about with this dessert, you just mix everything together, bake, chill, and end up with an impossibly tasty dessert with a gorgeous coconut crust on top, a lemony custard in the middle, and a pastry-like base. 

What more could you ask for in a dessert! On top of that, it's gluten free, nut free, and you could easily use lactose free milk in it too, or your favourite dairy-free substitutes.

Makes ten portions at 349 calories each.

Perfectly Gluten Free Pancakes or Crêpes

These delicious gluten free pancakes are completely indistinguishable from normal English pancakes or French Crepes!

Unbelievably, they were actually the best pancakes I've ever made - and I've been making them for many years. This year, I made them gluten free, as my daughter was diagnosed with Coeliac disease last year, and after a bit of tweaking, they were the most delicious, light, laciest pancakes I've ever made!

Well, having perfected them, it would be selfish not to share with other people cooking gluten free (and of course for my daughter, when she needs the recipe!), so here it is. I hope you love it as much as we did - I've never seen pancake mix disappear so quickly - and I actually had three rather than my usual one, which is a first!

Makes 6-8 pancakes, easily doubled for more.

Apple and Blackberry Flapjack Crumble with Custard (includes Thermomix method)

Now that autumn is here, apples and blackberries are plentiful and often free, if you know where to look!

And what better pudding to warm you up on a chilly evening and share with the family (or not!). Best of all, you can make plenty and freeze once assembled for a ready-to-cook dessert, or if you prefer freeze leftovers once you've cooked it.

If you're not a huge fan of blackberries, you can use another berry or fruit of your choice to the same weight, or simply add a couple of extra apples. I like to use a mixture of cooking apples (Bramley) and eating apples (Gala / Cox / Braeburn or similar) for contrasting textures and flavours. Really, you can substitute pretty much any autumn fruits you like - you don't have to use apples - just moderate the sugar to your taste, cover in crumble and bake until bubbling around the edges and golden on top!

Not so long ago, I had a crumble which had a custard layer between the fruit and the crumble - and I have to say it was a very pleasant experience, which I think stops the fruit from making the bottom of the crumble a big soggy lump - so I have included a method for making your own custard to do the same - you don't have to do this, you can just serve custard on the side - or, of course, you can cheat and buy a couple of cartons of good quality thick custard, and use those in instead! Either way, it's optional (but very nice, so I do recommend giving it a go!).

Makes two crumbles which serve six generous portions each, but you could easily half this to make just one (I make one to bake, and then split the rest between small containers to freeze in double portions). Sorry, but I just don't think this is one to count calories on, for a change!!

Blueberry, Lime and Coconut Cloud Pudding - Grain, Gluten and Dairy Free (includes Thermomix instructions)

A delicious, soft and fluffy dessert with a secret ingredient that might surprise you!

I do enjoy experimenting in the kitchen at times, and it is nice to take flavours which work well together, and then try to use them in different contexts. Blueberry, coconut and lime (or you can use  lemon) are a really complementary partnership of flavours and textures, which crop up in various different forms together.

A mini-portion!

In this dessert, the fluffy texture of the body of the coconut lime pudding contrasts nicely with the bursts of flavour from the blueberries, and the toasted coconut on top.

If you want to freeze it in portions, then cool and chill it first for a couple of hours, to firm it up before cutting into portions. It is definitely best eaten hot (and can be quickly microwaved to re-heat in a few seconds, if you use one!), but I have also been known to send a small piece each from the freezer wrapped up as a lunchbox treat for my children!

You will ideally need a food processor to blitz up the beans (yes, beans, the secret ingredient I mentioned!), therefore you may as well use it for the other stages of the recipe too.

Serves: 16 modestly-sized dessert portions or cut larger or smaller as desired!

Calories: 209 calories per portion as above, or cut into 20 smaller servings at 168 calories each. [Calories in square brackets after ingredients]

Passionfruit Crème Brûlées (includes Thermomix method)

A decadent and delicious classic, infused with the fragrant flavour of fresh passionfruit.

There's something quite special about cracking open the crust of a crème brûlée with a teaspoon, and spooning out the rich and creamy custard from beneath. It's one of those really rich and special desserts that tends to accompany 'special occasions', or indulgent meals out.

And yet, it's actually deceptively easy to make - and lots of fun caramelising the sugar at the end, too!

This recipe makes six crème brûlées (in 150ml ramekins) and the cooked custards will keep happily covered in the fridge for a few days (mine were still fine after one week), so you can make them in advance, and caramelise the tops just before serving.

Orange, Pistachio and Cardamom Cake (including Thermomix method)

My little twist on a traditional Greek orange cake...

Very easy to make in that it can't really go far wrong as it's one of those 'throw-it-all-in-and-blend' cakes, so if you're wary of baking then this is a great cake to have a go at! Rises magnificently (as you can see from the photo below, it more than doubled in size) and comes out with a light, moist and fluffy centre, and a thin, crisp, golden crust.

I served it with fresh orange segments (pith removed, by peeling the whole orange with a sharp knife then cutting out the segments) and some Greek yoghurt (or you could whip up some cream) with a little orange zest and honey whipped into it, scattered with chopped pistachios.

Serves 12-16, 353 calories per serving for a sixteenth of the cake (not including yoghurt, cream, extra nuts etc.). [Calories in square brackets, for enquiring minds who like to know these things]

Raspberry and White Chocolate Tart with Black Raspberry Liqueur

This is my go-to dessert when I *really* want to impress...

There's just something about the combination of fresh, tart raspberries offset against the richness of white chocolate and a hint of sourness from creme fraiche, with a crispy dark chocolate pastry encasing it...

Painting the cooled pastry case with a thin layer of dark chocolate means you're not going to get the dreaded 'soggy bottom', and keeps in all the lovely, juicy raspberry filling. It might look a little scary, but trust me - baking is definitely my weak point, and so this one is pretty foolproof and nowhere near as difficult as you might think!

So, now you just need an excuse to make one... right?

Healthy Raspberry Yoghurt Ice, with Oatbran

Like ice-cream, but healthy...?

And takes seconds?

Well, count me in! Also delicious with blueberries, mangoes, strawberries, or whatever your favourite frozen fruit is...

So simple, just blitz - most run-of-the-mill food processors and hand blenders will cope with this easily, made in seconds.

Serves one (easily doubled etc.), 158 calories.

Lime and Advocaat Cheesecake

Now we're talking (dirty)...

Cheesecake has never been my favourite dessert - not least because there are far more bad cheesecakes than good. Claggy, flavourless, thick, white, grainy gunge on top of soggy, tasteless biscuits with some token sickly sweet fruit or syrup slopped or swirled on the top. No thanks, not for me. I'd rather cheese and biscuits than that (and I LOVE a good dessert).

So, I decided to make the kind of cheesecake that I'd like to order... the kind you wouldn't be disappointed with...

A biscuit base with a touch of spicy, gingery heat and chopped nuts making sure it's crunchy, not soggy.

A silky-smooth creamy filling, nicely set with citrus-y notes and laced with Advocaat liqueur.

An outrageously zingy, zesty topping - the perfect compliment to creamy and crunchy.

Mouth watering yet? Read on for the recipe...