Category: Dessert Recipes

Follow the links for simple dessert recipes.   Or have a look at the Recipe Index for lots of other brilliant easy recipes!

All my dessert recipes are simple and easy to make from scratch.  Many of them can be made in advance which takes off the pressure a bit when you are entertaining.  As with all my recipes, they are dishes that anyone can make which taste good and look attractive.

In this section you will find lots of traditional puddings and desserts plus loads of ideas for meringues and pavlova and for home-made ice cream and a few sweet tarts.

Puddings and desserts
Ice-cream and Sorbet

Apricot Tart

Apricot Tart recipe
Apricot Tart

Apricot Tart

This Apricot Tart consists of a buttery frangipane filling, topped with fresh, seasonal apricots, contained in a crisp pastry case.   Frangipane is made from ground almonds, sugar, butter and eggs and is used in many sweet recipes, such as Bakewell Tart.   The taste of almonds has a particular flavour affinity with stoned fruit, such as apricots or cherries.

I love the vibrant orange-purple colour of fresh apricots.   It is so different from the rather sickly yellowy-pink colour that is generally called “apricot”.   I think that this tart really shows off the beautiful, cheerful colour of fresh apricots!

If you are planning a picnic this summer, this is the perfect tart.   It looks beautiful and is great if you are going to a more formal outdoor event such as an open-air concert or play.   It is robust enough to survive being transported in a picnic basket and provides just the right combination of gooey almond filling and fresh, zingy fruit.

As an alternative, you could try my Cherry Tart which has the same pastry and frangipane elements, just topped with a different fruit.   This makes it very easy to double the ingredients for the pastry and frangipane and make both!

Apricot Tart

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Apricot tart recipe

Apricot Tart

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 40
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 1 tart serving 8 people 1x
  • Category: Tart
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

This beautiful tart combines fresh, seasonal apricots with buttery almond frangipane in a crisp pastry case.

Ingredients

Scale

For the pastry:

  • 275 g plain flour
  • 125 g fat (I use a mix of half butter and half Trex as I think this makes the lightest pastry)
  • Salt and pepper
  • A little water

For the filling:

  • 140 g golden caster sugar
  • 140g ground almonds
  • 140 g butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon apricot brandy
  • 3–4 large fresh apricots
  • 1 tablespoon apricot jam
Apricot Tart recipe
Apricot Tart – ready for the oven

Instructions

  1. Set your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.
  2. Make the pastry. Put the flour in a bowl.  Add the fat and combine –  either by “rubbing in” by hand or processing – until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add a little cold water (2-3 tbsp) and shape the mixture into a dough.
  3. Roll out your pastry and use it to line a 19 cm quiche or flan dish.   Bake for 5  minutes in the oven to allow the pastry to “set”.  This will stop the filling making it soggy!
  4. To make the filling, put the sugar, ground almonds and butter in a bowl and beat using a food processer or hand blender until pale and creamy.   Add the eggs and apricot brandy and continue to beat until incorporated into the mixture.
  5. Spoon the filling into the pastry case and smooth down the top with a knife.
  6. Wash the apricots.  Cut each apricot in half and remove the stone.  Slice each apricot into segments.
  7. Place the apricot segments on top of the filling.
  8. Place the tart in the oven and bake for around 40 minutes.
  9. Remove from the oven.  While the tart is still hot, use a pastry brush to add a thin coating of apricot jam on the top. This will make enhance the appearance of the tart by making the fruit look shiny and also add an extra boost of flavour.
  10. This tart can be eaten warm or cold.

Keywords: apricot tart, apricots, tart

Love this recipe?  You may like this too

Cherry Tart

Cherry Tart

Cherry Tart

This Cherry Tart recipe brings together luscious fresh cherries with a sweet frangipane filling, made with ground almonds, set in a crisp pastry case.  Cherries and almonds are brilliant flavour companions.

Serve this tart either warm or at room temperature.  You can have it as a dessert or pudding, possibly with some cream or ice cream. Alternatively, you can have it with coffee or afternoon tea. This flexibility makes it a brilliant addition to picnics.  The fruity sweetness of the cherries supported by the more substantial almond filling is just want  you want after a day in the fresh air!

You can use any kind of fresh, seasonal cherries for this Cherry Tart recipe.  I particularly like using the dark red-purple cherries.   Cherries come in all kinds of colours from yellow through to dark purple.  If you are lucky enough to have access to more than one type, you could get really creative with the decoration. 

As an alternative, you could try my Apricot Tart which has the same pastry and frangipane elements, just topped with a different fruit.   This makes it very easy to double the ingredients for the pastry and frangipane and make both! If you have an over-supply of fresh cherries, you might also be interested in my Cherry Ice Cream.

What you need to know about this recipe

  • I generally make my own pastry. I was a late learner when it came to pastry and for years used ready-made versions. However, a few years ago I decided I had to get to grips with pastry-making and discovered how easy it is. If you have the time to make your own pastry, it is really worth doing as the taste will be much better than anything you can buy in the shops. However, if you don’t have the time or inclination, you can make this recipe using ready-made pastry and it will still taste pretty good.
  • Whether you are making your own pastry or using ready-made, it is really important to bake the empty pastry case in the oven for 20 minutes before you add the filling (step 3). This sets the pastry and means that it is properly cooked so it will be crisp and delicious rather than soft and soggy.
  • You can use any kind of fresh cherries to make this recipe. You can use any kind of cherries to make this tart. However, make sure that they are sweet and full of flavour. The best way to check this is by eating one! The better the flavour of your cherries, the better the flavour of your tart. I used dark cherries but you you can use any colour, or a mix of colours, to make your tart.
  • I use kirsch, a cherry-based spirit, in the filling (step 4) but you can leave this out if you prefer.
  • A glaze of cherry jam makes your tart look beautiful and glossy. However, this step is not essential.

Other easy dessert recipes

If you are looking for an easy, make-ahead dessert, you might also like some of my other recipes.

Cherry Tart recipe

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Cherry Tart recipe with frangipane filling

Cherry Tart

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 40
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: Serves 8
  • Category: Tart
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

This luscious tart, made with fresh, seasonal cherries set in a frangipane base encased in crisp pastry, is fantastic eaten at room temperature so makes a great addition to picnics or cold buffets.

Ingredients

Scale

For the pastry:

  • 275 g (10 oz) plain flour
  • 125 g fat (4 oz) I use a mix of half butter and half Trex as I think this makes the lightest pastry)
  • A pinch of salt 
  • A little water

For the filling:

  • 140 g (5 oz)  golden caster sugar
  • 140 g (5 oz)  ground almonds
  • 140 g (5 oz) butter or non-dairy alternative
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon kirsch (optional)
  • 300 g (10 oz) fresh cherries
  • 1 tablespoon cherry jam (optional)

Instructions

Cherry Tart recipe
Place the cherries on the frangipane base
  1. Set your oven to 180 C, 350 F or Gas Mark 4.
  2. Make the pastry. Put the flour in a bowl.  Add the fat and combine –  either by “rubbing in” by hand or processing – until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Season with salt.  Add a little cold water (2-3 tbsp) and shape the mixture into a dough.
  3. Roll out your pastry and use it to line a 19 cm quiche or flan dish.   Bake for 20  minutes in the oven to allow the pastry to “set”.  This will stop the filling making it soggy and make sure that the base is crisp and delicious.
  4. To make the filling, put the sugar, ground almonds and butter in a bowl and beat using a food processer or hand blender until pale and creamy.   Add the eggs and kirsch and continue to beat until incorporated into the mixture.
  5. Spoon the filling into the pastry case and smooth down the top with a knife.
  6. Wash the cherries.  Cut each cherry in half and remove the stone.
  7. Place the cherries, cut side down, on top of the filling.
  8. Place the tart in the oven and bake for around 40 minutes.
  9. Remove from the oven.  While the tart is still hot, use a pastry brush to add a thin coating of cherry jam on the top. This will make enhance the appearance of the tart by making the fruit look shiny and also add an extra boost of flavour.
  10. This tart can be eaten warm or cold.
Cherry Tart recipe
Make concentric rings of cherries
Ready for the oven

Keywords: cherries, cherry tart

Rose and Raspberry Pavlova

Rose Pavlova, Raspberry Pavlova, Rose Meringue
Pretty in pink – Rose and Raspberry Pavlova

Rose and Raspberry Pavlova

Get in touch with your girly side with this pretty-in-pink Raspberry Pavlova.   Sometimes, even the least girly of us (and I include myself in that description) feel  a need to embrace pink.  If you feel a girly mood coming on, this Raspberry Pavlova, with delicate pink rose-flavoured meringue could be the answer!

Raspberry and rose is a classic flavour combination.  In this Pavlova, the meringue is flavoured with rosewater and topped with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.   The slightly sharp flavour of the raspberries is an excellent contrast with the sweetly floral meringue.

Pavlova is my go-to dessert for celebrations of all kinds.  It is very easy to make, can be prepared in advance,  looks impressive and is not too heavy so is perfect as a summer dessert.    If you like the recipe for this Raspberry Pavlova, you may also like my classic Pavlova , my Rose Meringues and my classic Meringues.

If you are making any of my meringue-based recipes, you might also check out my ice-cream recipes such as Lavender Ice-cream,  Thyme Ice-cream with Honey and Mascarpone  or  Elderflower Ice-cream. You need four egg whites for this recipe which means you will have four spare egg yolks.  As I hate waste, I pretty much always make some form of ice-cream when I make any type of meringue.  Very conveniently, all my ice-cream recipes require four egg yolks.

Rose and Raspberry Pavlova

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Raspberry Pavlova, Rose Pavlova

Raspberry and Rose Pavlova

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 60
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: for 6 people 1x
  • Category: Meringues
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

Pretty and pink, this Raspberry Pavlova, has a wonderful rose-flavoured meringue base topped with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 egg whites
  • Pinch of salt
  • 225 caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cornflour
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon culinary rosewater
  • A few drops of red food colouring (optional)
  • 300 ml double cream
  • As many raspberries as you like!
Rose Pavlova
Rose Pavlova – pink meringue base

Instructions

  • Set your oven to 140 C/275 F/Gas Mark 1.
  • Whisk the egg whites with salt until they form stiff peaks.
  • Add two tablespoons of sugar and continue to whisk until combined and the mixture is thick and glossy.
  • Fold the rest of the sugar, the cornflour, the lemon juice, the rosewater and the food colouring (if using) into the whisked egg whites.
  • Cover a baking sheet with baking parchment or silicon paper.
  • Spoon the egg white mixture onto the baking sheet to form a large circle or oval.
  • Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour until the exterior of the meringue is hard to the touch.
  • Allow to cool.
  • When ready to serve, whisk the double cream until it forms soft peaks and then spread it on top of the meringue base.   Arrange the raspberries on top.
Rose Pavlova
Rose Pavlova – ready for raspberries!

Notes

  • If you want the Pavlova to be pink, you will need to add a little red food colouring.   This is optional – if it is not pink, it will still taste the same!

Keywords: pavlova, raspberries

Love this recipe?  You may like these too!

Pavlova with a hint of patriotism!

Rose Meringues

Meringues

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

Easy Lemon Verbena Ice Cream recipe

My Lemon Verbena Ice Cream is a great way of showcasing the unique taste of this herb.  In addition to the taste of lemon, it also has additional subtle notes of ginger which make it an excellent flavouring for ice cream.     As lemon verbena may be hard to source, I have also included the option in the recipe of using grated lemon zest as an alternative flavouring.  This will make an excellent ice-cream but the taste will be different.

About Lemon Verbena

Lemon Verbena (Aloysia citrodora) is a small shrub, native to western South America.  It was was brought to Europe by the Spanish and Portuguese in the 17th century.  Its leaves have a strong lemon scent with other flavour notes, in particular ginger.  They can be used to produce flavoured oil and  herbal tea.  Lemon verbena can be used to bring a lemon flavour to savoury meat and fish dishes and marinades.  It can also be used in sweet dishes such as puddings, cakes, sorbets and, of course, Lemon Verbena Ice Cream.

Grow your own herbs

Adding fresh herbs to a dish is such a  quick and  easy way of transforming it into something special.  Once you get to know the different flavours, there is endless potential for experimentation.   You will get to know which herbs you prefer, which go well with each other and which ones enhance particular dishes.

I am a great advocate for growing your own herbs.     They take up little space and can be grown in pots on a window ledge or balcony if you do not have a garden.  Most of them are also very easy to grow.   If you grow your own, you will have access to a much wider range of flavours as, unfortunately, it is hard to find more unusual herbs in the supermarkets.

If you want to grow your own herbs, including lemon verbena, there are a number of specialist herb nurseries, which will provide herbs by mail order, including  Herbal Haven where I bought a number of my more unusual herbs.

Other home-made ice cream recipes

I am a great home-made ice cream enthusiast. I make it in the summer, of course, but am happy to eat it in winter too! There are some brilliant, shop-bought ice creams available but it is so easy to make your own. I like to experiment with flavours and some of my other ice cream recipes are listed below.

Loved this recipe? Checkout the Recipe Index.

Other lemon flavoured recipes

I love the taste of lemon in both sweet and savoury recipes and, in addition to lemon verbena, I also use fresh lemons a lot. One of my favourite preserve recipes is my easy Lemon Curd. It brings a hit of zesty fresh lemon to lots of other dishes such as my Lemon Curd Ice Cream or my Lemon Pavlova.

Lemon is a great baking ingredient and I use it in lots of my cake and biscuit (cookie) recipes. My Lemon Biscuits (Cookies) are quick, easy and delicious. I combine lemon with elderflower in my Lemon Sponge Cake with Edible Flowers and in my Elderflower and Lemon cupcakes. My St Clement’s Cake has a double hit of citrus as it includes both oranges and lemons!

In savoury dishes, lemon is a great flavour partner to chicken. I make a classic Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon and Thyme and also a Morroccan-inspired stew of Lemon Chicken with Olives.

Easy Lemon Verbena Ice Cream recipe

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Lemon verbena ice cream, lemon verbena ice-cream

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 10
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: for 6 people 1x
  • Category: Ice-cream
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

This ice cream showcases the subtle herbal flavour of lemon verbena which has additional notes of ginger in addition to lemon.   As it may be hard to source lemon verbena, I have included an alternative using lemon zest.  This is a good, but different, ice-cream.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 85 g caster sugar
  • 425 ml double cream
  • 2 tablespoons of very finely chopped fresh lemon verbena leaves (or the grated zest of one unwaxed lemon)

Instructions

  1. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until the mixture looks paler and resembles a mousse.
  2. Put the cream and chopped fresh lemon verbena leaves (or grated lemon zest) in a saucepan and heat gently. Do not allow to boil – it will be the right temperature when you are just about able to bear to dip a finger in it!
  3. Remove the saucepan containing the cream and lemon verbena (or grated lemon zest) from the heat.  At this stage you can strain the cream to remove all the pieces of lemon verbena leaf (or grated lemon zest).  I generally don’t strain the chopped herbs out as I like them distributed through the ice-cream but I know some people prefer a totally smooth ice-cream with just the flavour.  If you are going to leave the pieces in the ice-cream, you need to make sure that the leaves are very finely chopped – no one wants huge fragments of leaf in their pudding!
  4. Pour the infused cream into the bowl containing the egg yolks and sugar, whisking all the time.
  5. Transfer the combined mixture into a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or, ideally a double-boiler, as you need to reheat it very gently.
  6. The mixture will gradually thicken until it looks like a custard (which is what it is).  Stir regularly to make sure it does not stick while it is thickening.
  7. Remove the thick custard from the heat and transfer into a bowl.  Allow to cool to room temperature and then transfer to the fridge to become thoroughly chilled.
  8. When you are ready to make the ice cream, transfer to your ice cream maker and use according to your machine’s instructions.  If you do not have an ice cream maker, you can place the mixture in a freezer-proof container, put in the freezer for several hours until half-frozen.  Whisk the mixture and then return to the container and replace in the freezer until totally frozen.

Notes

Although the preparation time and cook time totals 20 minutes you will need to allow additional time for the ice cream mixture to become completely cold before you freeze it.

You can make this ice cream either using lemon verbena or the zest of a lemon.  Both will taste lemony (and very good!) but the taste will be different – a subtle soft herbal lemon flavour with hints of ginger – if you are using lemon verbena.  If you can get hold of it, it is really worth a try!

Keywords: lemon, lemon verbena, ice cream, lemon verbena ice cream, lemon verbena ice-cream

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Rose Meringues

Rose meringues
Rose meringues

Rose Meringues

I would not say that I am a particulary girly person.  However, sometimes, the mood hits me to make something pretty and pink and Rose Meringues is my go-to recipe.

These lovely rose flavoured meringues are a delicate shell pink.  They are crisp on the outside and gooey inside and I like to serve them sandwiched together with billowing whipped cream.  I think Rose Meringues go particularly well with raspberries, which have a strong slightly tart flavour that complements their sugary floral taste.  Dark pink raspberries also look pretty with the pale pink meringues.  If you have a few rose petals to strew around on the plate, so much the better!

My meringue recipe needs four egg whites and my basic ice-cream recipe needs four egg yolks.  Therefore, as I hate waste, when I make meringues I generally make ice-cream too.   If you are making these meringues and want to make ice-cream too (and why not, frankly?), there are lots of lovely home-made ice-cream recipes that you could try such as Elderflower Ice-cream, Rhubarb Curd and Rose Ice-cream or Mango and Lime Ice-cream.

 

Rose meringues

Rose meringues

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Rose flavoured meringues

Rose Meringues

  • Author: Tastebotanical
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 60
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yield: 24 medium sized meringues 1x
  • Category: Meringues
  • Cuisine: English
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Description

These pretty pink meringues are flavoured with rose and accompanied by fresh raspberries and whipped cream.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 egg whites
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 teaspoons rosewater
  • A little pink food colouring (optional)
  • 225 g caster sugar

Instructions

  1. Set the oven to 140 C/275F or Gas Mark 1.
  2. Cover two baking sheets with baking parchment. Spread a very thin film of flavourless oil, such as rapeseed oil, on the baking parchment (the best way is to rub it over the parchment with your fingers and then remove the excess with a piece of kitchen towel).
  3. Whisk the egg whites with the salt until they form soft peaks.
  4. Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar, 2 teaspoons of rosewater and a little food colouring (if using)  to the egg whites and whisk again until very stiff and shiny.
  5. Fold in the rest of the sugar.
  6. Spoon the mixture onto the baking parchment.  You can make your meringues small, medium or large depending on the size spoon you use – teaspoon, dessert spoon or tablespoon.
  7. Place the baking tray in the oven and bake until they are hard on the outside but still gooey in the middle.  This will take between an hour and an hour and a half.
Rose flavoured meringues
Rose meringues

Keywords: meringue, rose

Link up your recipe of the week

 

Rose meringues
Rose meringues

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Rose and Strawberry Cream Cake

Meringues

Pavlova with a hint of patriotism!