All-butter pie pastry rests in two discs. The filling, a mix of apples (Bramleys for tartness and break-down, Granny Smith and Braeburn for hold), brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon, cornflour, pre-cooks slightly to release water and keep the crust from going soggy. Bottom crust lines a pie dish; filling piles in tall (it sinks); top crust seals on, vented. Egg-washed and sugar-dusted; baked until deep gold.
A spectacular show-stopping frozen dessert featuring vanilla and coffee ice cream inside a sponge case, completely encased in Italian meringue and briefly torched or baked until golden. This impressive historic dessert creates drama at the table as a frozen filling remains cold while the exterior turns warm and golden.
A short-cook caramel: butter, brown sugar, cream and a splash of vanilla, brought to soft-ball stage and dropped to a temperature where it coats and clings. Sticks pushed into the stem ends of cold, dry apples. Each apple gripped by the stick and lowered into the caramel, swirled to coat, lifted clear, and set on a buttered tray. The toppings, if you want them (chopped peanuts, sprinkles, crushed pretzels), go on while the caramel is still tacky.
Two mixtures, one tin. The brownie batter goes in first: dark chocolate and butter melted, sugar and eggs whisked light, folded together with flour and cocoa. The cheesecake topping is full-fat cream cheese beaten with sugar, an egg yolk, vanilla and a squeeze of lemon - the lemon keeps the white layer bright against the brown. Spooned over the brownie in dollops, then dragged through with a knife to make figure-eight ribbons. Baked low and slow so the cheesecake sets without browning much; cooled fully before slicing.
Dark chocolate and butter melt over a bain-marie. Eggs and sugar whisk together until pale and ribbony, this gives the crackly top. The melted chocolate folds in, then a small amount of flour and cocoa, and chocolate chunks. Bake until the centre wobbles slightly; cool fully (or you'll get fudge soup).
Graham crackers (or digestive biscuits) crush fine, mix with melted butter and sugar, press into a 23 cm pie tin. Bakes for 10 minutes till set. Filling: 4 egg yolks whisk with sweetened condensed milk for 3 minutes till pale and thick. Lime juice (lots, about 150 ml) and zest whisk in. The lime acid begins setting the filling immediately. Pour into the crust; bake for 15 minutes till the filling has just-set with a tiny wobble. Chills for 4 hours. Whipped cream tops at service.
A graham-cracker base is pressed into a 23 cm springform tin and pre-baked for 10 minutes. Filling: cream cheese is softened to room temperature (cold cream cheese gives lumpy batter), then beaten with sugar, eggs one at a time, sour cream, vanilla and lemon. The tin is wrapped in foil so the water bath doesn't seep in. Baked at 160°C in a water bath for 60-75 minutes until the edges are set but the centre wobbles a 7 cm circle. Cooled in the oven with the door cracked for 1 hour (avoids cracks). Chilled overnight. Served chilled.
This orange cheesecake tart combines a shortcrust pastry case with a creamy, citrus-infused cheese filling. It is best served chilled and finished with warm marmalade and candied orange peel for a bright, elegant dessert.
The construction trick is the frozen peanut butter slab: 1 cup of commercial peanut butter spread (the firm processed kind, not natural) gets warmed, spread into a tin, frozen until solid. That slab tucks inside the brownie batter mid-tin. The frozen state stops the peanut butter from melting into the chocolate during the bake - it warms back to soft-set fudge texture by the time the brownie's done. Topped with a drizzle of more peanut butter swirled across the surface, baked until edges are set with a centre jiggle, cooled and chilled until sliceable.
Rich, fudgy chocolate brownies studded with toasted pecan nuts. These brownies have a dense, moist interior with just-set edges, the perfect balance of chocolate intensity and nutty richness. Elegant enough for entertaining yet comforting enough for everyday indulgence, especially paired with crème anglaise or fresh whipped cream.
Sweet shortcrust pastry is rolled into a 23 cm tin and blind-baked for 15 minutes (essential, an under-baked base goes soggy under the wet filling). Filling: dark brown sugar, light corn syrup (or golden syrup), eggs, melted butter, bourbon, vanilla and salt are whisked together. Pecan halves are arranged in concentric rings over the par-baked base; the filling is poured over. Baked for 40 minutes at 175°C until the filling has set with a slight wobble in the centre. Rested at least 2 hours before slicing (the filling firms as it cools).
The custard is a one-bowl mix: roasted pumpkin (or good tinned purée), evaporated milk, eggs, brown sugar, and the four spices that define the pie (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove). The shell is an all-butter shortcrust, blind-baked briefly so the base does not go soggy under the wet filling. Bakes low to keep the custard silky rather than scrambled. Cools completely in the tin so it slices cleanly.
A no-bake fridge slab built on milk chocolate, butter and golden syrup, studded with crushed digestives, mini marshmallows and pieces of honeycomb chocolate bar. Ten minutes of melting and folding, then a couple of hours in the fridge. Cut into squares for a lunchbox treat or stack on a plate for a casual gathering.
A classic fudgy brownie base - dark chocolate and butter melted together, sugar and eggs beaten until light, the chocolate folded in, then flour and cocoa folded just enough to combine. A homemade salted caramel is dolloped on top of the batter in the tin and swirled through with a skewer for the marbled look. Baked at 170°C until just-set - a faint tremble in the centre. Cooled completely (overnight is best) before slicing, because warm brownies tear and lose the fudge texture. Flaky salt scattered on top while still warm so it sticks.
The sweet potatoes are roasted whole until the flesh collapses and the sugars caramelise around the seam - never boiled, which dilutes them. The flesh is whipped warm with butter, evaporated milk, eggs, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a splash of bourbon (optional, but classical). Poured into a chilled all-butter shortcrust shell and baked low and slow until the centre sets with a faint wobble. Cooled to barely-warm and dusted with icing sugar, or topped with whipped cream.
A fudgy brownie batter built on dark chocolate and butter, lightened with whisked eggs and sugar. The texture comes from chopping each of the three chocolates by hand - different sizes give different melts. Dark chocolate goes into the batter (melted); milk chocolate gets folded through in 1 cm chunks (which stay molten in the centre when warm, set into chewy nuggets when cool); white chocolate gets scattered on top (where it browns at the edges and stays gooey at the centre). Cooled fully before slicing.
The standard rocky road structure (chocolate-butter-syrup base, biscuit chunks, marshmallows, mix-ins) with the colour palette reversed. White chocolate is sweeter and softer-set than milk, so the proportions tilt slightly: less syrup, a touch of double cream for the set, more biscuit for structure. Dried cranberries replace glace cherries (less sticky, brighter colour); shelled pistachios bring green flecks; mini marshmallows go in as standard. Set in the fridge, drizzled with melted dark chocolate for the contrast, cut into squares.