Don’t have much space in the fridge? Or perhaps to much empty room? Still craving some dessert or need to impress guests? Making dessert doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. You shouldn’t have to use up all your food money just to have something sweet to end your dinner with. Below are a few ideas for when you’re craving for something sweet that’s a bit more than just a chocolate bar (not that there’s anything wrong with a chocolate bar).
Mind you, these recipes do not use pre-made or highly processed ingredients such as pre-made doughs or crusts, cookies, or chocolate-nut pastes. No matter how convenient such things are, there’s something about making your treat yourself – especially if it’s easy.
Chocolate pudding, 5 ingredients
Although this is something to make in advance (unless you want to eat it while it’s still hot), this chocolate pudding is charmingly quick to make. For a vegan option it is possible to leave out the egg and use a plant-based milk alternative.
Serves 3-4:
5 dl milk
1 egg
1/2 dl maizena
1/2 dl sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
Mix egg, sugar, maizena, and cocoa powder in a pot. Stir while adding the milk little by little. Start heating the mixture on a stove and whisk it until it starts boiling. Let it boil for 2 minutes as it thickens and keep whisking to avoid its becoming lumpy. Once thickened, remove from heat and let cool. Giving it a stir a few times during the cooling will keep a skin from forming.
Berry ”Froyo”, 4 ingredients
This delightfully cool dessert is perfect for a hot day. A good way to use up those berries you preserved back in summer, but quite conveniently made even from store-bought frozen berry packs.
Serves 4:
5 dl berries, frozen
1 banana, either frozen or not
½ dl yoghurt
honey or sugar according to taste
Mix all ingredients using a food processor or blender. Careful with your blender if the ingredients are very icy. In that case it may be better to let them thaw a bit beforehand to avoid icy . If you have time, you can leave the froyo in the freezer for a bit to let it recool.
Lemon or Lime Posset, 3 ingredients
This dessert looks and sounds fancy but it’s actually quite fast to make. The refreshing taste of the citrus makes it a good choice for a warm day or after a heavier main dish. Decorate and serve as you see fit, for example with fruits and berries or perhaps just a bit of the rind of the citrus from which you pressed the juice.
Serves 2:
2dl cream
3/4dl sugar
1/2 dl lemon or lime juice
In a pot, mix sugar with cream and bring to a boil. Keep stirring and let cook for 3 minutes. Add about 1 Tbsp of the cream-sugar mixture into your lemon/lime juice and mix. Gently pour the juice mixture into the rest of the cream, still stirring it. Let cool just a few minutes before pouring it into four dessert bowls. Put cups into the fridge to cool for at least three hours.
Red Bean Paste, 2 ingredients
Here’s something exotic for you. This traditional Japanese sweet dessert can be eaten on its own but also be served with e.g. fruit salad or whipped cream. However, it is such a staple food item that it is an ingredient of other Japanese desserts. Add a bit of the paste into homemade buns before you put them into the oven: you’ve got anpan. Red bean paste between two pancakes: that’s a dorayaki. While this recipe takes some time to make, it is very simple so you can make a bigger batch to save for later uses. Red beans, or adzuki beans, may not yet be part of your inventory, but they can be bought in Asian food stores.
Red bean paste made into a soup (with a mochi on top).
100g dry red beans (adzuki beans)
80-100g sugar
Let beans soak in water overnight. The next day, drain the beans and add fresh water, enough to cover the beans. Bring the water to a boil and cook under a lid until beans are soft (around 45 min), adding water as needed to keep beans just covered. When the beans are cooked, drain the water. You can leave a bit of water, but the more you leave, the runnier the end result will be. Turn the beans into a paste using a handheld mixer or a food processor. Let the paste stay on the stove to keep it warm and add the sugar little by little, blending it into the beans. The traditional recipe recommends adding 100g sugar into 100g beans, but a bit less is just fine too — trust your tastebuds here. Once sugar is added, your red bean paste is done. It will keep in the fridge for two weeks.
Oven Baked Banana, 1 ingredient
A favourite because it’s so ridiculously easy. Unlike a fried banana this one’s not soaked in grease, yet like a fried banana it can be served with ice-cream, chocolate sauce, pistachio nuts or whatever you prefer.
Ingredients: 1 banana per person
Preheat oven to 200°C. Lay unpeeled banana(s) on an oven tray with baking parchment. Pop them into the oven for about 15 min. When the bananas are ready their skins should be black (no yellow) but still in tact (no juices pouring out). Best served warm! For serving, you can either open the banana and scoop out the insides into dessert bowls, or let diners open their own bananas on their plates.
The fruit is best opened by stabbing it in the side with a knife and pulling the knife along the edge. Open the edges to reveal the soft inside. Mind you, the peel will have a slightly bitter taste: you may want to avoid scooping the peel, eat only the soft part of the fruit. Otherwise, eat as you would a fried banana, on its own e.g. with ice cream or chocolate.
Next time you’re craving something sweet, make sure to give one of these incredibly simple recipes a try!