Summer puddings

Show-off Finish your meal in style with these dreamy desserts summer puddings

Blueberry and mascarpone slice

Make the puff pastry base and blueberry compote ahead of time for a speedy last-minute assembly job.

35 M I N U T E S + C O OL I NG | SE RV E S 6 E A SY ready-made puff pastry 1 sheet egg 1, beaten icing sugar 2 tbsp, plus 2 tbsp for dusting blueberries 250g soft light brown sugar 2 tbsp lemon juice a squeeze mascarpone 250g double cream 200ml vanilla bean paste or extract 1 tsp mint a handful of leaves

1 Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Unroll the puff pastry sheet and use a knife to lightly score a border 4cm from the edge all the way around. Use a fork to prick the inside all over, then slide the whole sheet onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush with beaten egg and lightly dust with icing sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and crisp, and the sides have risen. Remove from the oven and, once cooled slightly, gently push down the middle if it has risen. Cool completely. 2 Put the blueberries, brown sugar and lemon juice in a small pan, and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the blueberries split and are juicy. Cool. 3 Put the mascarpone in a bowl with the remaining icing sugar and whisk to combine. Add the double cream and vanilla bean paste, and continue to whisk until just holding soft peaks. 4 Spoon the cream mixture all over the centre of the puff pastry, creating little peaks and hollows, then spoon over the blueberry compote. Sprinkle over the mint leaves and an extra dusting of icing sugar if you like, and serve.

PER SERVING 652 kcals | fat 51.1G saturates 30.3G | carbs 39.5G | sugars 23.1G fibre 2.1G | protein 6.8G | salt 0.6G

Boozy raspberry tiramisu

3 0 M I N U T E S + OV E R N IG H T C H I L L I NG SE RV E S 8-10 | E A SY mascarpone 500g double cream 500ml icing sugar 2 tbsp vanilla extract 2 tsp shop-bought lemon or vanilla loaf cakes 2 x 275g cakes, cut into 11/2cm slices raspberries 300g BOOZY RASPBERRY SAUCE raspberries 300g raspberry liqueur 4 tbsp icing sugar 1 tbsp

1 To make the sauce, put the ingredients and 2 tbsp of water in a food processor. Whizz until puréed, then push through a sieve to remove the seeds. Chill until needed. Put the mascarpone in a bowl, beat to loosen, then gradually beat in the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract until holding soft peaks. 2 Put three-quarters of the sauce in a shallow bowl. Dip the cake slices in the sauce, then arrange in a single layer in a serving dish. Save a handful of raspberries for decoration, then tip the rest into a bowl and crush with a fork to break up slightly. Spoon half over the layer of cake slices, pushing down as you go. Spread over half the cream mixture and level the top. 3 Repeat with another layer of soaked cake slices, the rest of the crushed raspberries and the remaining cream. Chill for 4-5 hours or ideally overnight. Before serving, drizzle with more sauce and scatter over the reserved fresh raspberries.

PER SERVING (10) 740 kcals | fat 58.8G saturates 33.3G | carbs 41.1G | sugars 26.6G fibre 2.4G | protein 6.5G | salt 0.3G

Apricot cheesecake bars

2 0 M I N U T E S + C H I L L I NG | M A K E S 1 2 | E A SY amaretti biscuits 200g digestive biscuits 50g unsalted butter 150g, melted apricots 4, stoned and halved caster sugar 100g lime 1, zested FILLING crème fraîche 100ml soft cheese 280g sugar 75g double cream 100ml

1 Line a 20cm x 20cm square brownie tin with clingfilm. To make the base, tip the amaretti and digestive biscuits into a food processor and blitz to crumbs. Add the melted butter and briefly blitz again. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and press down into the base. Chill. 2 Put the apricot halves in a small pan with the caster sugar and 100ml of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 5 minutes over a low heat until the apricots are tender. Cool and peel off the skins. 3 Whip together the crème fraîche and soft cheese with the sugar and, in a separate bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks. Fold the soft cheese mixture into the cream, then spoon the mixture onto the biscuit base and flatten. 4 Slice the apricots thinly. Arrange by fanning the slices on top of the cheesecake mixture. Chill for 3 hours. Lift out of the tin onto a chopping board, cut into 12 bars and sprinkle with the lime zest.

PER SERVING 340 kcals | fat 25.9G saturates 15.7G carbs 23.4G | sugars 21G fibre 0.6G | protein 3G | salt 0.2G

Banoffee fridge cake

Everyone knows banoffee pie tastes even better the day after making, when all the flavours have had a chance to meld. This easy fridge cake takes advantage of that.

3 0 M I N U T E S + OV E R N IG H T SE T T I NG SE RV E S 1 2 | E A SY vegetable oil for the tin double cream 750ml vanilla extract 1 tsp icing sugar 2 tbsp Nestle Carnation Caramel 1/2 x 397g tin digestive biscuits 30-32 (about 450g) bananas 6 small, peeled and sliced milk chocolate 50g

1 Lightly oil a deep 23cm springform tin, then line with clingfilm (the oil will help the clingfilm stick to the tin). Whip the cream, vanilla and icing sugar to soft peaks. Scrape the caramel into a bowl and beat with a spoon to loosen it. 2 Arrange a layer of digestives in the base of the lined tin – you should get about seven in a 23cm tin. Break up another biscuit to fill in the cracks. 3 Dollop over a quarter of the cream and spread out. Top with a layer of banana slices, then drizzle over 1 tbsp of caramel sauce. 4 Repeat with another layer of biscuits, another quarter of cream, more banana slices and another 1 tbsp of caramel. Repeat again with a third layer. 5 Add one more layer of biscuits but this time only add the rest of the cream, swirling it into a nice pattern. Put in the fridge to chill overnight. Chill the remaining caramel sauce, too. 6 Unclip the tin and carefully peel away the clingfilm. Transfer to a cake plate or stand. Just before serving, drizzle over more caramel (warm it a little first so it can be drizzled), then sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Cut into wedges to serve.

PER SERVING 604 kcals | fat 43.9G saturates 25.1G | carbs 45.7G | sugars 27.6G fibre 2.1G | protein 5.2G | salt 0.6G