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Browse our best make-ahead dessert recipes – all can be made in advance, with the finishing touches added on the day. Perfect to take some stress out of throwing a dinner party.
Choose from crowdpleasing classics such as eton mess and Michel Roux Jr’s chocolate mousse or lemon tart, or new favourites including Japanese soufflé cheesecake and a mango twist on tiramisu.
In the mood for chocolate? We love these molten middle chocolate fondants and our chocolate tart inspired by After Eights. If fruit’s your thing, we have plenty of make-ahead dessert recipes in that vein, too. For summer, opt for a strawberry daiquiri tart; for winter, try our pear and butterscotch cheesecake. And if you’re a pavlova fan, you’ll be spoilt for choice with our topping ideas, from caramelised walnut and coffee to peach bellini and pink praline.
Need starter ideas for your soirée? Check out our recipes, including smoky garlic prawn co*cktail and a halloumi and clementine salad.
Showing 1-16 of 159 recipes
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This showstopping cheesecake has a high-sided chocolatey biscuit base, a creamy filling spiked with nutty caramelised white chocolate and a...
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Ravinder Bhogal’s burnt honey pannacotta with rhubarb is the perfect make-ahead dessert for spring. Ravinder says: “Who knew chamomile teabags...
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When black forest gateau meets bakewell tart, something magical happens. These two nostalgic desserts combine perfectly – especially when served...
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Food writer Angela Zaher gives the traditional dessert syllabub a Lebanese twist with arak and orange blossom water, served with...
VegetarianMake-ahead
- Easy
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Seville oranges are made for more than just marmalade. Their distinctive sour bitterness and floral taste is great in desserts,...
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Bonet is a classic Piedmontese dessert showcasing two of the region’s favourite things – chocolate and amaretti biscuits. Gently cooked...
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Scoops of pillowy amaretto-spiked mascarpone top golden sugar meringue nests to make these individual festive desserts. The meringues can be...
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Dreamy layers of coconut cake, pannacotta and cream make this trifle with a twist exciting enough, but the surprise layer...
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These festive ice cream sandwiches are inspired by our popular Christmassy spiced fruit and mascarpone semifreddo recipe. The sponge is...
FreezableVegetarianMake-ahead
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Chetna Makan’s easy pavlova is topped with cream and beautifully caramelized walnuts, then drizzled with dark chocolate ganache – the...
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Chef Jeremy Pang shares his recipe for a perfectly light and bouncy Japanese soufflé cheesecake. The sound and wobble of...
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Creamy chestnut purée is perfect for making into all sorts of wonderful desserts, including this decadent parfait, which comes topped...
Gluten-freeVegetarianMake-ahead
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Millefeuille (which translates to ‘a thousand leaves’ thanks to all the layers of puff pastry) are all the rage right...
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Not all frozen creams need to be churned – as the quintessentially French parfait proves. Cookbook author and chef Ravneet...
FreezableVegetarianMake-ahead
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Cooking with rosé should be a more common practice! The wine is the perfect match for in-season pears in this...
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If you’re looking for a dinner party dessert in the autumn months this winner from queen of French bakes, Manon...
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