Three (very) easy desserts

I don’t do cakes. Or puddings, or trifles – any desserts for that matter. Well, okay sometimes I have to. Being from a VERY Cape Malay community is like that. There are those occasions when people expect you to arrive with a killer dessert to fill their already fully-stocked table.

With my skills and enthusiasm in the dessert area so limited, I tend to stick to the easiest treats. Over the years I’ve honed a few which I can whip up in no time at all, with a modest budget and the minimum of fuss. Here’s my top three.

1. Malaysian pudding

I don’t know why it’s called Malaysian. I’ve been, and never seen it served there. It’s a great ‘cheat’ dessert: people go for it because they think it’s healthy with its yoghurt-and-fruity taste. But with cream and and a touch of condensed milk, its definitely more fun than health.

Ingredients

• 250ml fresh cream
• 1x 290g can Nestle dessert cream
• Condensed milk (try 2-3 tablespoons and taste)
• 1 litre smooth strawberry yoghurt
• 2x 410g cans fruit cocktail
• The syrup of one of the cans of cocktail

Method

1. Whip the cream until almost stiff.
2. Add everything else and mix it up (with a spoon).
3. You can add toasted almond flakes, fresh cream, chocolate flakes or anything else as decoration if you like.
4. Voila.

2. Easy chocolate mousse dessert

Nobody’s got time to make chocolate mousse from scratch, and it’s pretty lame to rock up at an event with shop-bought mousse chucked into a bowl. So here’s a way to make a delicious, personal dessert with minimal effort.

Ingredients

• 1 litre Fair Cape chocolate mousse
• 4x 125ml Fair Cape chocolate desserts
• 1 or 2 large Bar One bars
• 1 pack of Romany Cream biscuits
• Optional: Rasberries, strawberries, fresh cream or whatever you like for garnishing. I grated white chocolate over the dessert and added berries

Method

1. Break up the biscuits into little pieces (or crush if you prefer to not have chunks).
2. Pour some chocolate dessert (about one or two bottles) over and mix between the biscuits.
3. Add a layer of mousse.
4. Cut little pieces of Bar One and sprinkle onto the mousse.
5. Repeat the layers as many times as you wish.
6. End with chocoloate dessert to smooth over the top.
7. Garnish as desired.

Custard and chocolate pudding

There’s no name for this dessert, and when people ask what it is I generally say, “a custard, cake, mousse dessert thing.” The name doesn’t sound amazing but the taste definitely makes up for it.

Ingredients

• 1 Woolworths four-pack chocolate muffins
• 1 litre chocolate mousse
• 1 litre custard
• Optional trimmings: fresh cream, sprinkles, berries

Method

Note: You can either make one big pudding or individual cupcake-sized ones – the method is the same.

1. In a shallow dish, start spreading a layer of mousse at the bottom.
2. Cut the muffins up horizontally (making little muffin discs).
3. Add a layer of muffins over the mousse.
4. Pour custard over the muffins.
5. Repeat the process till you run out of ingredients, preferably ending with custard on top.
6. Decorate as desired.