Traditionally, desserts were served as light, fresh dishes and their purpose was to wash down the main course and reduce the feeling of fullness after eating. After the annual feast of turkey and ham on Christmas Day, everyone is usually too stuffed to think about cake or pudding and instead must loosen the waistband on their trousers. Ice-cream, sorbets and fresh fruit are good options after big meals like this as they satisfy the sweet tooth without being heavy on the stomach. With this in mind, here are two light Christmas dessert recipes that are guaranteed to go down a treat, and won’t have you buying a bigger Christmas jumper.
Homemade Ice-cream
Who said ice-cream has to be hard to make? For this quick-fire recipe, all you need is:
- 250 grams of a flavouring of your choice (why not try nutella?)
- 2 tablespoons of rum
- 300ml of double cream
- 50 grams of icing sugar
Method
1. Mix the flavouring and rum together until smooth in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, whip double cream and icing sugar together until the mixture forms peaks.
3. Add the two mixtures and stir to bring them together.
4. Spoon into an airtight container and freeze for 12 hours or overnight.
5. Serve straight from the freezer with some fresh fruit and feel your fullness disappear!
Christmassy Hot Chocolate
This comforting winter warmer is in stark contrast to the ice-cream, but the two are surprisingly complementary. Hot chocolate is a great sweet treat for chocolate lovers who have over-indulged during dinner; and this recipe serves 8-10 mugs for all Christmas Day visitors to enjoy. You will need:
- 2 pints of skimmed milk
- 2 tablespoons of cornflour
- 3 tablespoons of icing sugar
- 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder or drinking chocolate
- 100 grams of grated dark or milk chocolate
- A pinch of ground cinnamon for a Christmassy kick
- A pinch of sea salt
Method
1. Pour milk into a large saucepan and almost bring to the boil on a medium heat.
2. In the meantime, mix the rest of the ingredients in a storage jar.
3. Add 10 heaped tablespoons to the hot milk, whisk and leave to thicken for a few minutes before serving.
4. Store the remaining mixture in the jar to use again.
Ruth Marnell
Image: bekka_ttlens via flickr.com
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