HIT the festive sweet spot with my best dessert buys.
From traditional favourites to Christmas show-stoppers, put your pud at the centre of the seasonal stage . . . and try the top recipes I picked out at morrisons.com.
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Christmas puddings
STAR DESSERT: Morrisons The Best Xmas Star Panna Cotta With Raspberry Sauce, 750g, available from December 21, is £7.
MERRY CHOC-MAS: Have a cracking Christmas with Lidl’s Luxury Chocolate Bauble Smash Cake, £9.99.
FESTIVE FAVOURITE: For your fill of festive pud, Tesco Finest 12 Month Matured Christmas Pudding with Courvoisier VS Cognac, is £5 or buy three for the price of two.
MERRY MERINGUE: For sugar and spice, Tesco Finest Blackcurrant and Winter Spice Roulade, 506g, is £5 or buy two for £8.
GIVE A FIG: Heston Fig and Port Cheesecake, £12, from Waitrose is the BBC Good Food winner for traditional centrepiece dessert.
BERRY NICE: Waitrose Black Forest Arctic Roulade £8, won best frozen dessert in the Olive magazine Christmas Supermarket Awards.
NICE ICE: Morrisons Gingerbread Ice Cream is the perfect festive spoonful, down from £2.85 to £2.50.
ITALIAN CLASSIC: Save 50p on Co-op Tiramisu 500g, now £2.
ON A ROLL: With 25 per cent off Waitrose No.1 Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Profiteroles, down from £4 to £3, you can pile them high.
TASTY TRIFLE: Complete Christmas with Morrisons The Best Pedro Ximénez sherry and raspberry trifle, 900g, £7, available from December 21.
FREE FROM: Tesco’s Free From Christmas Pudding, 100g, £1.50, won best gluten-free pudding in the BBC Good Food Magazine Christmas taste test.
ITALIAN CHRISTMAS: Fans of the classic Italian cake should snap up Morrisons The Best Classic Fruit Panettone, £7, winner in the BBC Good Food Magazine awards.
Chocolate boxes
CHOCS away! Whether you are buying a gift or keeping them for yourself, a tasty box of chocolates should be on everyone’s festive shopping list.
A 300g box of Ferrero Rocher is £6 at Morrisons.
For sprouts they will scoff, Tesco Milk Chocolate Sprouts are 75p or buy two for £1.
Bring out the classics and save £1 on After Eight mints at Sainsbury’s, now £2.
Save £3 on Cadbury’s Milk Tray, 530g, now £5 at Morrisons.
Save £1 on a Cadbury Medium Stocking Selection at Sainsbury’s, now £3.
Savour a box of Thornton’s Christmas chocolates, 262g, £5, from Morrisons.
Get £1.50 off Lindt Lindor Orange milk chocolate truffles at Asda, now £3.50.
Magic up 70p off Monty Bojangles Choccy Scoffy dusted truffles at Waitrose, now £2.80.
Go nuts for Lidl’s Italian pralines, £4.99.
Panettone and zabaglione trifle
Serves ten
4
YOU NEED:
- 125g panettone or chocolate chip brioche
- 250ml cream sherry
- 500g frozen black forest mix, thawed
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp all-spice
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 4 tsp cornflour
- 5 egg yolks
- 600ml double cream
- 2 tbsp pistachios
- 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
METHOD: Place the panettone or brioche in a 1.75-litre serving dish and pour over 100ml of the sherry to moisten the bread. Set aside.
Put the fruit mix in a pan with the cinnamon and all-spice plus 2 tbsp of sugar. Bring to a simmer, stirring, for about five minutes, until the sugar has melted and the juices have been released. Mix 1 tbsp of the juice with 2 tsp of the cornflour then add back to the pan and continue to heat for a few more minutes, until the juice is syrupy.
Leave to cool.
To make the zabaglione, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar and cornflour in a bowl. Bring half the cream and the remaining sherry to a simmer in a pan.
Whisking continuously, pour the heated cream into the egg mix, return everything to the pan and heat, whisking, until it just starts to thicken.
As soon as it does, quickly remove it from the heat, transfer to a clean bowl and cool by setting the bowl into one filled with iced water.
Whisk occasionally so the custard cools quickly, then lay a piece of clingfilm on the surface to prevent a skin forming. Place in the fridge for an hour to firm up.
Spoon the spiced fruit over the panettone or brioche, then pour over the zabaglione. Chill in the fridge until you are ready to serve, then whip the remaining cream to soft peaks and spoon on to the zabaglione. Decorate with pistachios and pomegranate seeds.
Spiced choc and hazelnut meringue gateau
Serves ten
4
YOU NEED:
- 4 large eggs, whites only
- 240g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 100g hazelnuts, ground
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 500g mascarpone
- 6 tbsp Nutella spread
- 100g dark and 100g white chocolate
METHOD: Heat the oven to 120C/100C fan/gas 1. Draw four 18cm circles on a piece of baking paper and place on two baking sheets.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time, whisking back to stiff peaks between each spoonful. When all the sugar is incorporated and the mixture is thick and glossy, whisk in the cornflour, hazelnuts, cocoa and five spice. Divide the mixture between the four drawn circles, spreading evenly. Bake for 30 minutes then turn the oven off and leave the meringues inside for another 30 minutes. Remove to cool on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, make the filling by mixing the mascarpone and Nutella together and chill until needed.
Melt the chocolates in separate bowls over pans of simmering water then spread thickly over two large baking sheets and place in the fridge for about 10 minutes to set.
Once set, use the edge of a large knife held at approximately 45 degrees and, firmly pushing away from you, scrape the chocolate so curls form with ragged, shard-like edges.
To assemble, spread the Nutella cream over three meringues, stack and top with the fourth. Decorate with the chocolate shards.
