If you’ve truly upped the frugal stakes, chances are dinners out at
expensive restaurants where you order three courses and the cheese plate
are not so common any more. I like to sneak the occasional outing (and
more than the occasional cheese plate) but eating out is an easy cost to
save money on, so a lot of people are making the shift. But does that
mean you have to lose out on the quality of food you eat? Not in the
slightest. You can be eating gourmet desserts made cheaply and healthily
at home. Here are 5 of my favourites.
Poached Pears
The thing about poached pears is that you can really do any style
that you feel like, depending on your meal and sweet tooth on the day. I
like to put a bit of sherry, water, honey, cinnamon and cloves in a
pan, heat it to boiling point and then let the pears simmer in it until
they are super soft. Serve with natural yoghurt or creme fraiche. Other
alternatives can be to use red wine or jams in your poaching liquid.
Bread And Butter Pudding
Think this staple of your granny’s isn’t gourmet? Have a quick look
at some dessert menus out there and think again. To add the gourmet
touch to the basic (bread, buttered, covered in eggs and milk) add white
chocolate and serve with a fruit compote or raspberry coulis. It’s a
great dessert to bust out if you’ve got half a loaf of old bread to get
rid of and is still one of my favourite all-time desserts.
Trifle
Another formerly daggy dessert making quite the gourmet comeback. Use
day-old madeira cake or sponge fingers. If you want to get truly
gourmet, scare up some amaretti biscuits. Line the cake layer with jam
or a raspberry coulis, before adding jelly and a layer of custard and
repeating. Top with loads of berries and toasted slivered almonds.
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
There is really no more to this recipe than you would guess from the
name, and people love it. Some cooks like to double dip- as in, dip once
in white chocolate, the second time in dark- but it’s totally up to
you. Buy some relatively good chocolate to melt, and the world is your
oyster.
Baked Apple
Hollow out an apple, including the skin. Bake for around 45 minutes.
Stuff it with whatever dried fruits you have hanging around, plus some
honey, cinnamon and lemon zest, and a bit of water, which you’ve had
simmering on the stove. Delish.
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