Many desserts can be fussy and time-consuming but I tend to love the simple ones that come together quickly and allow me to linger around the table with my guests. In many cases, this kind of dessert is more about shopping than cooking, so having the right ingredients on hand is key. Read on for a pantry list and some delicious (but lightning quick!) recipe ideas. And leave us your favorite quick and simple dessert ideas in the comments!
It's helpful to keep a few things on hand that you can grab for a quick dessert, especially if you have unexpected company for dinner or at tea time.
The Three-Ingredient-or-Less-Dessert Pantry
• Pints of good quality ice-cream in simple flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, strawberry
• Simple store-bought cookies like Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Thins and meringues
• Fresh fruit
• Mascarpone or greek yogurt
• Bars of good quality chocolate
• Nuts
• Dried fruit
• Honey
• Whipping cream
• Nutella
What To Do with Them
• Affogato: (hot espresso poured over vanilla ice cream)
• Vanilla ice-cream, served with ginger thin cookies and roasted almonds
• Eton Mess: whipped cream with sliced fresh strawberries and crushed meringues stirred in.
• Fool: Whipped cream with sugared fresh fruit (usually berries) swirled in, often served in pretty glasses. Raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, blueberries, blackberries, etc all make delicious fools.
• If you have any leftover rice, reheat it with with coconut milk and a little sugar for rice pudding. You can also top this with fruit (but that would make four ingredients!)
• Scatter good quality chocolate bars, pass bowls of dried fruit and nuts. In the summer, serve fresh fruit.
• Mascarpone: Sweeten with sugar, honey, agave and spoon onto cookies or fresh fruit.
• Spread Nutella on slices of brioche toast, cut into triangles. (Optional: top with sliced banana.)
• Melon with Ginger Chili Syrup: Slice a melon into wedges and deseed. Drizzle with ginger syrup and sprinkle with finely diced chili. (Optional 4th ingredient: minced mint or basil.)
• Dates stuffed with goat's cheese and topped with a walnut
• Peaches, halved and stoned, simmered in a sweet wine like muscat. Optional: Serve with ice cream or greek-style yogurt or mascarpone.
What do you keep on hand for dessert emergencies? What are some of your favorite quick desserts?
Related: 10 Delicious Bite-Sized Desserts!
(Image: Dana Velden)
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When I want a fast dessert, I'll have sliced fruit with nutella or icecream topped with warmed nutella.
I don't know that I'd serve it to company, but I sometimes mix plain Greek-style yogurt with cocoa and sugar. Even better than chocolate ice cream.
What's ginger syrup? Is that something you buy at a specialty store, or is it homemade?
statgrrl: I use The Ginger People's Ginger Syrup which I get at my local natural food store (which admittedly is rather large and well-stocked.) The Ginger People's web page shows that they seem to be out of stock right now (I've had my bottle for a while. It lasts forever!)
Amazon carries a few other brands or you can make your own.
whip up equal portions of mascarpone and heavy cream with a few tsp of sugar. Heaven!
I like to blend frozen fruit (mangoes are great for this) with a little Greek yogurt and honey for a quick soft-serve.
I sometimes make mini parfaits in small decorative glasses: layers of fruit (jam or lemon curd are fine too), lightly sweetened Greek yogurt and something crunchy, like toasted nuts or crumbled meringues or as an indulgence, broken up bits of pie crust. There are a gajillion variations and it's easy to adapt to the seasons.
It's easy to make ginger syrup. Boil 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water for 5 min. Turn off heat. Add sliced ginger pieces. Let sit for 20 minutes. Strain. Delicious in lemonade too.
Greek yoghurt with elderflower cordial
It's "three ingredients or fewer."