Dinner party desserts

Ricotta and apricot cheesecakes

Dense and tangy, these desserts make a special treat. Unlike many cheesecakes, which ooze calories, this recipe uses low-fat ricotta. It's a baked beauty!

Prune and whisky tart

This delicious prune and whisky tart is an unusual dessert that is sure to impress. To save time, you can use pre-made shortcrust pastry – how easy is that!

Mango and raspberry mascarpone cake

For a show-stopping summertime dessert or afternoon teatime treat, try this pretty, no-bake cake. This layered sweet is made up of fruit & vanilla mascarpone.

Plum clafoutis

Use blood plums to create this easy version of the French classic. The best bit about this clafoutis recipe is that you can use whichever stone fruit you like!

Summer fruits poached in pink champagne

Fizz and fruit are a cool combo in these delightful little dessert pots. Make the most of summer peaches and pair them with a little pink sparkling wine.

Bellini sorbet

With the help of an ice-cream machine (it can be made without one, too!), this peach and bellini ice-cream recipe will become a summer entertaining go-to.

Yoghurt & coconut panna cotta with pomegranate

A delicious and easy panna cotta that makes the most of sweet pomegranates. With coconut milk, Greek yoghurt and vanilla bean, it's a light but creamy dessert.

Chocolate and caramel tart

With a rich chocolate pastry and creamy caramel filling, this is a dessert dream. An ideal dinner party dessert, it will have guests begging for seconds.

Orange blossom and pomegranate cake

This stunning fruit bake has a whole orange whizzed through it and is topped with pomegranate syrup. It makes a vibrant, moist and flavour-packed slice.

Espresso tart with hazelnut pastry and Kahlúa cream

Coffee lovers of the world rejoice! The chocolate espresso filling is matched with almond pastry and a Kahlúa-cream topping. It makes a fab afternoon slice.

Nutella and salted butterscotch semifreddo

Chew Town gives you a dinner party dream dessert: Nutella semifreddo. The ice-cream dessert can be made hours ahead and makes an impressive centrepiece, too!

Quick pear and ginger pudding

This easy recipe is done in 15 minutes! It's a quick dessert fix that only uses 4 ingredients - not that anyone will ever know by its beautiful end result...

Sticky date pudding doughnuts

What do you get when you cross a fluffy-centred doughnut with sticky date pudding? A dessert lover's dream and one very scrumptious snack.

Figs with rosewater and goat’s cheese

This might be the quickest dessert ever – it is rather like putting out a cheese plate, but the emphasis is on the fruit.\nThis recipe is an extract from Eat Well Now by Ian Thorpe (published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $29.99) available in stores nationally.

Flourless mandarin & poppy seed cake

This gluten-free cake is topped with a sweet syrup and works just as well with a cup of tea as it does as a winning dessert to end a delicious evening.

Brioche & pear pudding

With large pears as the stars of this dessert dish, it's bursting with flavour! The leftover tangy syrup from this pudding can be spooned over fruit or yoghurt.

Chocolate hazelnut lattice tart

When molten chocolate meets warm pastry, the only thing to do is add ice-cream. Enjoy this cocoa-based lattice tart as an elegant dessert when entertaining.

Grown-up banoffee pie

Classic British dessert banoffee pie gets an adults-only makeover thanks to a rich rum-spiked chocolate layer. Sorry kids, this one is just for the grown-ups!

Spiced plum & blackberry crumble

Showcase fruit in a piping hot, oat-topped crumble delicately flavoured with cinnamon and star anise.

Custard & nutmeg tart

There's something so honest about a custard tart, simply topped with a grating of nutmeg. Milk-soaked sultanas give the custard something even sweeter.

Chocolate ganache & salted caramel brittle

This restaurant-quality dessert is sure to dazzle your guests. The toffee shard also contains hazelnuts.

Boozy coco-lime pie

Like a happy mash-up of a key lime pie and a piña colada, this is a Saturday night kind of pudding.

Treacle tart

The traditional British desert with a sticky golden syrup middle and biscuity pastry crust

Pain au choc bread and butter pudding

This show-stopping dessert is incredibly easy to make. You can also make this with plain croissants, but then you’d miss out on that extra chocolate hit.