Make-ahead dessert recipes

Browse our best make-ahead dessert recipes – all can be made in advance, with the finishing touches added  on the day. Perfect to take some stress out of throwing a dinner party.

Choose from crowdpleasing classics such as eton mess and Michel Roux Jr’s chocolate mousse or lemon tart, or new favourites including Japanese soufflé cheesecake and a mango twist on tiramisu.

In the mood for chocolate? We love these molten middle chocolate fondants and our chocolate tart inspired by After Eights. If fruit’s your thing, we have plenty of make-ahead dessert recipes in that vein, too. For summer, opt for a strawberry daiquiri tart; for winter, try our pear and butterscotch cheesecake. And if you’re a pavlova fan, you’ll be spoilt for choice with our topping ideas, from caramelised walnut and coffee to peach bellini and pink praline.

Need starter ideas for your soirée? Check out our recipes, including smoky garlic prawn cocktail and a halloumi and clementine salad.

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Gingercake bites

Christmas cupcakes and small bakes

Gingercake bites

Sticky gingercake gets better with age, so it’s perfect for giving as a Christmas gift. We’ve coated each cube of cake with a lemony icing.

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Rick Stein’s double-crust apple pie with a touch of cinnamon

Apple pies

Rick Stein’s double-crust apple pie with a touch of cinnamon

Give Rick Stein's double-crust apple pie recipe a go – it's the taste of autumn. “This is a proper old-fashioned fruit pie," says Rick. 

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Salted maple pretzel pie

Sweet pies

Salted maple pretzel pie

What do you get if you cross treacle tart, American maple syrup pie and pretzels? A gloriously sticky, slightly salty dessert.

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Chocolate budino

Italian desserts

Chocolate budino

With only five ingredients, this creamy Italian pudding – chocolate budino – is incredibly simple but beautifully smooth and indulgent.

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Theo Randall’s torta sacripantina (cherry and raspberry genoise)

Italian desserts

Theo Randall’s torta sacripantina (cherry and raspberry genoise)

Torta sacripantina is a dessert from Liguria. Theo Randall shares his recipe for this genoise cake with cherries, raspberries and zabaione.

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Theo Randall’s torta della nonna (lemon custard tart with pine nut topping)

Italian desserts

Theo Randall’s torta della nonna (lemon custard tart with pine nut topping)

Torta della nonna is a lemony custard tart topped with pine nuts, popular across northern Italy. Chef Theo Randall shares his recipe.

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Almond granita ‘affogato’

Italian desserts

Almond granita ‘affogato’

Sicilian chef Alfio Laudani shares a make-ahead dessert perfect for hot summer days. Almond granita is topped with a gorgeous espresso foam.

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Paul Ainsworth’s strawberry trifle

Make-ahead summer desserts

Paul Ainsworth’s strawberry trifle

Top chef Paul Ainsworth shares a recipe from his debut cookbook, upgrading his dad's classic trifle with fresh peak-season strawberries.

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Strawberry, black pepper and clotted cream tart

Strawberries

Strawberry, black pepper and clotted cream tart

This strawberry tart is one seriously impressive summer dessert. Strawberries macerated with black pepper top a rich clotted cream filling.

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Mango and elderflower mess

Mango desserts

Mango and elderflower mess

Based on the modern classic eton mess, this colourful dessert swaps out the more common strawberries for juicy ripe mango, marinated in floral elderflower cordial.

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Easy mango mousse

Mango desserts

Easy mango mousse

With just five ingredients and 15 minutes prep time, this mango mousse is a great recipe to have in your dessert repertoire.

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Balsamic-roasted strawberries with mascarpone

Strawberries

Balsamic-roasted strawberries with mascarpone

Balsamic strawberries with mascarpone make a seriously good grown-up pudding. Try this low-effort, six ingredient summer dessert today.

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Baklava ricotta semifreddo

Frozen dessert

Baklava ricotta semifreddo

Georgina Hayden's spectacular baklava semifreddo has a caramelised filo top and fragrant ricotta and rosewater base. Frozen dessert heaven.

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Michel Roux Jr’s almond and raspberry frangipane tart

Sweet tarts

Michel Roux Jr’s almond and raspberry frangipane tart

Devote an afternoon to making Michel Roux Jr’s classy frangipane tart. “This French version of a bakewell tart is one of my favourites,” he says.

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Tom Kerridge’s cappuccino fondants

Fondants

Tom Kerridge’s cappuccino fondants

These melting-middle cappuccino fondants by Tom Kerridge are hard to resist thanks to the combo of indulgent chocolate and aromatic coffee.

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