6 Delicious Last-Minute Desserts
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Last Updated on January 8, 2020 by Katherine
The holiday season is often littered with surprises. I can’t tell you the number of times someone has surprised me with an unexpected gift or party to attend. This week I wanted to present some unique, but surprisingly easy desserts you can whip up quick and on a budget. Most of these desserts can be ready to go in an hour or so, some might need a few hours to set. If you have a well-stocked pantry, you may find you have all the ingredients readily available to you as well, which definitely saves time and money! The holidays are stressful enough, so if you find yourself staring at an unexpected potluck party invite wondering what the heck you’re going to make, look no further, I’ve got your back.
These desserts don’t necessarily have to be confined to the holidays either, they’re good year-round for whenever you have an unexpected party or just want something sweet to satisfy your craving. Plus, they taste so much better than a pre-packaged dessert that you can just buy in the store!
Lime Posset with Raspberries
I started with this recipe, which I found on Love Bakes Good Cakes. A posset is an acid set cream dessert. That’s why you often see lemons used to make these desserts, but limes and other citrus fruits are also quite good for setting this style of dessert.
You simply boil heavy cream and sugar for five minutes (make sure it doesn’t boil over!), remove from heat and stir in 5 tablespoons of your citrus fruit juice. Then allow it to cool for 15 minutes before putting it into the fridge to cool for at least 2 hours.
The result is a delicious, creamy and pudding-like dessert. I love the tart taste of the posset and choosing raspberries balances off that flavor so very well. I’d be interested to experiment with other citrus fruits and fresh fruit. Sorry for the lack of photo, I was so eager to try the dessert that I completely forgot to take a photo.
Puff Pastry Horns
I mentioned in last week’s blog post that I was waiting for something to do with this dessert post. Now the wait is over! I was waiting on some pastry roll molds from amazon. Now that I have them, I’m pleased to try out this puff pastry recipe.
The filling is super easy to make and to save time, you just buy the pre-made frozen stuff available in your local grocer’s freezer section. I found the recipe on Cooking with Manuela, as I had a hankering for an Italian style dessert. She has some amazing other recipes too, so be sure to check her blog out!
Swedish Visiting Cake Bars
I love almonds so when I found this recipe on Life Made Simple, I just had to give it a try. It’s fairly easy to mix together the dough and then the topping, so then it’s a simple case of baking it.
The final result is a yummy almond cake with a delightfully light and crunchy almond topping. I like how light and simple this dessert is.
Cookie Dough Fudge
I love cookie dough, but I know it’s super risky to eat raw cookie dough on account of the fact it usually has raw eggs in it. Enter this fudge recipe from Cooking with Karli.
It tastes exactly like chocolate chip cookie dough and it is now one of my favorites. I’ll probably whip this up from here on out whenever I get the craving for cookie dough! Plus, this dish doesn’t just need to be a last-minute dessert for a party – it can be tossed into a cookie exchange or gifted!
No-Bake Baileys Chocolate Pie
No-bake recipes are amazing and I love this one because it includes one of my favorite ingredients – Baileys! I found the recipe on Wine and Glue and it’s delicious!
It is a very messy pie though, if you’re looking for cleaner cuts, you can freeze the pie 15 minutes before serving. However, if you aren’t picky about looks, this pie makes up for its looks with taste!
No-Bake Cheesecake
I really think no dessert roundup post is complete without a no-bake cheesecake recipe. They are simple to throw together and make for a decadent dessert without your oven! I was going to go with a cherry one, but it seems everyone is using cherry pie filling this time of year! So instead, this one is Strawberry! You can find the original recipe on Martha Stewart, it’s so easy to throw together and really delicious!! Like the posset, it uses a citrus fruit to help set, in this case, lemon juice.
Desserts Can Be Quick and Headache Free!
An unexpected potluck party invitation can drastically increase your anxiety over the holiday season (or any other time of the year too). Desserts are a great way to throw together a plate ready for the party and I hope these six recipes have convinced you that they don’t need to be a massive undertaking. Each one of these dishes took roughly 15 minutes or less to prep, the longest part of them is waiting for them to bake in the case of the cake bars or waiting for them to set in the fridge.
I hope you enjoyed this post and if you have, please share it with your network and pin it to Pinterest! Also, feel free to drop me a comment down below, I’d love to hear from you!
Now that you’re suitably inspired to throw together some desserts, be sure to grab a FREE copy of my crafting checklist pdf (it can totally work for baking!). Simply sign up for my mailing list below to access your download. I never spam my subscribers and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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Well, next week is my very last blog post of the year(where the heck did the year go?) and it will be all about how to plan a year’s worth of content in a single afternoon. I’m looking forward to seeing you tune in for that next week until then, stay crafty my friends!
