Easiest Dinner Party Desserts
When it comes to being the host with the most, there’s enough on your plate without having to worry too much about the third and final sweet course. To make putting together a showstopping menu even easier, we’ve rounded up our favourite desserts that look and taste ultra-impressive without taking too much time or effort to prepare. From ramekin wonders like mousse and crumble, to boozy trifles and silky cheesecakes, there’s something for every soiree-goer’s sweet tooth on this list.
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Biscoff Mousse
No matter how full you think you are, there’s always room for a Biscoff-based dessert! A light and airy treat like our Biscoff Mousse is just the ticket after a slap-up meal. Topped with crumbled Lotus Biscoff biscuits for an irresistible crunch, you won’t believe these oh-so-creamy pots are as light as 196 calories per serving.
They take roughly 5 minutes to prepare using a short list of simple ingredients. Simply rustle them up and pop them in the fridge to chill for half an hour. Serving a party-worthy pud doesn’t come much easier than this!
To bolster the indulgence, we serve our mousse in individual ramekin dishes; they make our delicate little desserts look so much prettier and there’s no danger of serving uneven portions.
Apple Crumble
Yet another delicious excuse to dig the ramekins out of the cupboard, who can say no to Apple Crumble? Made with mostly store cupboard ingredients, you can have these low-fuss puds prepped and baked to perfection in well under an hour.
To make our baked apple filling delightfully sweet and moreish, we’ve infused our apple slices with a punchy sprinkling of cinnamon. Thanks to our crunchy porridge oat topping, they leave the oven lower in calories than traditional crumble-topped versions without compromising on comfort.
We like ours as warming as possible with a glug of Custard, but there’s nothing to stop you cooling yours down with a scoop of low-calorie ice cream. Just be sure to work out the additional calories, if you’re counting.
Choco Nut Lava Cakes
You might think you can’t add a warm, melt-in-the-middle chocolate dessert to your dinner party menu at the last minute, and yet our Choco Nut Lava Cakes beg to differ. Perfect when you’re in a time pinch, they only need 1-2 minutes in a microwave (or 8-10 minutes in the oven!) before they’re risen with a gloriously gooey centre.
The full recipe is in our fourth cookbook, Comfort Food, on page 263-264. You can grab a copy here.
If a chocolatey, sweetened sponge with a rich, hazelnut core isn’t enough, take the flavours even further with a side serving of our Chocolate Custard (also in Comfort Food on page 240!).
Don’t worry if hazelnut flavouring isn’t for you – you can always swap out the chocolate hazelnut spread for a plain chocolate version.
Black Forest Desserts
While there are quite a few different parts to our Black Forest Desserts, each one is simple to make and comes far lower in calories than a restaurant version. To begin, we whisk together the mixture for our sponges and bake them until they’re fluffy.
The fun part is in assembling them with our decadent chocolate filling! We’ve used frozen cherries, low-fat cream, yoghurt and cocoa powder to make sure each of our party-perfect puddings has a sumptuous, slimming-friendly centre.
At Christmastime or all-year round, they’re the perfect cherry on top of any homemade, three-course spread.
Espresso Martini Trifle
Who fancies a cocktail for dessert? Our Espresso Martini Trifle adds a fun, boozy twist to the end of your evening for next to no effort. Once you’ve got all of your ingredients together, it takes a matter of moments to transform them into a rich, chocolatey, cream-topped trifle.
We’ve used shop-bought brownies to make preparing ours quicker and easier, but there’s nothing to stop you using a homemade batch of Chocolate Brownies if you’d prefer.
To give each one a boozy twist, we’ve added a dash of Tia Maria, but any coffee liqueur will work well.
Each tipple-based trifle comes in at just 284 per serving, and your guests will never be able to tell – cheers to that!
Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries
A list of effortless after-dinner treats would not be complete without our Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries. A dessert with a difference, these snack-sized strawberries are perfect for when you fancy serving a buffet-style option. Your guests can help themselves, while you relax and put your feet up!
Our cheesecake-style filling tastes so good, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s no need to wait around for it to set. Serve them straight away or save yourself time on the night by refrigerating a batch the morning of your dinnertime bash.
Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Yoghurt
If you’re on the lookout for a frozen dessert that tastes far fancier than it is, look no further than our Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Yoghurt. It’s as creamy and satisfying as an ice cream based pudding, for a fraction of the calories.
The combination of vibrant berries with the luscious strawberry cheesecake style base is too good to resist. To top it all off, we’ve added a drizzle of homemade strawberry puree and crushed reduced-fat digestive biscuits.
This impressive-looking tray will go down a treat at the centre of your table. Your guests will be dying to tuck in and grab themselves a scoop (or two!).
Banoffee Cheesecake
Making a cheesecake might seem like a lot of faff, but our easy-to-follow Banoffee Cheesecake keeps things nice and simple. Each slice has a silky texture without piling on the calories, thanks to a nifty combination of reduced-fat cream cheese, fat-free Greek yoghurt and sweeteners.
Top the biscuit base with the cheesecake mixture and pop it in the oven until set and ready to decorate. We’ve topped ours with caramel and banana slices (a match made in heaven!), using a reduced-sugar caramel dessert drizzle.
It’s sure to ‘wow’ your guests, especially with an added sprinkling of chocolate shavings…
What will you be serving for dessert?
Nothing makes us happier than seeing you rustling up our dishes! Share which of our sweet treats you love to serve your dinner guests in our Facebook group, where we have almost 1 million members waiting to support you on your slimming journey.
Did you know that you can now share your hints, tips, quotes and photos in our PON Gallery too? We’d highly recommend going for a scroll through the submissions we’ve had so far if you’re looking to bake up an appetite.