If you have a sweet tooth, I feel you. I’m perfectly happy to go without anything sweet throughout the day but inevitably a little while after I’ve had my dinner, I’m thinking about having a treat. Usually it’s as simple as some chocolate, but sometimes I’ll want something different – maybe a slice of cake, maybe a fancy-ish drink.
I now have my own (very) modest repertoire of super-easy-to-throw-together desserts. You’ll almost certainly have all (or most!) of the ingredients you need already sitting in your kitchen cupboards. So there’s no need to head out into the outside world in search of supplies!
The recipes below are pretty straightforward as I like ones that are quick to make. But I have also added a few suggestions for replacements and alternative ingredients if you don’t have exactly what I used or if you simply prefer for example a different milk / beverage / sugar.
Also if you’re looking for some ideas for meals you can quickly throw together, check this out: Recipes for people for people that dislike cooking but need to eat.
Let’s start!
- CRêPES and PANCAKES
There are two very slightly different (in terms of ingredients) versions of this recipe, and it depends mainly whether you want something that’s more like a crêpe or a fluffy pancake. Either way, this can serve as an after-dinner treat, breakfast or even a mid-afternoon snack.
Ingredients: 1 egg, 120g all-purpose flour (use self-rising flour for fluffy pancakes), 120ml milk of your choice, pinch of salt, butter or vegan spread
- In a separate dish, beat the egg for a minute. If you don’t have a whisk, you can simply use a fork.
- Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. (If you want fluffy pancakes, use self-rising flour.)
- Add the beaten egg in the bowl. Mix together with a whisk (or fork).
- Slowly add in the milk as you continue to mix.
- Keep mixing until the mixture is smooth and without any lumps.
- Heat up your pan (medium heat). Grease the pan with some butter or vegan spread.
- Scoop some of the mixture onto the pan.
- Wait until the pancake doesn’t break apart before flipping.
- Top the pancake with the spread, syrup, fruit of your choice. Some suggestions: Nutella, bananas, strawberries, whipped cream, lemon and sugar, maple syrup.
2. DESSERT DALGONA (WHIPPED) COFFEE
You might have seen this whipped coffee making the rounds online recently. It’s no surprise really, it looks pretty (I might even say, instagrammable) and is easy to make. The Dalgona coffee reigns from South Korea and is actually the perfect after-dinner beverage if you’re partial to caffeine post-meal. All I can say is, step aside cappuccino!
Ingredients: 1 tbsp instant coffee powder, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp hot water, 1 cup milk, ice
- In a bowl, mix the coffee powder, sugar and hot water. You can use caster, granulated or brown sugar.
- Whisk the mixture in the bowl until you get a whipped cream consistency. If you’re whisking by hand this will take 3-5 minutes.
- Add ice and your milk of choice to a glass.
- Add the coffee mixture on top.
- Take a photo! J
- Mix it all up and enjoy your drink. Note that you can add more or less of milk or the coffee mixture depending on how strong you want it! AND, you can use decaffeinated coffee powder if you’re worried about having caffeine too close to bedtime.
3. HOMEMADE CAKE (2 INGREDIENTS ONLY)
If you ever fancy some cake but can’t be bothered with all the ingredients, measuring, mixing, washing up, this one’s for you. I’ll admit, it might be cheating a little bit but hey, it’s pretty fool proof. PLUS, super easy to make it vegan!
Ingredients: 1 box cake mix, 1 can carbonated drink
- Add the cake mix in the bowl. I personally like the Betty Crocker vanilla cake mix best, but you can use whatever you want.
- Slowly add the carbonated drink to the bowl whilst mixing. My favourite drinks to use is Pepsi Max or root bear. Again, use whatever you have lying around.
- Continue to mix until you reach the desired consistency. I typically use about ¾ of the can. The thing to keep in mind here is that the less firm the batter, the more moist your cake.
- Transfer to a cake tin (or casserole dish if you don’t have one just lying around).
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200°C. After 20 mins, stick a toothpick or fork in the middle of the cake to check if it’s ready. If it isn’t, put back in the oven for another 7 minutes (and check every 5 minutes after that until ready).
- Leave the cake to cool. You can add frosting, spreads, cream, toppings, or simply enjoy on its own.
So have a look in your kitchen cupboards and fridge! Do you have coffee, sugar and milk? Do you a box of cake mix and your favourite pop lying around? Any flour hiding in the back? Give one of these super easy recipes a go, and feel free to switch out the milk, sugar, even flour to your favourite one!