Ravneet Gill’s moreish desserts are a pleasure to bake, as well as eat

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Dutch baby pancake with blueberry compote 

 The magic of this pancake is how it puffs up in the oven, but you have to be fast and ready to eat it as soon as it’s cooked, because it deflates as it cools. It makes an impressive start to your day and is also a delicious dessert.

Serves 4

For the blueberry compote

• 200g frozen blueberries
• 30g caster sugar
• splash of water

For the Dutch pancakes

• 120g plain flour
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• pinch of fine salt
• 3 large eggs
• 120ml full-fat milk
• ½ vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds removed, or ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
• 4 tbsp neutral oil, such as sunflower, vegetable or rapeseed
• icing sugar, for dusting

1 Make the blueberry compote. In a saucepan, stir together the blueberries, sugar and water. Cook over a medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until the blueberries have started to break down. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the compote to cool before using.

2 Make the Dutch pancake batter. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Crack the eggs into the middle of the bowl and start whisking them, also bringing in the flour from the edge of the bowl. Gradually add the milk and whisk well to form a smooth batter. Finally, whisk in the vanilla seeds or paste. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

3 Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put a 25cm cast-iron skillet or heavy-based frying pan into the oven for 5 minutes to heat. Remove from the oven and pour the oil into the skillet. Add the batter and quickly return the skillet to the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the pancake is puffy and golden.

4 Remove the pancake from the oven and dust it with icing sugar. Quickly cut into four before it starts to deflate.

5 Serve the pancake straight from the skillet with the blueberry compote. Add greek yogurt if serving for breakfast, or use ice cream, crème fraîche, whipped cream or sweetened mascarpone if it’s for dessert. Eat immediately!

Rum and raisin pudding   

Despite never drinking alcohol, one of my favourite ice-cream flavours is rum and raisin. I keep a Kilner jar of rum-soaked raisins in the cupboard (see tip).

Serves 6

• 60g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 60g caster sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 80g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of Maldon or flaky salt
• 50g rum-soaked raisins (see tip, below)
• 60ml full-fat milk
• 60ml double cream
• 1 tbsp custard powder
• 1 tbsp golden syrup

1 Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C fan/gas 5. Lightly grease a 15cm x 20cm rectangular pie tin or ovenproof dish.

2 Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Stir in the eggs and mix well.

3 In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, then fold into the creamed mixture. Stir in the rum-soaked raisins. Scoop the batter into the pie tin or dish and spread evenly.

4 In a jug, stir together the milk, cream, custard powder and golden syrup. Pour this mixture over the raisin batter and use a butter knife to swirl it through.

5 Put the pie tin or dish on a baking tray and bake for 40 minutes or until golden.

6 Remove from the oven and serve warm with custard or chilled cream and extra rum-soaked raisins, if you like.

Tip

To make rum-soaked raisins, put 50g of raisins in a bowl, add 20ml of rum, stir and leave to soak for 1 hour. This makes 50g of raisins for the recipe; double the quantity if you want extra to serve. Do this ahead of time in a large batch, as the raisins keep for months in a Kilner jar at room temperature out of direct sunlight.

Fig, ricotta and honey cake

This cake is inspired by a fig, ricotta and honey gelato I had in Bologna, the most sublime I have ever eaten.

Serves 8-10

For the figs

• 8 ripe figs (about 300g), quartered
• 40g soft light brown sugar
• splash of water

For the cake

• 150g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 180g caster sugar
• 40g light honey (runny ideally), plus extra for drizzling
• pinch of fine salt
• 3 eggs
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 150g plain flour
• 40g ground almonds
• 250g ricotta
• icing sugar, for dusting

1 First, prepare the figs by heating them with the brown sugar and water in a pan over a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the figs break down – about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the figs to cool before using.

2 Preheat the oven to 185C/165C fan/gas 4½. Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of a 20cm-deep round cake tin with baking paper.

3 For the cake, in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat the butter, caster sugar, honey and salt together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, and mix well. Add the baking powder and mix thoroughly.

4 Mix in the flour and ground almonds until homogeneous. Add the cooled figs and mix well to combine. Finally, gently stir through the ricotta. Pour into the prepared cake tin and level the top.

5 Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted at the centre comes out clean.

6 Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out.

7 Put the cake on a serving plate, drizzle the top with honey and dust with icing sugar. To serve, dollop over a little crème fraîche or whipped double cream.

8 This cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Brownies 

As a pastry chef, I would describe a big part of my diet as ‘brownie trimmings’. Every morning shift I’d say to myself, ‘this is the day where I don’t eat brownie off-cuts for breakfast’. Yet I’d find myself at that mid-morning dip, stomach rumbling, looking lovingly at those brownie trimmings and I’d go, ‘OK, just for today then’.

Makes 15 small brownies

• 120g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
• 2 eggs
• 2g or scant ½ tsp Maldon or flaky salt
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g soft dark brown sugar
• 40g plain flour
• 40g dark chocolate chips, chunks or a bar of chocolate of your choice chopped into 1cm pieces
• 15 pitted fresh or canned (drained) cherries

1 Preheat the oven to 185C/165C fan/gas 4½. Lightly grease and line a 24cm x 16cm x 3cm baking tin with baking paper.

2 Melt the butter in a heatproof bowl, either in short bursts in a microwave or over a bain-marie until fully melted. Remove from the heat.

3 Add the roughly chopped chocolate and stir until homogeneous, using a little heat if needed, either by putting the bowl back over the bain-marie or by applying short bursts of heat in the microwave. Stir well.

4 In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs, salt and both sugars together until fully combined. Pour in the melted butter and chocolate, mixing well.

5 Using a whisk, stir in the flour until there is none of it visible, then switch to a large spoon and stir in the chocolate chips/chunks/pieces. Scoop this mixture into the prepared tin, spreading it level, then evenly distribute the cherries on top.

6 Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are starting to dry slightly but the middle is still fudgy.

7 Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin before putting it in the fridge to chill completely – this is key. Slice into 15 portions and serve.

8 The brownies will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days – enjoy slightly cold. They can also be frozen once baked, if tightly wrapped, for up to 1 month. Defrost at room temperature. These brownies work very well as gifts.

Chocolate and sherry baked pears 

These pears are very low effort, but really moreish. Don’t let the marzipan throw you off: it bakes and starts to caramelise, giving everything a lot more flavour.

Serves 4-6

• 3 large ripe pears
• 60g marzipan (natural/white or golden both work well)
• 30g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
• 2-3 amaretti biscuits
• 1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
• 100ml dry sherry

1 Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.

2 Peel the pears and cut in half vertically. Using a teaspoon, remove the core and middle of each half, creating a tablespoon-sized indent for the filling.

3 Chop the marzipan into bite-size pieces, then chop the chocolate roughly the same size. Crush the amaretti biscuits.

4 In a bowl, mix together the marzipan, chocolate, brown sugar and crushed amaretti biscuits. Pour in 20ml of the sherry and stir to coat.

5 Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and use to fill the indent in the middle of a pear half. Repeat with the remaining filling and pear halves.

6 Put the pear halves, stuffed-side up, in a roasting tray in a single layer, then pour over the remaining sherry and cover tightly with foil.

7 Bake for 30 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes until golden and sticky.

8 Remove the pears from the oven and leave them to cool slightly, then serve warm either on their own or with ice cream or whipped cream.

9 These pears are best eaten freshly baked, but they can also be enjoyed cold or chilled.

10 The pears will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat in a moderate oven for 7-10 minutes before serving.

Our recipes are from Baking for Pleasure by Ravneet Gill, published by Pavilion, £26. To order a copy for £22.10 until 31 December, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over £25.

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