Frugal desserts that look and taste like a million dollars?

tiger_eyes

The lemon fridge tart sounds exactly like my grandmother's recipe - it's always a hit at family gatherings.

Butterfly_Brain

SACHER TORTE
250g dark chocolate
250g butter
6 eggs separated
1 cup castor sugar
125g ground almonds
1 cup self raising flour
rum
red currant jelly

Chop chocolate roughly, combine with butter in top of double saucepan, stir over hot water until melted, cool to lukewarm.

Beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and creamy, add ground almonds and sifted flour, mix well, then stir in cooled chocolate mixture. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, fold in gently, but thoroughly.

Spoon into two greased 20 cm sandwich tins, bake in moderate oven 25 to 30 minutes. Turn on to wire rack to cool. When cold, carefully split each layer in two. Put top layer aside.

Assemble remaining layers brushing each with rum, then with a thin layer of red currant jelly; place top layer in position. Spread icing evenly over top and sides of cake.

ICING

Combine 185g roughly chopped chocolate with 60g butter in top of double saucepan, stir over hot water until melted.

DigForVictory

May be worth a try?

Chocolate chestnut delight

1 Can chestnut puree - cheaper now Christmas is over
200g block dark chocolate - supermarket own brand (not value, but own label just as good as Bourneville on a blind taste test!)
200ml double cream

Melt the chocolate til sloppy
Mix in the chestnut puree
Add cream til you like the consistency

Spoon into disposable plastic shot glasses (or *Very* Small bowls - this stuff is richer than Croesus!) & allow to cool.

Dress up with a piped rosette of whipped double cream, or a smartie, or a chocolate button - if you want - & eat with teaspoon!

Pitlanepiglet

I'm not sure mine is very Old Style but I get requests for trifle at every family meal or do. I make the sponge using a normal 2 egg recipe (not fat free), two tins of peaches, use peach juice to soak sponge and some to make up jelly (either strawberry or raspberry), let jelly set, add two tins of cheap (value/basics) custard (I said it wasn't very OS!), let that cool, then add whipped cream. It always seems to be popular!

mandragora_2

'Fluff' Strain a small tin of tinned oranges/tangerines. Make up a jelly, using only half the quantity of water (or you could use the syrup from the tinned fruit. Leave it till about 1/3 set, so it's gloopy but not fully set. Beat a tin of evaporated milk till it foams. Beat the jelly into the milk. Stir in the tinned oranges. Cheap, certainly. Not entirely posh, though, but we loved it when we were kids! I suppose if you wanted to posh it up you could put it into small glasses and swirl a bit of whipped cream on top and dust some grated chocolate or put a further bit of orange on top. Here's a 'proper' version, but they haven't gone down the tinned oranges route, I see!
http://annainthekitchen.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/carnation-milk-jelly-aka-jelly-fluff/

Perhaps a slightly posher, truly delicious version would be Lemon Posset - again not too expensive if you can source a good deal on the cream and lemons (often on offer in the supermarkets). If you did the shortbread with it too, as in this recipe, it would be terrrifically posh and impressive, I think!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lemonpossetwithlemon_85812

Debtphobic_Dinah

I am thinking of trying that lemon fridge tart with a bit of Limoncella liquer- I bet that will be yum. Have to wait til my fiscal fast is over though:( - thanks for the recipe, it sounds delicious. Ginger Nuts are only 25p in A1di or Texco Value.

dandy-candy

An incredibly easy pud my mum used to do at dinner parties which was always a massive hit:
Whip up double cream until thick - you can add a splash of booze if you like, add lightly broken meringues (still in chunks) and stir then pile into individual dishes or in one heap. Drizzle melted chocolate in zig zags over the top and sprinkle on flaked almonds.
It is super quick to make if you buy meringues, and looks and tastes fabulous!

iAMaLONDONER

Make a simple sponge (add cocoa powder if you want a chocolate cake) made of the golden 4 ingredients- butter,sugar, flour and eggs.

Cover in a chocolate ganache- essentially just cream and chocolate melted for around 30 seconds in the microwave.

Looks regal if you cover the cake evenly!

ebaybaby

dandy-candy wrote: »

An incredibly easy pud my mum used to do at dinner parties which was always a massive hit:
Whip up double cream until thick - you can add a splash of booze if you like, add lightly broken meringues (still in chunks) and stir then pile into individual dishes or in one heap. Drizzle melted chocolate in zig zags over the top and sprinkle on flaked almonds.
It is super quick to make if you buy meringues, and looks and tastes fabulous!

I do something similar:

Crushed meringues
Double cream (whisked until thick)
Chunks of white chocolate
Fresh strawberries halved


Chuck it all in together.

Brian_Steele

My wife made bread and butter pudding last weekend with "reduced to clear" hot-cross buns.

Fabulous!