Heated treats: eight warm winter dessert recipes

The Guardian

07-07-2025

(Pictured above)
Cheap, easy and energy efficient, microwave baking has its upsides, the food writer Meera Sodha says. This salty-sweet chocolate mug cake is elevated into a rich and indulgent dessert with the addition of white miso paste. Be careful not to overcook it, lest it end up dry and rubbery. Sodha uses a plant-based cream on top, and it's just as delicious with vegan ice-cream.
These caramelised bananas hit that sweet spot when you're craving a little treat but don't want to bake a whole cake. Grilled bananas are 'low effort, high-reward', Benjamina Ebuehi says, and with just three minutes on a pan, they are transformed into a crunchy, buttery delight. The classic combination of nuts and bananas makes this a simple, satisfying dessert.
Bake these for the smell alone. Julia Busuttil Nishimura's buns are made with ground cardamon in the dough and cinnamon in the filling, making this a spicy delight. It's a recipe that requires a morning or afternoon, but it is a fun activity the whole family can get involved in. Ensure your heater is on to allow the dough to properly rise.
Overripe fruit gets a second life in this quick-to-prepare dessert. Peaches (or any fruit that is looking too soft in your fruit bowl) can be transformed with a slather of honey and cinnamon and roasted in the oven for half an hour. What emerges is a golden, warm base that is then topped with coconut cream, crumbled gingernut biscuits and cinnamon. It's a light, tropical twist on a winter dessert, in a hopeful reminder of warmer days to come.
There are many dishes that are hard to master, but thankfully Felicity Cloake's rhubarb crumble is not one of them. 'Perfection here is not difficult,' she writes. In her version, the sourness of the rhubarb is complemented by the buttery nutty crumble as it gets nice and jammy. This is a flexible recipe, she says, so any fruit can be subbed for the rhubarb. But as Cloake notes, make sure to adjust the sugar according to the sweetness of the fruit.
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According to Lara Lee's brownie connoisseur husband, these are the best brownies ever. The tamarind paste is heated with golden syrup, sugar, butter and cream and, as Lee says, it creates a distinctive 'sweetly sour profile that offsets the richness of the caramel'. In her recipe, gooey rivers of caramel lace the surface of the brownie, making every square delicious. No more fights over who gets the corner, middle or edge.
Straddling the line between breakfast and dessert, Benjamina Ebuehi's galettes tick all the boxes for winter: they're warm, gooey and decadent. You'll need to set aside about three hours for the prep and cooking, but it's a perfect weekend-morning treat. The toffee-like filling combines honey, almonds, cream, sugar and butter. It's best served warm with a side of cold cream.
A set and forget it pudding, Ravneet Gill's cherry bakewell pudding is a crowd-pleaser with minimal effort. The recipe has just four steps, so the hardest part is waiting for it to finish baking. The tanginess of the cherries and creaminess of the custard reminds Gill of the simple pleasure the dessert brought her in her first days of motherhood. She hopes it brings you the same comfort.