Chop up strawberries into quarter-sized pieces and place into a small mixing bowl. Add vanilla extract, sugar and cornstarch and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, oats, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and melted butter.

Pour the strawberries into a small baking dish and pour crumbles on top. Bake for 40–45 minutes until sides start bubbling.

Serve with ice cream or on its own.

Whisk in vanilla and butter. Continue whisking every few minutes until pudding almost comes to room temperature.

Meanwhile, using a stand mixer (with whisk attachment) on medium, beat whipping cream while adding the powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form.

To assemble dessert, place a row of vanilla wafers in 8×11 or 9×9 inch casserole dish. Slice 2 bananas over the top and cover with half the pudding. Then place another row of vanilla wafers (this row does not need to be as tight or clean). Slice 2 bananas over the top and cover with remaining pudding.

Carefully spread the whipped cream over the top. Refrigerate for 1–3 hours before serving.

Notes:
• A handheld mixer with whisk beaters can be used as well.
• Store all leftovers in the refrigerator.

Whip cream to stiff peaks.

Separate egg and whisk yolk. In separate bowl, add sugar to egg white and whisk until it forms stiff peaks.

Stir egg yolk, orange juice and orange rind into the chocolate. Make sure the chocolate is not hot to the touch!

Fold chocolate mixture into the cream using a spatula. Fold no more than 8 times—it doesn’t matter if it’s a bit streaky. Add the egg white to the mixture, again folding it in. The mixture should be fully combined but try and use as few folds as possible so you don’t reduce the air in the mixture.

Pour or pipe into containers and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours to set. Enjoy with extra whipped cream, chocolate shavings and/or orange slices on top (not included in calorie count).

While you wait for the milk to boil, beat yolks and egg on high for 1 minute in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment.

Sift the cornstarch and remaining sugar into the eggs. Beat on high until very pale.

Drizzle the boiling milk into the eggs slowly, while the mixer spins on medium speed (3-4). Caution: Aim the drizzle so it pours down the side of the bowl, not into the center. This will prevent burns.

Once combined, transfer the entire mixture from the stand mixer into the saucepan. Put it back on medium high heat and whisk nonstop until the mixture thickens.

Transfer the entire mixture back into the bowl of the stand mixer. Start the mixer on medium high (8) and add the vanilla extract and vanilla powder. With mixer still running, add the butter, one pat at a time, letting each one incorporate before adding the next. Turn the mixer speed up to 10 and let it run until the outside of the bowl feels room temperature to the touch.

The pastry cream is now ready. It can be used immediately or covered and chilled. Pastry cream, and any dessert using it, must be kept refrigerated and should be used within 5 days.

Note: This recipe can be made dairy-free. To make dairy-free, use a very fatty non-dairy milk. I used macadamia nut milk. Substitute the butter with chilled margarine—I used Earth Balance soy-free buttery sticks.

Remove the pits from the dates and and finely chop dates. Place in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Stir in vanilla essence and bicarbonate of soda and set aside.

Mix butter and sugar. You can use a fancy whisker if you have one, but it will work totally fine if you do it by hand with a whisk. I’ll be honest, I got my hands stuck, which helped soften the butter to melt it together better.

Once the butter and sugar are combined, whisk in half the egg (sorry, this is a bit wasteful if you are cooking just one portion—take this as a good reason to cook 2 portions!). Mix flour and bakign powder, and fold into the butter mixture several times. Finally, stir in date mixture and mix well.

Grease ramekins using a little butter and pour batter into ramekins. They shouldn’t be filled all the way to the top to allow the pudding to expand. Place in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.

For the sauce, mix sauce ingredients in a saucepan and whisk well. Place over medium high heat and stir regularly until everything has combined fully and sugar has dissolved.

Tip the pudding out of the ramekin (use a knife gently around the edges if it is sticking slightly). Pour sauce over and enjoy! It’s extra special served with a dollop of ice cream on the top—yum!

Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a heat-proof bowl. Whisk in butter and vanilla extract. Cover and allow to cool to room temperature. Place in the refrigerator and chill until completely cold.

For the topping:
Whip cream with sugar and vanilla until medium stiff peaks form.

In a small skillet set over medium-low heat, toast coconut, stirring often, until it just begins to brown. Add maple syrup and stir constantly until nicely toasted. Remove to a plate to cool.

When ready to serve, whisk lemon juice into pudding until completely incorporated. Spoon into individual serving dishes. Top with whipped cream and toasted coconut. Serve immediately.

Pudding recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.

Put dates and water in a pot and bring to the boil. Once mixture is boiling, turn heat off. Add baking powder and stir through, then set aside to cool.

Beat butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating through well after each addition. Add vanilla and cooled date mixture and stir through until well combined.

Add self-raising flour and then gently fold through with a wooden spoon or spatula. Transfer mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake 30–35 minutes.

To test whether pudding is cooked, stick a skewer in the middle and leave for 2 seconds. If skewer comes out clean, it’s cooked.

Use a slotted spoon to fish out the lemon peels. Rinse peels under cold water, then transfer them to a small saucepan. Add about a 1/2 to 1 cup of water, just enough to cover the peels. Stir in 1/4 cup sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until water is mostly evaporated.

While lemon peels are being candied, stir vanilla and rum into the rice. Return saucepan to the stove and bring rice to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until rice is cooked through. Stir just enough to keep rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan and to prevent a film from forming on top of the milk.

When rice is cooked, remove saucepan from heat. Allow to cool slightly.

Remove saucepan with lemon peels from heat as soon as they begin to dry out. This will prevent the sugar from burning. They will be very sticky. Carefully transfer them to a sheet of parchment paper. When slightly cooled, use your fingers to spread them out so that they don’t stick together. Allow them to curl a bit, or you can help curl them into pretty spirals and such.

Add lavender essential oil and remaining 3/4 cup sugar to the rice and stir well to combine. Allow to cool, then refrigerate the pudding prior to serving.

When the pudding has had time to chill, serve it in small dessert dishes garnished with a sprinkle of herbes de Provence and a couple pieces of the candied lemon peel.

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray an 8-inch springform pan with light cooking spray. Prepare crust in the springform pan and allow it to cool.

Beat cream cheese on low speed until very smooth. Add sugar, cornstarch and kosher salt. Mix on low until well combined. Be sure to scrape the bowl halfway through mixing.

With the mixer on low, add eggs and yolks, one at a time. Allow each to incorporate before adding the next. Scrape the bowl.

With mixer on low, slowly add heavy cream, milk and prepared coffee. Scrape sides and continue mixing until uniform in color. Any clumps that won’t mix in should be removed at this point. If you were careful with mixing and scraping, there shouldn’t be any.

Spread mini chocolate chips evenly over the cooled graham crust. Gently pour cheesecake mixture over the crust. It’s ok if the chocolate moves around a little. If you pour too fast, it will pile the chips on only one spot.

Bake cheesecake at 400ºF for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 250ºF and allow cheesecake to continue baking for 60 minutes. The cheesecake is done when fully set.

Allow cheesecake to cool before removing the sides of the springform pan. First, pop open the latch on the pan, then gently loosen the cheesecake from the edges with a butter knife before removing the outer ring. Take an offset spatula to gently loosen the cheesecake from the bottom of the pan before sliding onto a serving plate.

Serve cold or room temperature. Store in the refrigerator. Cheesecake will keep for several days refrigerated or freeze and defrost on the counter before serving.

Pulverize hard ginger cookies. I used my food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, place cookies in a resealable bag and smash them with a rolling pin.

Once pulverized, this will make about 3/4 cup of ginger cookie dust. Add melted butter to ginger cookies and mix thoroughly to create the cookie crumble.

Place 2 tablespoons of the cookie crumble into the bottom of eight 4-ounce jars. You should have some crumble left to sprinkle over top of the finished cheesecake cups.

Next, create the filling. Add cream cheese into a stand mixer bowl, or into a bowl that you could use a handheld mixer and beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add spiced sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice and continue whipping until smooth. Fold in thawed whipped topping (or homemade whipped cream) and blend until smooth.

Place all of the filling into a large resealable bag and cut a hole in one of the corners. This is a makeshift piping bag (if you have a piping bag, go for it!) so you can pipe the filling into the jars. Push the filling down toward the open tip, directing the tip into one of the crumble filled jars and push in filling until it is level with the top of the jar. Then pull up quickly to create a nice, decorative peak.

Sprinkle on remaining cookie crumble over all of the filled jars. Place the cups in the fridge to fully set and cool. Serve.