Great British Bake Off: dessert week

If tonight inspires you to have a special dessert this weekend, then here are five of Jamie’s best – all easy to knock up, despite looking incredible.

There’s a special joy in a pudding. Whether the fabled pudding stomach exists or not, we can always make room for one even when we know we shouldn’t. I love the feeling of sitting back after a sticky toffee pudding, or picking at the crispy edges of a crumble once it’s all been devoured. I’m sure the desserts tonight will have a little more class than those, but in many ways I hope they don’t.

If tonight inspires you to have a special pudding this weekend, then here are five of Jamie’s best. Great for rounding off a special family meal or dinner party, these beauties are always easy to knock up, despite looking incredible.

During last week’s bread episode there were endless calls of “release the gluten” – as if it were the same as releasing the hounds. Well this recipe is gluten free, as well as vegan and dairy free, so we can all move on with our lives. Oh, and did we mention that it’s just about the best darn chocolate cake we’ve ever tasted? I mean look at it - the only word is epic!

Jamie loves a good retro pudding. There is something charming and simple about this ‘70s staple, but Jamie’s jazzed it up a bit for the 21st century with an amazing chocolate swirl to the sponge and some bashed up chocolate bars in the ice cream. I’d advise you to eat it fast so the middle doesn’t melt, but I doubt that will be a problem.

Jamie’s showing a bit of class here. Clafoutis is a classic French dessert. Usually you’d have cherries with it, but chocolate orange (when it’s done right) is a killer combo, and here with the sticky caramel it makes for the most incredible textures and flavours. Make sure you bake that sponge to perfection though, so it’s slightly crisp on the outside and still gooey in the middle. Follow the recipe and you’ll be fine.

There’s nothing classy about this lovely bit of comfort food - I doubt it would get Paul excited until he tasted it. The gluten-free topping is given some texture by the almonds, and the mix of summery fruits underneath is sweet, moreish and sticky. Honestly, this is my food heaven when it comes to puds - not everything needs to be complicated.