Easy Desserts to Make

"But I, when I undress me..
Each night, upon my knees..
Will ask the Lord to bless me..
With apple-pie and cheese." - Eugene Field

Desserts instantly make health conscious people shifty, with a gaze to match - it's all about the unnecessary calorie intake. If that is on your mind, you should know by now that there is no harm in indulging in sweets and dessert dishes, provided that you do it on occasion, like say during the weekend or a special time during the year.

Satisfy your sweet tooth every once in a while, with desserts that you'll surely miss if you eliminate them completely from your diet. So you're telling me that you don't daydream about cheesecake with a gleaming melted chocolate top? Or say fresh fruit crowned ice cream with a ribbon of whipped cream?

You can eat all your tummy can take, provided that you take it easy on the desserts all week, and eat your heart out when the weekend rolls in. For those of you who are diabetic, opt for no sugar substitutes and low-fat add-ons when making dessert. After all, you need to treat yourself for staying clear from the good stuff all week right? Kids too can take advantage of these easy desserts to make at home, with help from adults first, to make it easier for them to try it out alone the next time.

With these easy to make dessert recipes, you can be sure to invite quite a following for these toothsome dishes. The first recipe which anyone would go gaga over, has oodles of great flavors packed into its bitty bumpy layers. This is a delicious dessert recipe that was passed down from one of my dad's colleague's to mom, and trust me it's to die for.

What You'll Need:

• 16 Mars bars or any caramel-based milk chocolate
• 300gms of butter
• Six cups of Rice Krispies
• Deep oven dish
• Large deep bottomed pan (nonstick)

Method of Preparation
This is one of the many easy chocolate desserts to make, that doesn't require a lot of time and effort. My mom would resort to baking this in an oven, but you can put this in the refrigerator to set instead. First take a dish with a big enough open top to fit in a medium-sized glass bowl. First fill the dish with water halfway up, and place the bowl inside, and on low flame drop in your Mars bars or preferred caramel-based chocolate, and let it gradually melt with the indirect heat.

Once it liquefies, drop in your 300gms of butter and let it melt slowly, with a teaspoon of olive/vegetable oil, turning the gas off once the butter dissolves completely. Take this mixture off the gas and then add in the Rice Krispies, folding it all in until the crunchy bits are nicely coated with the chocolate. You can at this stage add any kind of nuts you'd like, if the chocolate you've used doesn't already have them in it.

Pour your mixture into the deep oven dish, patting it down so that it evenly covers the entire dish's bottom. Then pop it into the fridge for about two hours to set. After that, slide it out from the refrigerator and cut into even slices, and dig in!

What You'll Need:

• 50gms of butter
• 1 mandarin orange
• 3 teaspoons of gelatine/gelatin
• ¼ cup of boiled water
• 500gms of Philadelphia cream cheese
• Four tablespoons of lemon juice

• 1 cup of low-fat cream (lightly whipped)
• ¾ cup of castor sugar
• One and ½ cup of diet biscuits (powdered)

Method of Preparation
Using a nice low bottomed dish, first layer down your biscuit crumbs after you blitz it up in a blender, till it's nice and grainy. Mix this with one tablespoon of butter, and layer it down into the deep dish. Make sure it is even and at least half an inch thick from the bottom up, to be able hold up your mixture that will form the cake top. Chill this in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Then separately in a bowl, mix all your other ingredients - the sugar, lightly whipped cream, cream cheese, lemon juice and butter. Before it goes on top of the biscuit layer, mix the gelatin/gelatine with a quarter cup of boiling water until it completely dissolves, and pour this in as well into the mix.

Stir it all up nicely, till everything has acquired a nice creamy consistency. Remove your biscuit base deep dish from the fridge and pour in your mixture, flattening it at the top as you go. Then put this in the refrigerator for an hour and a half. Cut up orange sections into little halves and gently plop them roughly into the top of the soft cream after it sets. Cut up your cheesecake into neat quarters thereafter, and serve with a side of fresh strawberries if you'd like, or any other berries, fresh or frozen.

What You'll Need:

• 2 cups of milk
• ½ cup of almond shavings
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• ½ cup white rice
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• ¼ cup of sugar

First boil the rice until it has softened halfway, but not completely cooked through.

Then drain the rice, and mix in your milk, sugar, cinnamon and almond shavings.

Then use a quarter cup of milk and melt the butter in it, but don’t overheat it; just warm up the milk to a temperature that allows the butter to gently melt.

Pour your previous mixture into a deep oven dish, and before you set it to cook, pour your milk with butter mixture on the top of the rice mix.

Set the timer for 25 minutes, at a temperature of 350°F.

You can use any kind of nuts that you’d like from pralines to cashews to go with your rice pudding.

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup of boiling water
• ½ cup of lemon juice
• ¼ ounce of vegetable gelatin/gelatine
• 1 and a ¼ cup of sugar (powdered)
• ½ cup of pineapple juice
• 1 cup of pineapple pieces

Method of Preparation
Keep the gelatin in a warm cup of water to become soft, and then add it to the boiling water until it dissolves. Then mix in your lemon and pineapple juice, sugar and pineapple pieces. Place this mixture in the refrigerator using a nice Jello mold dish, letting it sit for two hours before it is ready to be served.

What You'll Need:

• ½ cup low-fat cream
• ½ cup of blueberries
• ½ cup low-fat milk
• 1 and a ½ tablespoons of sugar

Method of Preparation
Using a blender, drop in all your ingredients and give it a good whiz on medium spin. Add more sugar if you think it's not sweet enough. You can alternate using different kinds of fruits and use it as a dip for fruits or for coupling it with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

What You'll Need:

• A small packet of sprinkles available at convenient stores
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour
• ½ cup of unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• White Chocolate (1 cup)
• ½ cup of low-fat cream
• 3 eggs

Method of Preparation
Mix in your ingredients of - flour, butter, vanilla extract and eggs, making sure you mix it up till the concoction is smooth and textured to consistent perfection.

Once you’re done folding in all the ingredients, place dollops of this mixture into cupcake molds, and slip it in an oven that’s been preheated to 350°F.

Keep your timer set in at 20 minutes, and check if it’s done, by inserting a toothpick into it, making sure it comes out clean - that way you know it’s cooked from within.

Top it off with a mixture of blended cream and white chocolate that's been blitzed for 3 seconds to give you that welcoming bite when you sink your teeth into those little white chocolate pieces (you can use Hershey kisses or ordinary white chocolate slabs).

Put this mixture on each cupcake after they're done baking, and throw on a nice helping of colored sprinkles to top off your cupcake.

With these simple dessert recipes, you'll find yourself putting together a delectable array of desserts that beckon you to go for seconds. Just make sure you don't overindulge in these goody delights - eat your favorite dessert when the weekend comes in (no sugar binging please!).

Kids too need to go easy on these to avoid cavities and bad stomachs, not to mention early weight gain.