This week’s #romancingthehome theme is Christmas pudding. I don’t eat Christmas pudding. Luckily Christmas pudding doesn’t actually mean an actual Christmas pudding. It’s any Christmas dessert! So, with that, I decided to give you my 3 favourite easy summer Christmas desserts to make for those long, hot, summer Christmas days!

1. Pavlova

I made this for the first time 2 years ago and it has quickly become a firm favourite with the family. It really is so easy to make; all you need is:

• Meringue base (I make my own, but you can buy one too)
• Heavy cream, whipped
• Fresh berries (I like the mixed berry punnets from Woolworths)
• Granadilla coulis (also from Woolworths)
• Mint leaves

Take your meringue base and place on a pretty cake stand. Smother it in the whipped cream. Toss your berries on to the cream. Drizzle with the granadilla coulis. Decorate with mint leaves. Simple!

If you damage your pavlova base by mistake, just crush it up and make an Eton mess! It’s as easy as that!

2. Lemon Cheesecake

I like to do this one in individual sized jars or ramekins, I think that it feels so much more indulgent when you get to eat the whole jar of something!

What you will need:

• A box of Ina Paarman’s lemon cheesecake mix
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup cream
• 0.5 packet tennis biscuits
• 3 tablespoons butter

Follow the instructions on the box, dividing the crust and cheesecake mixture among your jars. Put in the fridge to set. Decorate with some lemon rinds if you feel like it. Easy, right?!

3. Chocolate Mousse

There are loads of recipes out there, but this one from a friend of mine is the best! Make sure that you use a good quality chocolate. When I’m feeling more adventurous I will make 3 different types (milk, dark and white) and layer them. It’s divine!

You will need:

• 5 eggs, separated
• 50 ml castor sugar
• 250 g good quality chocolate (the recipe calls for dark, but I like to mix it up)

Melt the chocolate. Beat yolks and sugar well. Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture. Beat egg whites until they are very firm and fold into the chocolate egg mixture. The egg whites must be beat very firm, otherwise the mousse won’t set and you will land up with chocolate sauce. Trust me. I know!

That’s it, 3 really easy summer Christmas desserts! I hope that these help you in your prep for Christmas and that they keep the day stress free! If you try any of these ideas out, please let me know, I want to hear how it went!

Before you go, check out my #romancingthehome friends’ posts for more amazing ideas!

• Ramona at Ruffles & Rust
• Talia at My Shabby Shack
• Liz at Keep It French

Until next time friends!