Here are a selection of delicious desserts that you can cook on the barbecue and a few that you can make in advance and have ready to hand when the cooking has come to an end.
Sydney Flambéed Fruits with Maple Syrup and Lightning Champagne Cocktail
Picture this: a boat cruising around Sydney harbour. On the middle deck, a barbecue with hot coals glistening in the night breeze. The music starts – ‘Oh Lucky You’ by the Lightning Seeds – and in I walk to prepare this exciting dessert and cocktail as I groove to the sounds in traditional Ainsley style. It tasted great too. Oh lucky you!
Serves 6
225 g (8 oz) large strawberries
3 ripe but firm fresh peaches
2 tablespoons brandy plus extra for flambéeing
2 tablespoons icing sugar
200 g (7 oz) tub of crème fraîche or Greek natural yoghurt
maple syrup to serve
For the champagne cocktail
6 white sugar cubes
1 orange
6 teaspoons brandy
75 cl bottle chilled champagne or dry sparkling white wine
Hull the strawberries and halve the peaches, remove the stones and cut them into thick slices. Place them into a large bowl with the 2 tablespoons of brandy and mix together well. Set aside for 30 minutes.
For the champagne cocktails, rub each sugar cube over the surface of the orange so that it picks up the flavour of the zest. Drop each one into a tall-stemmed glass and add 1 teaspoon of the brandy to each. Set aside.
If your barbecue has widely spaced bars, position a fine-meshed rack (see here) over the coals and leave it for a couple of minutes to get hot.
Place the pieces of fruit on to the rack and cook for 2 minutes.
Spoon the icing sugar into a fine sieve and dust half of it heavily over the fruits. Turn them over and cook for 2 minutes. Dredge them with the remaining icing sugar, turn over and cook for another 2 minutes until the sugar has lightly caramelized.
Now if you want to, stand back and splash extra teaspoons of brandy over the fruits, taking care because it will ignite as it hits the hot coals. Let the flames die down between each spoonful.
Quickly remove the fruits to individual bowls, spoon over the crème fraîche or yoghurt and drizzle over the maple syrup.
Pour the champagne into the prepared glasses and serve straight away.
Fresh figs can be a little bland unless you are really lucky to come across a good batch. Cooking them like this improves their flavour and the nuts give everything a nice bit of crunchiness.
Serves 4
12 ripe fresh figs
8 tablespoons clear honey
200 g (7 oz) tub of Greek natural yoghurt
25 g (1 oz) flaked almonds, lightly toasted
Trim the end of the stalk off each fig and then cut a cross into the top of each one and open it up.
Place 3 of the figs into the centre of 4 x 30 cm (12 in) squares of extra-thick foil and bring the edges of the foil up around the sides of the fruit.
Spoon the honey equally over the fruit and then scrunch the edges of the foil together to make well-sealed parcels. Place them to the side of a medium-low barbecue and cook for 15 minutes until tender.
Transfer the parcels to plates and open up the foil. Add a good spoonful of Greek yoghurt to each one, sprinkle with the nuts and eat while they’re still warm.
Boozy Caramel Oranges with Caramel Brittle Ice Cream
Start to make the ice cream well beforehand to give it plenty of time to freeze. If you wish, you can make it well in advance but you will need to make the caramel in two smaller batches – one for the ice cream, and one for the oranges later. There will be far more ice cream than you will need for this pudding – it will probably make enough to feed 8 people – but it will keep in the freezer for another day (if you’re lucky!).
Serves 4
6 small oranges
225 g (8 oz) granulated sugar
150 ml (5 fl oz) water
2 tablespoons orange liqueur such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier
For the ice cream
600 ml (1 pint) milk
1 vanilla pod, split open lengthways
6 egg yolks
75 g (3 oz) caster sugar
300 ml (10 fl oz) double cream
For the ice cream, bring the milk and the vanilla pod to the boil in a pan (non-stick if possible). Set aside for 20 minutes to allow the flavour of the vanilla to infuse the milk.
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until pale and creamy. Bring the milk back to the boil, discard the vanilla pod and whisk the milk into the egg yolks.
Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring all the time, until it lightly coats the back of the wooden spoon. Pour the custard into a shallow plastic container and leave to cool. Then transfer to the fridge and leave it to chill for 1 hour.
Stir the cream into the custard and either churn it in an ice cream maker or freeze it until almost firm. Scrape the mixture into a food processor and blitz briefly until smooth. Pour it back into the box and repeat once more.
When the ice cream is almost firm, cut a slice off the top and bottom of each orange and carefully cut away all the skin and white pith. Cut each orange across into about 5 slices, divide them between 4 x 30 cm (12 in) squares of extra-thick foil and bring the edges up around the fruit.
You now need to make some caramel. Put the sugar and the water into a large pan and leave over a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Line a baking tray with some foil and set to one side.
Bring the syrup to the boil and boil vigorously until it has turned a rich caramel colour. Quickly pour half on to the baking tray and leave to set.
Stand back and add the orange liqueur to the caramel left in the pan. It will hiss and splutter alarmingly but don’t worry. Return the pan to a low heat and stir until smooth.
Divide the sauce equally between the oranges and scrunch the edges together well to seal. Set aside while you finish the ice cream.
Break the sheet of caramel into little pieces, stir them into the ice cream and return it to the freezer until firm.
Place the orange parcels on to the side of the barbecue and barbecue over medium-hot coals for 8–10 minutes. Lift them on to serving plates, carefully open up each one and serve with a scoop of the ice cream.