Only four ingredients are involved in this step-by-step guide to the custardy classic with the crusty top

From gelato to quiche, I’ve never met a custard I didn’t like – and you can’t get much more custardy than a crunchy, creamy creme brulee, which, despite its name, is probably as English as Bird’s custard powder and arguably even more delicious. Fancy enough to impress, yet surprisingly simple to execute in advance, it’s an excellent choice for a special occasion.

Prep 5 min
Cook 50 min
Makes 2

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A luxurious vegan dessert with a spicy, nutty twist

Put 300g of dried apricots and a litre of water into a deep saucepan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat so the fruit simmers, letting it cook for about 15 minutes till swollen and very soft. Leave the fruit and its liquid to cool.

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Now available at supermarket chains as well cafes and bakeries, the pastel de nata has become a UK staple

Francisco Oliveira was working in finance in Lisbon when he decided to move to London to sell custard tarts.

The son of two bakers, he could see Britons were developing a taste for the traditional Portuguese pastel de nata , but his plans for the new business were nonetheless bold – to sell tarts and not much else.

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Make Mum’s day with a lemon drizzle cake with poppy seed brittle, and a batch of irresistible sesame, pecan and date cookies

Lemon drizzle is a nostalgic cake for many of us, and reminds us of our childhood. And who made all those cakes, and all those memories? I used to think that cakes somehow just “appeared” almost out of thin air but, of course, there’s no such thing. A child’s day is made sweet by a whole lot of planning and stirring and baking. Why not turn the tables this year and make your mother a lemon drizzle cake? And, after all these years, it’s her turn to lick the bowl, OK?

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Devour these caffeine-laced morsels warm, especially if they’re dipped in chocolate spread or jersey cream

Freshly baked madeleines are magic. Always a crowdpleaser, they take minutes to bake once the batter is made. I used to think that the only way to enjoy a madeleine was warm, but have since grown to appreciate how soft and buttery they remain once cool. They can easily be embellished, too. I’ve had citrussy madeleines served with lemon icing for dipping, while at Maison François in London they feature on the dessert trolley, piped with a pistachio ganache centre and dipped in a delicate white-chocolate shell. Here, I’ve put coffee grounds in the batter and recommend serving them with bowls of chocolate spread and jersey cream.

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A creamy layered dessert beloved of the southern US – but whose is the definitive version?

Banana pudding wasn’t on my radar until a chance conversation with American food writer Charlotte Druckman , editor of the excellent anthology Women on Food , who alerted me to its existence – plus anything labelled “pudding” has my immediate and undivided attention, anyway. In the US, the term refers to a particular variety of thick and milky dessert – what we might call a custard, or a pastry cream, or even a blancmange, depending on the method used – and this particular banana-studded pudding/trifle hybrid has a long history, first popping up in print in the late 19th century*, by which time the tropical fruit was well established in North America.

Why it became particularly associated with the South in the mid-20th century is a mystery that South Carolina food writer Robert Moss has probed without success , but the fact remains that “you can’t swing a dead cat in a Southern barbecue joint without hitting a bowl of banana pudding”, or, he adds, at a Southern church picnic, holiday gathering or tailgate , for that matter. And there’s a good reason for that: it’s ridiculously good. If you, like me, have a nostalgic fondness for the bananas and custard of childhood, this is the dinner-party version, with just a touch of American glamour. (Oh, and I’m told that, strictly speaking, it’s known as banana puddin’ in the South.)

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A fried milk street snack that’s a hit dessert all year round - here with a winter citrus twist

I made this for my partner’s mum Hilda not long after we met, and apparently it won her heart. This dish is actually a popular, sweet street food snack, but here I’m serving it with sticky caramel blood oranges – the pick of the winter crop. As far as I can tell, leche frita ( or ‘fried milk’) was first made and sold by nuns in northern Spain to raise money for their convents and was traditionally eaten at Easter; nowadays, though, it’s popular all year round, probably because it’s just so moreish.

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Make an impression with burrata and blood orange salad, baked trout with tahini and peppers, and tinned peach tarte tatin topped with ice-cream to finish

What makes a good Valentine’s meal? Something to share, maybe, Lady and the Tramp-style? Or food to eat by hand, signalling informality and ease? For some, it’s a full-on steak and champagne feast, eaten under candlelight, while for others a baked potato eaten on the sofa while wearing PJs does the trick. All good meals are a relationship match of sorts. Some pairings are clearly going to work from the start, while others take a bit longer to persuade, not least because they seem an odd fit: trout and tahini, say, are hardly the most obvious couple but, once tried, they make so much sense. It’s tempting to force the analogies when it comes to food and love, so let’s leave the ingredients to do what they do best.

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A snowy coconut cake and an elegant pear dessert with chocolate sauce and cream

In the American south, coconut cakes are a Christmas tradition. There are myriad variations: some call for fresh coconut, some desiccated, some flaked, some toasted. I love the snowy appeal of a coconut cake in the winter, and it’s a welcome alternative to a rich fruit cake. Poire belle hélène, or poached pears with chocolate sauce, is both elegant and simple, not to mention refreshing after a large meal. These two desserts go surprisingly well together on the table – or even on the same plate.

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