Easy ‘marry-me’ desserts to dish up this Valentine’s Day

WITH lone 1 week to spell until the astir romanticist time of the year, it's clip to propulsion retired each the stops for day night.

If you're looking for inspo that's really achievable, Alexina Anatole's caller cookbook Sweet: The Secret To The Best Desserts, retired February 13, has it successful spades.

If you're a TikTok fan, you'll announcement that her saccharine treats are giving #MarryMeDessert vibes - however could you accidental no?

And they're not conscionable for Valentine's Day - everything from pear tatin to rum baba with a twist, these volition enactment with you each year.

Alexina reached the MasterChef last successful 2021 and has thrown herself into cookery ever since, fortunate for us.

Say "I do" to these sweethearts...

Banoffee Coffee Sundae

Makes 4-5
Prep clip 5 mins

Ingredients:
*12 digestive biscuits
*Caramel sauce
*4 ripe bananas, peeled and chopped into 1cm-thick slices connected the bias
*Cocoa nibs, to decorate
*Coffee crystal cream

For the cinnamon cream:
*150ml treble cream, fridge-cold
*1/4-1/2tsp crushed cinnamon, to taste

Method:
1 First, to marque the cinnamon cream, whip the treble pick and crushed cinnamon until you get brushed peaks.
2 To serve, contiguous each the antithetic elements successful bowls successful the mediate of the array to marque up your ain sundae. For example, crush a mates of digestive biscuits into the bottommost of a sundae glass, spoon implicit immoderate caramel sauce, past apical with slices of banana. Add a scoop of java crystal cream, followed by a spoonful of the cinnamon cream, past drizzle implicit much caramel condiment and ablution with cocoa nibs.

Blackened Bananas With Coconut, Passionfruit & Ginger

Makes: 4
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:
*4 mean ripe bananas
*2tbsp maple syrup
*Flaky oversea salt

For the coconut cream:
*1/2 x 400ml tin coconut milk, fridge-cold
*100ml treble cream
*1tbsp icing sugar
*1tsp vanilla legume paste

To decorate:
*3 ripe passionfruit, pulp removed
*3tbsp crystallised ginger, astir chopped
*Sweetened coconut flakes (optional)

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/gas people 9. Line a baking tray with foil.
2 Place the bananas connected the prepared tray and usage a tiny weapon to portion a slit on two-thirds of the magnitude of each banana. Press the ends of the bananas towards each different to somewhat unfastened up the split, past determination 1/2tbsp maple syrup into each, followed by a generous pinch of flaky oversea salt. Roast the bananas until the skins person turned wholly achromatic and they are brushed successful the middle, for astir 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and acceptable speech to chill slightly.
3 While the bananas are baking, region the tin of coconut beverage from the fridge and scoop retired the top, thicker fractional into a bowl. Whip up until conscionable shy of brushed peaks. Separately, whip unneurotic the treble cream, icing sweetener and vanilla to stiff peaks. Fold the treble pick into the coconut pick and whip further, if needed, to thicken it up.
4 To serve, transportation the bananas (still successful their skins) to a serving platter, apical each with a spoonful of the coconut cream, followed by 1-2tsp passionfruit pulp. Garnish with crystallised ginger and coconut flakes (if using), and service immediately.

Simple Citrus, Olive Oil & Vanilla Loaf

Makes: 8-10 slices
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 50 mins

Ingredients:
*2 humor oranges, positive foodstuff 1/2 humor orange
*2 eggs
*110ml olive oil
*80g Greek yoghurt, positive other to serve
*Juice 1/2 lemon
*1tsp vanilla legume paste
*140g caster oregon granulated sugar
*100g plain flour
*3/4tsp baking powder
*¼tsp bicarbonate of soda
*¼tsp good oversea salt

For the syrup:
*Juice 2 humor oranges
*80g caster oregon granulated sugar
*1/2tsp vanilla legume paste

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4 and enactment a 900g loaf tin.
2 Zest the 2 oranges and acceptable the zest aside, past apical and process them, removing the tegument and pith by moving a weapon down the sides. Slice the oranges crossways into 5mm rounds, picking retired and discarding the pips. Arrange successful the bottommost of the loaf tin successful a azygous furniture (you whitethorn not request each the slices, depending connected the size of your oranges).
3 In a jug, whisk unneurotic the eggs, olive oil, yoghurt, orangish zest and juice, citrus foodstuff and vanilla.
4 Separately, whisk unneurotic the sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and brackish successful a mean bowl. Pour the bedewed ingredients into the adust ingredients and premix until combined.
5 Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and cook until a skewer comes retired clean, astir 45 minutes. Allow to chill for 5-10 minutes, past crook retired onto a ligament cooling rack.
6 To marque the syrup, harvester the orangish juice, sweetener and vanilla successful a cookware and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until somewhat thickened, past region from the vigor and acceptable speech to chill for 5 minutes.
7 To serve, crook the loaf upside down (so that the oranges are visible) and brushwood the syrup implicit the top. Serve slices with a dollop of Greek yoghurt.