Chocolate

You can use any combination of dried fruit or nuts you like to make these pretty biscuits

Brandy-soaked Madeira cake, gooey chocolate custard and boozy cherry compote in a dark chocolate shell? Sounds like pudding perfection

We all love a bit of theatre at the dinner table! This dramatic dessert is a great alternative to the flamed Christmas pudding. Setting the stack on fire melts the brandy butter balls over the brownies, making them deliciously squidgy

These easy eight-legged friends will be a hit at your Halloween do this year. Use vegan chocolate, if required

If you’re after a Halloween bake that not only looks the part but also tastes great, these almost-black chocolate cupcakes are the perfect solution – and you’ll be the talk of the street with the trick-or-treaters!

Steamed sponge puddings have a lovely light texture and the Guinness in this one adds a hint of bitterness to offset the rich chocolate. Steam it in a pan, on the hob or in a slow cooker

Our pear and chocolate brioche pudding recipe is the perfect post-roast pud!

This baking project will keep older children busy – and the biscuits can double up as a sweet homemade gift to give teachers at the beginning or end of the school term, just make sure the chocolate is set before wrapping

There are brownies... and then there are caramel cornflake brownies. The nutty, chewy, crispy top layer combined with the dark fudgy chocolatiness is simply sublime. This is certainly one of the most popular bakes I’ve ever brought into the magazine’s office. What’s more, the recipe adapts very well to be gluten-free too.