How about trying one of these delicious deserts over Christmas? People are always surprised at how easy this lemon and passion fruit posset is to make. It is so light and refreshing. The lemon juice sets the cream and makes it nice and light. The passion fruit is optional but I like the taste.

I will also let you in on a little secret. Irish Country Living Editor, Mairead Lavery, came up to Blacklion recently for one of our cookery school days. Not only did she make this recipe, but she made it very well indeed. Well done Mairead.

My mother, Vera, taught me how to make meringues and marshmallow and this is a variation of one of her recipes. I never tire of it. A good pavlova should have a gooey, sticky centre, almost like a marshmallow. You can enjoy this all year around, using whatever fruits are in season.

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What’s great about this is that it can even be made the day before, just remember not to fill it until you are nearly ready to serve.

Happy Christmas.

Lemon and passion

fruit posset

Serves four to six

1 litre (1¾ pints) cream

250g (9oz) caster sugar

Juice and rind of 3 lemons

2 large passion fruits

12 raspberries

Almond biscotti, to serve

1 Place 900ml (1½ pints) of cream in a pan with the sugar, lemon rind and juice. Cut the passion fruits in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Bring to the boil and boil for three minutes.

2 Leave the mixture to cool slightly and then strain through a fine sieve into a jug. Pour into four to six stemmed glasses, depending on their size. Chill for at least one or two hours, but overnight is best.

3 Pour 5mm (¼in) of the remaining cream on to the top of each one to balance the richness. Decorate with raspberries and set on plates. Serve with almond biscotti on the side.

Raspberry & white chocolate pavlova with lemon and mint

Serves six to eight

For the pavlova:

4 large egg whites, at room temperature

Pinch of salt

225g (8oz) caster sugar

2tsp cornflour

1tsp white wine vinegar

½ tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:

400ml (14fl oz) cream

50g (2oz) icing sugar, sifted

1 vanilla pod, split in half and seeds scraped out

Finely-grated rind of 1 lemon

250g (9oz) raspberries

Fresh mint sprigs, to decorate

White chocolate curls, to decorate

1 Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F/gas mark 2). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw on a 23cm (9in) circle. Flip the paper over so that the pencil doesn’t transfer to the bottom of the pavlova.

2 Make the meringue in a large, clean, dry bowl. Whisk the egg whites and salt into stiff peaks. Slowly add the sugar, a third at a time, whisking well between each addition until the mixture is stiffened and shiny. Sprinkle in the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla extract, then fold in gently with a metal spoon.

3 Pile the meringue onto the paper circle and make a deep hollow in the centre. Put in the oven and reduce the heat to 120°C (250°F/gas mark ½).

4 Bake for one and a half hours, until pale brown but a little soft in the centre. Then turn off the oven and leave the door ajar and allow to cool completely.

5 To make the filling, whip the cream in a bowl with the icing sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon rind until thickened and just holding its shape.

6 To serve, peel the parchment paper off the pavlova and carefully transfer to a serving plate or cake stand.

7 Pile on the whipped cream and arrange the raspberries on top, then decorate with the mint sprigs and white chocolate curls. Serve straight to the table in all its glory. CL