Easter Gatherings And Make Ahead Desserts

There is a particular kind of magic reserved for Easter Sunday. It isn’t the chocolate eggs (though they certainly help), nor the hopeful arrival of spring sunshine through freshly cleaned windows. No, the real magic is the slow, joyful gathering of family under one roof — the sound of the front door opening again and again, coats piling up, hugs overlapping, and the kettle never quite making it back to the cupboard.

Easter in our home has become the day when the whole family comes back to the nest.

My children, now very grown up with lives, routines and responsibilities of their own, somehow transform the moment they step inside. Shoes are kicked off in the hallway as if they never left, old jokes resurface within minutes, and suddenly the house feels exactly as it did years ago — only louder, taller and somehow even more hungry.

And goodness, are they hungry.

The Great Easter Roast

I’ve always believed the roast dinner is the centrepiece of the day. It’s the anchor. The reason everyone knows exactly what time they must arrive. It fills the house with that unmistakable scent that wraps itself around you like a warm blanket: roasting meat, buttery vegetables, and the promise of golden, crisp potatoes.

Cooking a big family roast is not for the faint-hearted. It requires lists, planning, and a sort of quiet determination that begins days before the first carrot is peeled. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Because while I stand in the kitchen basting the potatoes, the real celebration is happening just down the hallway.

From the sitting room comes the rising tide of laughter.

Deep belly laughs. The kind that spill over one another. Stories being told louder and louder as each person insists their memory is the accurate one. Childhood tales re-emerge — the holiday mishaps, the school disasters, the sibling squabbles that once felt catastrophic and now feel utterly hilarious.

I pause, spoon in hand, just to listen.

And in that moment, every peeled potato, every early morning supermarket trip, every mountain of washing up feels completely, utterly worth it.

Why I Always Make Desserts the Day Before

Years ago, I learned a lesson the hard way. Easter Sunday should not be spent frantically whisking cream while guests arrive, or measuring sugar while someone asks where the corkscrew is. It is not a day for last-minute panic.

It is a day to be present.

So now, the desserts are always made the day before. Without fail. It has become a ritual in its own right — the quiet calm before the joyful storm.

The kitchen feels different on that Saturday afternoon. There’s music playing, ingredients laid out neatly, and the comforting knowledge that tomorrow I will not need to rush. Tomorrow, I can sit down with a cup of coffee while everyone arrives. Tomorrow, I can join in the laughter instead of hearing it from behind an oven door.

And there are two desserts that must always make an appearance.

The Lemon Cheesecake That Disappears in Minutes

First, the no-bake lemon cheesecake with its gloriously buttery ginger biscuit base.

It is sunshine on a plate.

Fresh, zesty, creamy and just the right amount of indulgent after a hearty roast. Every year I consider trying something new… and every year someone says, “You’re making the lemon one, aren’t you?”

It vanishes within minutes. Plates are scraped. Someone inevitably asks if there’s any left, knowing full well there isn’t.

The Profiteroles That Cannot Be Skipped

And then there are the profiteroles.

These are non-negotiable.

I once dared to suggest skipping them. The reaction was swift and dramatic enough to ensure I never make that mistake again. Apparently, Easter without profiteroles would cast a faint but undeniable shadow over the day.

Golden choux buns filled with cream and draped in chocolate feel wonderfully celebratory. Slightly extravagant. A little nostalgic. And watching grown adults light up at the sight of them brings me enormous joy.

The Real Reason We Do It

Yes, the cooking takes effort. The planning takes time. The washing up seems endless.

But when the house is full and the sitting room erupts with laughter while I baste the potatoes, something very special happens.

You can feel the love in the room.

It hums through the house. In the clink of glasses, the overlapping conversations, the stories told for the hundredth time. It’s loud and chaotic and gloriously imperfect.

And it is pure gold.

Because long after the plates are cleared and the leftovers packed away, what remains is the memory of everyone together — full of food, full of laughter, and full of the kind of warmth that only family can bring.

And that, truly, is what Easter tastes like.

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No Bake Lemon Cheese cake

Base

• 200 g digestive biscuits or Ginger biscuits as Lemon and Ginger is a match made in heaven!

• 100 g unsalted butter, melted

  
  

Filling

• 300 g full-fat cream cheese (room temperature)

• 300 ml double cream (heavy cream)

• 100 g icing sugar (powdered sugar)

• Zest of 2 lemons

• 100 ml fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

  
  

Optional topping

• Lemon zest curls or slices

• Lemon curd

• Whipped cream

  
  

Instructions

1) Make the base

1. Crush the biscuits into fine crumbs (food processor or zip bag + rolling pin).

2. Mix crumbs with melted butter until it looks like wet sand.

3. Press firmly into the base of a 20 cm springform tin.

4. Chill in the fridge for 20–30 minutes to set.

   
   

2) Make the filling

1. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.

2. Add icing sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix until silky.

3. In a separate bowl, whip the double cream to soft peaks.

4. Gently fold the whipped cream into the lemon cream cheese mixture until thick and fluffy.

Tip: Fold gently so the cheesecake stays light and airy.

3) Assemble

1. Spoon the filling onto the chilled base.

2. Smooth the top with a spatula.

3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours (overnight is best).

   
   

4) Decorate & serve

Top with lemon zest, lemon curd, or whipped cream.Slice with a warm knife for clean slices.

Quick tips

• Tastes best after overnight chilling.

• Keeps in the fridge up to 3 days.

• You can freeze it for up to 1 month and thaw in the fridge

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 Easy make ahead Profiteroles

Choux pastry

• 120 ml water

• 50 g butter

• 75 g plain flour

• 2 eggs

• Pinch of salt

Filling

• 300 ml double cream

• 2 tbsp icing sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate sauce

I absolutely cheat as this and chop and melt down store own brand mars bars and loosen with a few drops of boiling water

Instructions

1) Make the choux pastry

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan).

2. Put water, butter and salt in a saucepan. Heat until butter melts and mixture boils.

3. Remove from heat and add flour all at once.

4. Beat hard with a wooden spoon until it forms a smooth ball and pulls away from the pan.

5. Let cool for 5 minutes.

6. Beat in eggs one at a time until glossy and pipeable.

Tip: The dough should fall slowly from the spoon in a V shape.

2) Pipe & bake

1. Line a baking tray with parchment.

2. Pipe or spoon small walnut-size balls (leave space between). wet your finger and smooth down any peaks so they don't catch in the oven

3. Bake for 20–25 minutes until golden and puffed.

4. Turn oven off the oven, slightly open the door and leave them inside for 10 minutes to dry.

Do NOT open the oven early or they may collapse.

3) Make the filling

1. Whip the cream, icing sugar and vanilla to soft peaks.

2. Once buns are cool, open hole in the bottom and pipe cream inside.

3. If you are making a day ahead , fill a piping bag with the cream and pop it in the fridge ready for the next day and fill a couple of hours before you serve. If you fill the day before they may go soggy!

   
   

4) Chocolate sauce

1. chop the mars bars and heat in the microwave, stir regularly until melted. Add a small amount of boiling water to slacken the mixture to the desired thickness.

2. 
   

5) Assemble

Stack profiteroles and drizzle with warm chocolate sauce , you can add sprinkles, or decorate with fresh strawberries. Get creative!

At Easter I crush some mini Easter eggs ( put them in a Freezer bag and give them a bash with a rolling pin just to break them up a little) and leave some whole and scatter them over the sweet sticky sauce

Tips

• Best eaten the same day.

• You can freeze the empty choux buns.

• Add ice cream instead of cream for profiteroles au glace, if you do this, let the ice cream soften a little and use a scoop to make domes of ice cream. I place the domes on parchment on a baking tray and put them back in the freezer. This makes it easy when ready to serve. Cut the choux pastry in half ( I use scissors) as you can just pop a ice cream dome in each pastry and cover with the sauce.