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Dessert is not a necessary part of anyone’s diet, and many people are perfectly happy to end a meal with a savoury taste. Unfortunately, there are many of us brought up in such a way that a meal simply is not complete unless it ends with a sweet. For those of us in that situation all that can be done is to try and make the sweet course a healthy addition to the diet.

Fresh fruit is the most commonly suggested healthy dessert, but for die-hard sweet-toothed types, a fresh apple, pear or banana, which may be very welcome in the morning or between meals, does not constitute a real dessert. That is not to say there aren’t some fresh fruits which do. In the summer months fresh strawberries, raspberries, and similar soft fruit – particularly if served with cashew or coconut cream – certainly does, also sweet melons and the like. In the winter tropical fruits like fresh pineapple or mango are definitely reserved for dessert. Another winter fruit which can be classified as a dessert is the persimmon (also called Sharon fruit). For those who have not tried this fruit, it should be eaten when it is so soft it feels almost rotten. The skin is peeled off and the inside is unbelievably sweet.

Canned fruit is not the same, of course, but there are an increasing number of varieties canned in juice rather than sugar syrup: served with cashew cream or custard made from soya milk, they can serve as a pleasant dessert as well.

Nowadays there are an increasing number of vegan sweets available, both in the UK and USA, including ready-made puddings and dairy-free ice creams. Naturally a convenience-type dessert can never be the same as a home-made one, which is why I have included sweet recipes for one in Sunday meals, when there may be extra leisure time to make them.