Hot desserts for cold nights

Baby, it may be cold outside, but these treats mean you'll stay toasty on the inside.

Golden syrup pudding Source: Chris Chen

It can be hard to embrace the colder months. There's a biting chill that carves right through you and even woollen socks struggle to warm your toes. The sun shuts up shop at a ridiculously early hour and after dark, everything feels annoyingly damp.

The only thing that can beat that soggy, icy feeling is a warm dessert. Cobblers, strudels, puddings and pies. Tarts and hot fudge and pastries, oh my!

You know it's true. It's not called comfort food for nothing. A sweet ending to a meal brings cosy warmth to your woollen sock-clad toes. It fires up the happy hormones and life feels better with every spoonful.

It's best not to fight it. If we can't embrace the colder months, we can definitely embrace warmer desserts.

Churros cheer up

When hot chocolate is served in Argentina, it comes with a chunk of chocolate called a 'submarino' that's dunked into the hot drink. Very sensible. Source: Rachel Tolosa Paz

Dunking warm, sugary sticks into thick, hot dark chocolate is surely the remedy for life itself?

Bake your cares

‘Greixonera’ is a much-loved and cherished dessert eaten across the Balearic Islands. Source: Rochelle Eagle

Dig into sweet, citrusy custard-like Balearic pudding and the night is suddenly toasty.

Mushroom for dessert

Eating mushrooms for dessert will also warm your self-righteousness nicely. Source: Australian Mushrooms

This is a quirky take on a classic sticky date pudding. Portobello mushrooms are blended into the dates to create a richer pudding that's moister than the winter night air.

Go figure

No doubt the prunes in this gorgeous dessert will, ahem, warm you twice. Source: Hardie Grant Books / Nikki To

Swap your dates for figs and prunes to really make sticky toffee sing. A garam masala hit further spices this pudding up for winter.

Berry toasty

A generous pouring of goat's milk and cream vanilla custard tips this crumble towards perfection. Source: The Great Australian Cookbook

Could there be a finer winter dessert than berry and rhubarb crumble? So easy, so complex, so everything.

Apple crumble

Sometimes, you just need a good, honest apple crumble. Source: Food Lab

Okay, the only thing to rival the rhubarb crumble is this apple version. Serve it steaming hot out of the oven and with a bit of luck you'll burn your tongue. Strange comfort on a freezing night.

Golden refuge

Fend off the cold, the dark, the damp with this golden pud. Source: Chris Chen

If a golden syrup pudding drowning in hot vanilla custard doesn't warm you from hands to heart, nothing will.

Start with breakfast

Making your own puff pastry is sure to help you get a sweat on. Source: Chris Middleton

Why wait for the evening chill when you could be eating warm apple and rhubarb pie in the AM? Get a jump on the cold!

Self-made

These little chocolate cakes cook very quickly to retain an oozy, almost uncooked centre when served warm. Source: Hardie Grant

This little chocolate self-saucing pud practically makes itself. Take it next level by adding a pinch of chilli into the mix.

Cherry cherry bomb

You'll only need five ingredients to whip up this cherry frenzy. Source: Alan Benson

Technically you're supposed to serve strudel cooled, but please don't let that stop you from smashing into it straight out of the oven and floating it in a custard pond.

Well peared

Dating back to the early British settlers of North America, cobblers are based on seasonal fruits and topped with a biscuit-like scone mixture. Source: Alan Benson

Basically, all you need to know about this pear cobbler is that it has an extremely high pastry-to-filling ratio. Which is just the way we like it.

In a fritter

A crisp crunch in every consoling bite. Source: Adam Liaw

These toffee apple fritters are served warm, but dunked quickly into iced water to set the caramel before eating. Which means you get a crunchy caramel outer and a cosy apple centre.

And then there is hot fudge...

Spices like nutmeg and cinnamon also go a long way to soothing cold bodies in the midst of winter. Source: Alan Benson

Warm your cockles with a liberal sloshing of hot fudge sauce over espresso profiteroles. Ah, that's better.

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