Divine desserts

This Christmas we share five spectacular summer desserts that'll steal the spotlight at your festive table. From frozen cherry cheesecake to mango trifle, each sweet treat is guaranteed to wow your guests.

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White forest cake SERVES 8 PREP + COOK TIME IHOUR 30 MINUTES (+REFRIGERATION TIME)

1 cup (150g) plain flour 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 6 eggs 3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled 250g mascarpone 300ml thickened cream 2 tablespoons icing sugar mixture Maraschino cherries or extra fresh cherries, for decorating CHERRY JAM 300g cherries, pitted and quartered 1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped 1 tablespoon kirsch (or lemon juice) WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE 360g white chocolate, chopped (eating chocolate, not cooking chocolate) 200ml single cream CHOCOLATE SHARDS 100g white chocolate melts, melted

1 CHERRY JAM Heat a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add cherries, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds and stir until the cherries start to soften and release liquid. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12-15 minutes or until thickened and sticky. Add kirsch (or lemon juice) and stir well to combine. Remove from heat, discarding vanilla bean, and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate until cold.

2 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Lightly grease and line the base of 3 x 20cm-round shallow cake pans with nonstick baking paper.

3 For the cake, sift flour and baking powder three times and set aside. Place eggs and sugar in an electric mixer and whisk on high speed for 10 minutes or until pale, thick and tripled in volume. Sift half the flour mixture over the egg mixture and, using a large metal spoon, gently fold to combine. Repeat with remaining flour. Add butter and gently fold to combine.