Last week as I watched the Great British Bake Off one of the little historical pieces piqued my curiosity. It explained the advent of ready-made desserts in the UK, something I had never given any thought too. During World War 2, as wives and mothers worked outside of the home, to aid the war effort, it left them little time to prepare meals when they returned home in the evening. With a hungry family expecting dinner and dessert the demand for convenient products, that could be bought and simply assembled at home grew, and the ready-made dessert was born. This meant it was possible to produce dinner followed by a dessert with little or no effort. Women were able to continue to work whilst also keeping rumbling tummies at bay.
The thing that I became curious about is how many people make a dessert to follow dinner every day? Or how often do people make dessert? It would seem it was the norm at that time to provide dessert after each evening meal. As I thought about it my mind wandered to American movies from that era. Door bell ready wives produced pies or cobblers each night without so much as breaking a sweat. When we grew up dessert was reserved for Sunday or special occasions, and at that it wasn’t always homemade, Vienetta or Romantica were regulars. Now that I am all grown up I make dessert if we have guests over and I bake for the purpose of the blog, but I rarely make a dessert to follow dinner.
Weekends tend to be busy affairs for myself and Mr. Boo. People to visit, appointments to keep and party’s or get togethers. This generally leaves little time for cooking. Over the last few weeks I have been making a big effort to return to cooking a Sunday roast, a special meal just for the two of us. And, as the days are growing shorter and will soon be colder I will make an effort to make a comforting dessert to follow. Well, it’s the weekend, we’re allowed a little treat. I tweeted with the lovely Nessa earlier about this. Nessa produces a dessert for her family to enjoy each day following dinner. If Nessa can manage it every day I reckon I can at least give it a try once a week.
So, how often do you make dessert? I would love to know so please leave me a little comment. 
I would have some form of desert most days, its usually simple like stewed fruit that I make in big batches! Proper deserts are reserved for sundays and theres nothing wrong with Romantica haha! Yum!
Wow, I feel short changed now. I think I need to introduce dessert as a daily affair in our house. And you can’t beat a bit of Romantica, still get it the odd time in my MIL’s.
At my home desserts were made only when guests would come or when me or my mum was in a mood for baking. There was always something sweet in the house, but it almost never followed the dinner.
I love desserts. But I’m always full after the dinner. And maybe it’s better this way, my waistline is happier when there are fewer desserts during the week.
Similar to our house so, Sundays or special occasions when guests were over. We always had some biscuits in the press but they were more for snacks than an after dinner treat. I’m generally full after dinner too. If I feel hungry later in the evening I indulge in some chocolate. I definitely don’t think my waistline could stand up to nightly desserts.
Growing up, we had dessert more often than not. In fact, my sister, who was and still is a picky eater, would often sit down at the table, take one look at her dinner and immediately ask, “What’s for dessert?” It was usually ice cream or something store-bought, but we had something sweet almost every night. That’s not the case now. I tend to bake something a few times a month but I don’t buy biscuits or cakes either – since I work from home, if it’s in the house, it would be too hard to resist. When I do bake, I tend to go for plainer cakes, the kind you can have in the afternoon with a cup of tea.
I feel like we were deprived children now Kristin, no nightly desserts for us.
I try to avoid buying biscuits because they call out to be eaten and I have enough to stuff my face with thanks to the blog. I bake a lot of loaf cakes, things that are easy for the hubs to just slice & enjoy with a cup of tea in the evening.
I don’t set out to make desserts for after dinner but sometimes there are brownies/cakes/biscuits already made so we have them. I always finish my meals with something sweet albeit a square of choc – it sends a clear signal to the brain that the savoury food is all gone so dinner is over.
I like that sciencey bit you have going on there about telling the brain dinner is over. I will feel considerably less guilty from now on about my nightly chocolate fix.
Loving reading all of these answers.
Growing up, we would always have something sweet after dinner during the week – be it a slice of apple tart or jam slab, or a biscuit. Weekends were, and still are, serious sweet-tooth territory up home – Sunday dinner isn’t Sunday dinner without two desserts!
Nowadays, I’ll usually bake a batch of biscuits or a traybake for weeknight scoffing at home, or we’ll have a morsel of chocolate. Even if I’m watching what I eat, I’ll have a pear or a peach – I agree with Gillian, there must be something in sweet food that lets the brain know it’s done with dinner!
Hi Catherine, well I’m really starting to feel like a deprived child now. Dessert was a Sunday affair for us. During the week it was custard creams and bourbons.
I try to avoid baking cookies unless I know people are calling as I know I will scoff the lot. I feel the need to though with the weather turning colder now. Definitely agree that something sweet sends a message to the brain. Even if it is just one square of chocolate it finishes off the day for me.
Just catching up with the blogs now and you have caught my attention with this topic!
We had dessert every evening after tea – Our main meal was at lunch time during the working week and after a light tea in the evening there was always a simple dessert – baked fig rolls with custard or a warm apple cake with ice-cream were typical, crumbles, biscuits, pies and milk puddings all featured. On Sunday the dessert was after the roast dinner in the middle of the day – and was always a more elaborate affair – pavlova, baked alaska, baked cheesecake all decorated to within an inch of their lives.
Now having my own people to feed and because they are still very young – I don’t really like to make so much sugar filled things but at the same time always make everything myself because thats how I was brought up. I make one dessert during the week and one at the weekend. I keep cookie dough for favorite cookies in the freezer so everyone has a fresh bickie after their homework – but only one! I’m lucky to have an Aga so it’s easy to be organized like that. I don’t eat any of those things myself. I am a square of dark chocolate person also.
Wow, I want to have grown up in your house. Tea time sounds like a totally delicious affair. I wish I was a square of dark chocolate person, I love to eat what I bake so have to try to limit it to a couple of times a week and also give most of it to my neighbours to stop me scoffing the lot.