When I was growing up in the United States, I was fascinated by the descriptions of Christmas puddings in British novels: the dessert sounded so festive and delicious. During my pastry apprenticeship, one of the English chefs made the pudding for the holiday season. When I finally tasted it, I thought, 'This is it?' It was one of the big disappointments in my life. I thought that perhaps it was not a good version, but I've tasted several more and they're all sweet, heavy and stodgy. It's the same thing with fruitcake: why should the combination be so awful?

While I don't think there's any hope of making fruitcake delicious, I did finally eat something I liked made with Christmas pudding. The chef cut it into small pieces and folded it into Haagen-Dazs ice cream. But I still prefer something lighter after a heavy Christmas meal so, this year, I'll make cranberry crumble, pumpkin pie and my favourite, flourless chocolate cake.

To make the flourless chocolate cake, preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Butter and line a 25cm pan. Melt 120 grams unsalted butter and pour over 225 grams chopped bittersweet chocolate. Stir until melted and set aside to cool to lukewarm. Separate four eggs. In a clean, dry bowl, whip the whites with a dash of salt and 1/4 cup sugar until they hold a soft peak. Put in fridge. Whip the yolks with 1/4 cup sugar until thick and pale yellow. Stir the melted chocolate into the yolks then stir in 1/4 of the whipped whites. Working gently, fold remaining whites into the chocolate/yolk mixture. Pour into pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until set. When cool, turn out of pan and serve with lightly whipped cream and raspberry sauce.