Random Dessert Generator

The Random Dessert Generator deals one to five desserts from a list of 90, each with a photo and its name. The list is made of specific dishes rather than categories: you get "sticky ginger pudding" or "lemon and finger lime tart," not "pudding" or "tart." It is a dessert randomizer for choosing what to bake this weekend, settling a dinner-party argument or picking a sweet course to order when the menu is too long.

Settings

One input: the number of desserts, from 1 to 5 (three by default). Press Generate Dessert and the cards appear. There is no filter for type (cake, pie, pudding, frozen), for diet or for difficulty. A batch never repeats a dessert; a later click can.

What each card shows

A photo of the finished dish and its name. There is no recipe, ingredient list, origin or cooking time on the card, so take the name to your favorite recipe site once you have picked. The names come from a recipe collection and keep that collection's phrasing, which means a few read like headlines ("Don't let winter pass without making this golden syrup pudding") and several credit a chef (Jamie Oliver's rice pudding, Matt Preston's self-saucing chocolate pudding).

What kind of desserts are in the list

The 90 entries lean toward home baking with an Australian and British accent (banoffee, Cherry Ripe, golden syrup, finger lime), with a few Middle Eastern and French classics mixed in.

• Cakes: lemon olive oil cake, ginger and pear cake, caramel cake, baked ricotta cake, burnt butter, almond and honey cake, upside-down walnut pear cake, flourless chestnut, chocolate and rum cake.
• Puddings: dark chocolate self-saucing pudding, sticky ginger pudding, chocolate bread and butter pudding, molten black forest puddings, muhallabia (Middle Eastern milk pudding), baked rice pudding.
• Pies, tarts and pastry: easy lemon meringue pie, spiced pumpkin pie, peanut butter banoffee pie, salted honey, pear and chocolate tarte Tatin, cheat's mille-feuille, pecan baklava rolls, warm date knafeh.
• Crumbles and cobblers: strawberry and rhubarb cobbler, apple and blueberry crumble with roasted almond and peanut topping, cherry and almond crumble, pear and coconut crumble.
• Chocolate and frozen: blender chocolate mousse with whisky caramel popcorn, frozen caramel slice, choc top and popcorn sundae, ready-bake chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches, simple chocolate bark, coffee brownies, white chocolate and raspberry blondies.
• Fruit-forward: poached pear vacherin, peaches and raspberries mascarpone fool, rhubarb, strawberries and cream, peach Melba, pineapple and spice financier.

Absent, for the record: ice cream flavors, candy, and most American diner staples. If you wanted a random sweet snack rather than a plated dessert, the Random Candy Generator and Random Snack Generator are closer to the mark, and the Random Fruit Generator is the healthy option.

Ways to use it

• Weekend baking without a plan. Generate three, bake the one whose ingredients you already have.
• Dinner-party menus. Pair a result with the Random Dinner Generator for the main and you have a two-course plan in two clicks.
• Bake-off themes. Draw one dessert for the whole group and compare versions.
• Food-blog and cafe specials. A random pick breaks the habit of making the same five things every month.

The Random Food Generator covers all courses, and you can browse all food and drink generators for soups, breakfasts and cuisines.