Our favourite little cakes, puddings and tarts

These make a change from a whole carrot cake, which can take ages to cook and is quite a mouthful, so to speak! They’re moist and full of goodness.

These little dark cakes are sized to share, but you could also bake them in Texas muffin tins – just shorten the cooking time. Recipes and styling by Fiona Hugues. Photography by Jani Shepherd; Gatherum Collectif.

Nici Wickes’ little white chocolate and rhubarb creations are simply divine. They blur the lines between cakes, muffins, cupcakes and friands – they’re a happy hybrid of all of them

These spongy treats are inspired by date loaf – so sticky and moreish you can’t stop at one piece. These date puddings are a bit lighter in texture and feature nut and caramel note

These little lemon and poppyseed cakes, with centres of cream cheese and lemon curd, are delightfully decadent and they stay fresh for days

These adorable little cinnamon banana tarte tatins are simply irresistible! Full of delicious ingredients, this sure is one heavenly dessert!

There’s something about single-serve crostatas – rustic Italian-style pies – that is so incredibly inviting. Not only is there no slicing required, but no sharing either! This is my go-to gluten-free pastry: crisp, buttery and just barely sweet. Recipe by Emma Galloway for Taste Magazine

These cute little cakes are stuffed with tender vanilla poached pears to create a dainty treat, perfect enjoyed with a cup of tea.

Treacle is sweeter than molasses, but not as sweet as golden syrup, and it has a slightly bitter taste. If you don’t have any treacle you can make these little gingerbread loaves with golden syrup but may want to remove one tablespoon of sugar from the recipe.

If you don’t have a kitchen blowtorch, sprinkle the sifted icing sugar over the top of the tarts before baking, then bake as per step 4. You need 3 x 12-hole (2-tablespoon/40ml) deep flat-based patty pans. Note

When time is limited, make your baking work for you. These recipes will take you from afternoon tea to dessert!