Creme brulee and chocolate bundt cake: Nicola Lamb’s Christmas crowdpleasers – recipes

Make ahead and impress your guests with crunchy-topped hazelnut creme brulees and a centrepiece chocolate fondant bundt cake

Even though our to-do lists are longer and our homes busier than ever, there’s something about Christmas that gives us the extra chutzpah to bake. And not just any baking, but baking for a crowd. So, with this in mind, here are two crowdpleasing recipes – a rich hazelnut “Nutcracker” creme brulee and a resplendent chocolate fondant bundt cake – with a few make-ahead and shortcut secrets to give you a head start.

Nicola Lamb is a pastry chef and author of the weekly Kitchen Projects newsletter and Sift, published by Ebury Press at £30. To order a copy for £27, go to guardianbookshop.com