Seven simple, and tasty, ways to deal with a hot snap

It’s OK, somewhere between ice-cream sandwiches, frozen fruit blocks and summer wine there might be something for you.

Let the freezer do the work: first, freeze watermelon overnight, then turn it into a creamy two-ingredient ice-cream on a biscuit base. Refreeze it and it's ready to go.

1. Arrange the chopped watermelon on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and freeze overnight.

2. To make the biscuit base, whiz the biscuits in a food processor, then add the melted butter and whiz until fine-crumbed. Press into the base of a straight-sided lamington tin lined with baking paper, and place in the freezer to firm up.

3. Remove the watermelon from the freezer, soften at room temperature for five minutes, then whiz in a food processor with the sweetened condensed milk for two minutes until smooth.

4. Pour the watermelon mixture over the biscuit base and freeze overnight. Remove from the tin, cut into slices or squares and serve immediately.

Serving suggestion: serve with a small, chilled wedge of watermelon or a spoonful of berries.

For the ''you can never have too much chocolate'' crowd: chocolate-studded biscuits sandwiched with white chocolate mousse. Follow this Jill Dupleix recipe:

Heat oven to 180C. Melt 75 grams chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove and cool.

Beat butter and two sugars in a bowl until smooth, about five minutes. Beat in eggs, melted chocolate, vanilla and salt. Sift in flour and bicarbonate of soda and fold through, then fold in remaining chopped chocolate and nuts. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Using an ice-cream scoop, place eight balls of mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper, allowing room for spreading.

Bake for 15 minutes, then gently transfer, using baking paper, to a wire rack to cool. Bake remaining mixture in batches, or freeze for future use.

To make white chocolate mousse, melt white chocolate as described above, and cool. Using electric beaters, beat cream, egg white and liqueur until just firm, then lightly fold in white chocolate. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

To serve, place spoonfuls of white chocolate mousse on top of four up-turned biscuits and top with remaining biscuits. Gently press down until mousse squishes out, then serve.

An oldie but a goldie. Adapt to whatever summer fruits you have at hand …

1. Combine the fruits, juice and pulp in a small bowl.

2. Spoon the mixture carefully into six plastic ice-block moulds with sticks.

3. Put in the freezer and allow to set overnight. When frozen, unmould ice-blocks and serve.

Whiz 100g raspberries to a puree and push through a fine sieve with the back of a wooden spoon.

Add the puree to 750ml sweet dessert wine, adding a dash of Cointreau or berry liqueur to sweeten to taste.

Serve well-chilled or with loads of ice, with swizzle sticks of raspberries threaded into bamboo skewers.

From the Good Food collection …

1. Scoop out the passionfruit pulp into a jug-there should be about ½ cup (125 g). Combine the pulp with the lemonade and pour into 2 large chilled glasses-allow enough room for the ice cream.

2. Add 1 -2 scoops of ice cream to each glass and serve with straws and long spoons.

Granitas are so easy and simple, Neil MPerry says. Just about any fruit juice can be seasoned with sugar and frozen in a tray, then raked with a fork to create a refreshing ice dessert. The other thing about granitas is that they go well with sliced raw or poached fruit. Serve them in a nice glass for a stunning presentation.

Whisk together the pineapple, lime and ginger juice with the sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Pour the mixture into a shallow metal tray and freeze until firm.

Remove the tray from the freezer and break up the ice with a fork to form the granita. Serve immediately, or freeze until ready to serve.

Nothing says summer like rosé, says Adam Liaw. Match it with some seasonal berries in an easy dessert that you just have to pull out of the fridge, and you won't be leaving your partner drumming their fingers on the table waiting.

Combine the sugar, rosé, lemon juice and 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Squeeze any excess liquid from the gelatine leaves and add to the saucepan, stirring for a few minutes until the gelatine is completely dissolved.

Place the berries into 6 small jelly moulds or a 1.5 litre jelly mould and pour over the rosé mixture. If using flexible moulds, such as Silpat, make sure they're first placed on baking trays that can fit into your fridge. Refrigerate until completely set, about 2 hours, turn out the jellies and serve.

Good Food Guide