"What's your favourite restaurant?" is a question food writers are asked regularly. We reveal our new top 100 here. But what about our favourite dishes? We're answering that question in this series. Today: desserts. Here are the ones that Lisa Cope, Ali Dunworth and I will travel for, and will order regardless of what else is on the menu.
Baked cream with berries at Clanbrassil House
Part of the fixed-price menu, €48-€65, Clanbrassil House, 6 Clanbrassil Street Upper, Dublin 8; 01-4539786; clanbrassilhouse.com
A dessert that is slightly savoury can be the perfect end to a meal, and sous chef David Bradshaw has brought something new to this Dublin 8 restaurant with his baked cream with foraged berries. The cream, which is infused with fennel tops and made with egg whites, is delicate and subtle, allowing the other elements to shine – a juicy blackberry granita and berries, and an earthy crunch from toasted buckwheat. Corinna Hardgrave
Carrageen Moss Pudding at Ballymaloe House
Five-course dinner including dessert is €85, Ballymaloe House, Shanagarry, Co Cork; 021-4652531, ballymaloe.ie
There are many reasons to dine at Ballymaloe House, but chef JR Ryall's wonderful sweet trolley is certainly up there. Every day a bounteous selection of desserts is wheeled out to dinners. My favourite happens to be the one consistent among the selection, carrageen-moss pudding, a wobbly, nostalgic set dessert served with thick Jersey cream, dark muscovado sugar and seasonal fruit compotes. Ali Dunworth
Mince Pies from No Messin' bakery
Proper Order Coffee, 7 Haymarket, Smithfield, Dublin 7; properordercoffeeco.com
If there's a better mince pie in Ireland than Hilary Quinn's from No Messin' bakery, I haven't seen, heard of or tasted it. The secret ingredient is suet, and the filling tastes outrageously meaty in more ways than one. The crispy, crunchy pastry is so obscenely delicious that it must be predominantly butter. Together with their homemade brandy butter on the side (made with apple brandy from Highbank Orchards), it's all I want for Christmas. Lisa Cope
