For Remi Idowu, desserts aren’t an optional extra – they’re the moment everything comes together. Growing up in England with Ghanaian and Nigerian parents, she learned early on to balance bold West African flavours at home with more familiar British tastes at school, a duality that now defines her instinctive approach to baking. From brown butter banana bread to flavour-clashing creations that “somehow just work”, Remi sees desserts as comfort, creativity and joy rolled into one – a grand finale that deserves far more respect than it’s usually given.
“Desserts are 1000% underestimated in food culture,” says Remi. “Too often, they’re treated like an afterthought or as something childish, when really they’re the grand finale! The last thing people taste should be special, not a sad scoop of sorbet. A good dessert should leave a lasting impression.
Whenever I’m having a particularly tough or bad day, I turn to baking. Apple and pear crumble or my brown butter banana bread are my go-tos. They’re comforting, nostalgic, and most importantly easy. I always keep frozen chopped apples and ripe bananas in the freezer so I can throw something together, no matter the day.
My background is a huge part of why I love experimenting. Growing up in England with Ghanaian and Nigerian parents, I was always balancing bold, vibrant African flavours at home with the British ones at school. My brain naturally tries to merge things, like banana bread cinnamon rolls or almond croissant cookies. I love a good flavour clash that somehow just works! When we shot my banana bread cinnamon rolls for the book, every bite was met with, “Wait, this is insane.” It’s that combo of nuttiness, spice and tang that really makes it. The frosting alone is 10/10.
I’ve always loved baking, but it was my business mindset that really pushed me to go all in. I didn’t grow up with loads of money, so I had to graft hard to enjoy the things I wanted. Baking gave me freedom. It was creative, profitable and, importantly, made people happy. At 19 I was baking round the clock, packaging orders at 5am, and I loved it.
Homemade desserts are always the best. They taste so much better. It’s that same feeling you get when you eat at a little farmhouse restaurant and think, “Wow, this is unreal!”. It’s because it’s made with real ingredients, not preservatives and fillers. There’s no comparison.
I’m obsessed with chocoflan, which comes from Mexico. The cake and flan literally swap places in the oven! It’s rich, creamy and clever. Desserts like that make me fall in love with baking all over again.”
Remi’s top tips
Forgotten to soften your butter? This simple hack gets it done in minutes.
Chop the butter into cubes.
Pour boiling water into a mug, let it sit for a minute, then pour it out.
Cover the butter with the mug to trap the cubes inside.
Get involved
Remi Idowu is a content creator, recipe developer and cookbook author. Her debut book, Sugar & Spice: Flavour-packed dinners and desserts to crave, is out now.
