What's a quick dessert that can be made using common household ingredients?

well, in my house, coconut milk is common - so i might be off, but bananas baked in coconut milk with brown sugar - just bake until thick and bubbly - if you wanted to take it a step further you could put it over ice cream, if you wanted to take it two steps further (like my husband) you could add graham crackers to your ice cream...

i also make these all the time (i leave out the pnt bttr chips, and just use choc chips): http://www.hannaford.com/ensemble/Desserts-cookies/Cookies/Peanut-Butter-Chocolate-Chunk-Brownies/c/28783/sc/28789/10272.uts

Love the idea of the microwave cake. Since I don't have one at home, I have not yet tried it, but have also heard about a great microwave muffin recipe, so I would give this a go.

Microwave cake from www.bbcgoodfood.com. All you need to do is cream butter and sugar together, beat in the egg, followed by the flour and some lemon zest, quick 1-2 min blast in the microwave, some heated up lemon curd and BAM! Easy lemon sponge pudding..cream obligatory :)

"Common household ingredients"? Chlorox, Drano... Oops, wrong cabinet.

Freeze some Twinkies (or just keep a few in the freezer). Drizzle them with some honey (just a bit) and then flambe* them in rum. Serve immediately while the center is still frozen. People will laugh until they taste a bite.

* If you don't know to safely flambe something, just heat some rum in the microwave (about 1 tsp per Twinkie) and drizzle it over them as well

http://www.food52.com/recipes/3333_banana_in_golden_syrup/2

Banana in golden syrup
by pauljoseph

Easy dessert recipe

Serves 3

* 1 tablespoon Sugar
* 1 cup Water
* 1/2 piece Lime
* 1 piece Ripe Yellow Banana

1. Caramelize the sugar and add Cinnamon ,cloves water and the lemon juice .Boil

2. Split the banana in four longitudinally Cut into small cubes

3. Add banana pieces to the boiling syrup,cook till done,and the syrup is rather thick and sticky

4. May be serve with whipped cream and pan cake OR serve with vanilla Ice cream

My favorite quick dessert that takes only pantry ingredients is Gourmet's mik chocolate brownies. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Milk-Chocolate-Brownies-237216

Another recipe that fits your criteria is KelseyTheNapTimeChef's Chocolate Bundt Cake, which comes together quickly and never fails to please. http://www.food52.com/recipes/2835_chocolate_bundt_cake. I've made this cake at least four times, and it is always greeted with raves.

If you have one or more kinds of fresh or frozen fruit on hand, a fruit crisp is easy to make and a real crowd pleaser. So long as you have some flour, sugar, nuts, butter and spices, you can put together a streusel topping. Macerate the fruit in a bit of sugar with a tablespoon or so of flour, cover with the topping and pop in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream -- yum!

In the summer, nothing says dessert like ice cream. I love serving sundaes, floats and shakes after dinner in the hot weather. EmilyC's hot fudge shake on this site is divine. http://www.food52.com/recipes/12211_hot_fudge_shake

You can also try lemon posset - only uses 3 ingredients and is super easy
http://www.food52.com/recipes/3060_lemon_posset

Here is a recipe for a traditional tomato soup cake, at pauljoseph's request-http://www.grouprecipes.com/2887/tomato-soup-cake.html
and here is my updated version- http://www.food52.com/recipes/8560_not_your_mothers_tomato_soup_cake
Other ideas- I keep aging bananas in the freezer for ice cream desserts with a warm cocoa sauce. I also keep dark chocolate shells on hand to fill with fruit and cream or ice cream for an easy instant dessert. Fresh fruit idea-use green grapes topped with a little sour cream or creme fraiche and brown sugar. Another direction is to think of a sweet bread or rice pudding.

Slice a banana on the bias about 1/2 thick. Dip in sugar on one side. Caramelize with a blow torch or put close to a broiler until it's bubbling. Let it cool to form a crust.
Serve with ice cream. Toast some coconut flakes to top the ice cream.

You can make a trifle using a good store bought pound cake, some fresh whipped cream (just whip heavy cream with some sugar and vanilla), and layer with berries or peaches, or a combo of both. You can further add to it by making a berry sauce by boiling down the berries with some sugar. Alternatively, you can go the chocolate route and make or buy a chocolate sauce and add some chocolate shaving atop the whipped cream.

Sagegreen tomato soup cake? recipe please

With Pauljoseph on the suggestion, but with a much easier shortcut:
Toast 1 cup fillini pasta (or broken angel hair pasta) till lightly golden, Cook as per instructions,
In the meantime, combine a can of condensed milk & 1.5 cups whole milk & heat,
drain the pasta & add to the milk, along with a couple of strands of saffron, butter toasted cashews and 1/2 a tsp of powdered cardamom..
cook until it comes to a boil, reduce heat & simmer for 10 min. Chill & serve.

For quick and easy ice cream with a cookie and instant sauce...there's affogato, for example. Or a pudding, like Pudding That Tastes Like Mom's Cheesecake by inpatskitchen...or the current contest finalist raspberry custard cups for a little more work. Warm cookies can go a long way for an easy dessert, too. Then there are the depression era desserts of quick cakes with no eggs or butter: I love the tomato soup cake. What direction do you want to go? What is the main course? You can think themes: What would go with the dinner direction?

Semiya Payasam (Desert made with Vermicelli )
http://www.food52.com/recipes/7514_semiya_payasam_desert_made_with_vermicelli_

How quick is quick? I would go with a clafoutis.

I don't know exactly what you're looking for, but I always find it's easiest to bake a cake. Here's a cake I threw together yesterday morning while on a beach vacation:
http://www.food52.com/recipes/13351_beach_house_strawberry_cake