Plum and Pecan Crumble

This plum and pecan crumble (which can just as easily be made with walnuts) is comfortingly autumnal - Nigella Lawson


The verdict: We had an abundance of plums from our backyard tree this year and after I'd made chilli plum sauce (also a Nigella recipe) I had to do something with the rest if i was to avoid having a bucket of rotten fruit to dispose of. This was a first step towards using them up.

Unusual or substituted ingredients: None. I did everthing as written, down to the Demerera sugar which I think is barely distinguishable from raw sugar, but you know, I like to things properly.

Special utensils or cookware: I have a great big pie dish I rarely use. It got a work out for this recipe although you could just as easily use anything that's wide and flat.



I was pretty happy when I pulled the plums out of the oven after their first bout of buttery, brown sugary roasting before adding the crumble!

Repeatability: Oh I'll do this again. And again. A plum crumble like this one uses 1kg of plums. That's 1kg less to deal with!

Sauciness: Rich, juicy and oh so flavoursome. Yep.



Overall pleasure level:

It was gorgeous. The finely chopped pecans in the crumble really add a lot of texture and flavour. Next time I'll work on improving my crumble making skills. I loathe the job of rubbing cubes of butter into flour. I got lazy and stopped way before the point where it reached a state of being 'like fine breadcrumbs' and as a result, I think it didn't cook quite well enough. It still had a bit of that raw flour taste. And I'd probably add a smidge more demerera sugar to the mix as well. Otherwise, lovely!

Key Lime Pie

The sourness of the limes sets off its temple-aching sugariness - Nigella Lawson

The verdict: This is a good pie. In a way, it's not so much a pie as a base with some light, fluffy filling that is the most unfilling pie filling I've ever had. Confused? Sorry. I was at first too - really, I was expecting the kind of creamy, citrus-intense filling you get in a lime (or lemon) tart. Even though I read the recipe and saw that you are to whisk egg whites, it didn't quite sink in. The results are good though.

Unusual or substituted ingredients: None. Lime, biscuits, eggs, sugar. Oh, that said, Nigella herself talks in the intro to the recipe about the fact that you probably won't be able to find key limes and that maybe you can get key lime juice but she just uses regular limes. So it's not so much a key lime pie, as a wannabe key lime pie. Never mind.


Special utensils or cookware: You'll need a springform tin and some way to crush the biscuits for the base. I did it all in the food processor then pressed the crumbs into the foil lined tin with the bottom of a container as above. I must say, it was inspired of me to think of lining the tin. She didn't say to do it but I did it because my tin is showing signs of age. It's a very soft, floppy pie, the foil helped it not fall apart completely once it's done.


Repeatability: I'd do this again quite happily but I'd do some things differently. I think I'd cook it longer and I'd aim to do more accurately what she says, which is to make sure the base goes up the side of the tin a bit more. It's a floppy filling - it needs support.

It comes out of the oven having risen like a souffle, but then it sinks down a little. Nigella says this is how it should be. I rather liked the uneven, golden rise on mine!


Sauciness: Very saucy, if, like me, you have a husband who is made infinitely happy by the promise and subsequent cooking of a lime flavoured dessert!

Overall pleasure level: Vastly pleasurable. It's easy to throw together (even with the whisking of egg whites, which is not something I'm thrilled about generally speaking). High pleasure for minimum effort really. We gave it a 7.5 out of ten, because really, it has to be made again and probably even again and again to be perfected.

Butterscotch Layer Cake

This is the sort of cake that people call 'very rich' but then go on to have three slices with languorous ease - Nigella Lawson



The verdict: This is, hands down, one of the best cakes I've ever had the pleasure to make. It was great fun, taught me a thing or two and turned out perfectly. You can't ask for more.

Unusual or substituted ingredients: For this cake, you need to make caramel before you even start the cake. Not being much of a confectioner, this presented a challenge for me.



I was a bit nervous and in fact ruined the first batch. All that boiling sugar syrup turns to burnt caramel in an instant. Despite Nigella warning that caramel is meant to burn, I don't think she meant this much.


I made it again, and the second time, it was the warm, golden brown you expect. You put that aside and get on with the cake which is one of those lovely 'blitz everything' recipes that I love Nigella for.

She asked for Golden Caster Sugar and I finally figured out that in Australia, CSR produce 'Raw Caster Sugar' which I'm reliably informed is the just the thing. It, along with the brown sugar (she asked for light muscvado) gives the cake a lovely, not overly cloying richness.



The caramel is later mixed with 400g of cream cheese which sounded really, really odd to me but then I'm not technically a caramel lover so I was open to whatever she said to do, even if it did sound odd. Blended together, it makes the most delicious icing and filling.

Special utensils or cookware: I finally got to use the sponge tins I bought a long time ago. That's the only thing, really, that you'll need to get if you don't have some already. The rest is standard.



Repeatability: After a string of Nigella failures, which I haven't documented here because, well, I'm not keen on dwelling on such things, I was beginning to lose faith, but this cake is about as good as it gets. I just loved it. I made it for my husband's 40th birthday - he requested it after we spent a while leafing through books, and it delivered. Make it. It's fabulous.

Sauciness: So delightfully rich, so beautiful to look at - you can't beat it. Decadent and saucy!



Overall pleasure level:

If the amount of times I told the story of this cake at work today is any indication, it's got a high pleasure rating from me. I loved looking at it; I loved eating it; I loved serving it. Loads of pleasure to be had from this special treat. I'm giving it 9 out of ten for all round greatness.

Rhubard Cornmeal Cake

'You can never have too many rhubarb recipes in my book - Nigella Lawson

The verdict: I would agree with Nigella on this one. RoseRed might not. But I love the stuff. I actually made this quite some time ago and forgot that I'd taken the photos in readiness to write it up. So my memory may be a little sketchy. I'm hoping the photos bring the memories back. Note to self: annotate recipes more often!


Unusual or substituted ingredients: I recall I did this recipe as written. N o modifications. 500g of rhubarb is a lot if you have to buy it because the bunches are small and expensive I think. I plan to grow my own from now on.


Also, polenta/cornmeal is probably unusual for some people. I seem to always have it in the house but never seem to use it. My attempts at making baked polenta are futile but in things like cakes, I think it works a treat.

Other that that, it's just got the usual suspects, butter, bi carb, vanilla, eggs, sugar.

Special utensils or cookware: None. Just a spring form tin.

Repeatability: I've not made it since but I definitely I will make it again. I recall it was dense and moise, sweet and tangy.



Sauciness: It's more your good, solid cake than a saucy one. With a dollop of cream though....that might take it to another level!


Overall pleasure level: Again, from memory, I think I would have given this about an 8. Maybe more, but without certainty I can't say for sure. Looking at the photo above, I remember the slightly crusty top and those delicious jewels of rhubarb dotted throughout the tender cake. Lovely!

Bells

Flora's Famous Courgette Cake

If courgette cake sounds dodgy to you, think about carrot cake for a moment; this is just an adaptation of that (though if you feel its safer, don't tell people it's made of courgettes until after they've eaten it). - Nigella Lawson


The verdict: Something had to be done with the zucchinis my garden is producing. Admittedly, this recipe only takes 250g and that big one my hand is on weighs a kilo, but you know, Rome wasn't built in a day, so this recipe was a good start.


With the delicious lime curd luxuriously sandwiched between the layers and a decadent layer of a lime flavoured cream cheese topping, it's a wonderful explosion of flavours.



Unusual or substituted ingredients: Well, as Nigella says in the quote above, some people might think zucchini in a cake is weird. I don't. Neither does my husband. He was just glad to see me using one of the monsters! Everything else in the recipe is pretty standard cake fare. Nigella said the raisins could be optional, so I opted not to include them. I'm not really one for raisins etc in cakes.

Nigella also suggested using a good quality shop bought lime curd filling if you wished, boosting it with a squirt of lime juice, but I opted to make the lime curd. It took about 5 minutes. Too easy. Although I take issue with the use of a whole egg.

I didn't get a photo of it, but I would have thought that a custard kind of filling would require only the use of egg yokes, not whites. The whites, even while I whisked it briskly, left trails of cooked white. They weren't noticeable in the eating of the cake, but they disturbed me nonetheless. Next time, I'd just do the yoke.


Special utensils or cookware: This is a two layer cake. Fortunately, I not long ago bought a couple of Victoria Sponge tins.



Repeatability: This, I'm certain, will be dragged out every year when I have zucchinis to burn. It's not time consuming (as you might think it is). There's a bit of a wait while you let everything cool down, so don't imagine you can whip it up quickly before guests come for afternoon tea. Otherwise, it's a winner!



Sauciness: It's saucy alright. Layers of rich, lime flavoured creaminess go a long way towards making this a decadent, delightful and impressive cake. Topped with a smattering of chopped pistachios, it's perfect.

Overall pleasure level: You can't beat it. The cake itself is wonderfully light - some vegetable based cakes aren't. It's a 10 out of 10 for me.

Rosebud Madeleines

It was the curled in smallness of these tender sponge biscuits, as well as the fact that they're flavoured with rosewater, that made me name them as I have - Nigella Lawson

The verdict: At long last - a joint effort between Bells and RoseRed! And mmmmm, these were delicious! They are in the biscuits section of the book, but really, they are more like little sponges or cupcakes, particularly if you make them in a "normal" sized madeleine tin.

Unusual or substituted ingredients: Rosewater is the unusual thing. If you can't find rosewater, you could probably use a bit of orange juice and orange zest, or maybe just vanilla essence. The rosewater really does give a lovely scent and flavour though, so try to find some if you can. Bells found some at an Indian groceries shop. Other than that, standard ingredients like flour, butter, sugar and an egg. Interestingly, not much of any of them. We had our doubts as to whether the mix would make the 48 madeleines Nigella says it would. She's obviously used teeny tiny madeleine tins, because we got 12 out of the mix.

Special utensils or cookware: Madeleine tin. Of which I (RoseRed) now have two, given that I'd already bought one and promptly forgot that I had it, so I bought another one - which I will return, as I really don't think I need two madeleine tins.

Repeatability: I would totally make these again. Possibly with different flavours, just to see how they turn out. They'd be great for a girl's fairy party, given they are so pretty, and simple, to make. Just leave yourself enough time - as Nigella asks you to refrigerate the mix for an hour, then leave it out of the fridge for another half an hour, before you actually bake. Not sure why. Not sure why you can't just refrigerate for half an hour and be done with it. Can anyone shed any light on this? At least you can make them the day before - just don't be tempted to eat them all before the event!


Sauciness: Not saucy - pretty! When they're still in the tin, they look pretty bland but flip them over and you have these gorgeous little shell shapes, all golden and delectable!

Overall pleasure level: These were delicious - the perfect afternoon tea fare, which is exactly what they were made for. Simple and delightful!

Christmas Cupcakes

These beauties also make a very good alternative to mince pies - Nigella Lawson



The verdict: I'll second the alternative to mince pies view, not being a fan of them myself. These are hands down much better , in my view.

Unusual or substituted ingredients: These are almost a gingerbread cake - mixed spice, sour cream, coffee, chocolate - they're not really kiddie cupcakes. I made these for a grown up afternoon tea and they went down very well.

The cake in the center is Nigella's Spice Cake from Feast. It was RoseRed who was visiting at the time who came up with the idea to arrange them all on one plate and to use the left over white icing to ice the spice cake. Inspired!

I used Orchard White Icing instead of mixing up royal icing and I didn't use cranberries and green icing leaves as Nigella did. I used red and green glace cherries cut up by RoseRed!

Special utensils or cookware: I bought some special cupcake papers for these but other than that, nothing special.



Repeatability: These will be pulled out every Christmas until, well until forever. I intend to make them every year.

Sauciness: Oh they're delighful. I always think of decorated cakes as being a bit more for kids but I felt like RoseRed and I made these into a work of art!


Overall pleasure level: 10 out of 10. Perfect! If anyone wants to make these for Christmas, let me know. I'll hand out the recipe.

Nigellan Flatbread

Look, the name is meant to be a bit of a joke.....Nigella Lawson

The verdict: I've long wanted to make these partly because I think the name is amusing (she's referring to the black seeds, called Nigella Seeds) and partly because I love the idea of making such a take away staple. I've only ever had flat breads from Indian restaurants and while I love them, I fancied the idea of making my own. But don't worry, I won't be making these each time we get Indian takeaway. That would just be silly.

Unusual or substituted ingredients: Being a bread making veteran now, I have a well stocked cupboard for such things, but you'll need to get some instant yeast and Nigella seeds. I found them easily a long time ago (remember the Poppy seed incident?) They're a kind of onion seed, I believe.


Special utensils or cookware: None. Just bowls and baking trays!


Repeatability: I will do these again. And again. And again. They were astoundingly easy because you don't let the dough rise as long as regular bread (an hour at most) and they only take 8 mins in the oven. I made them for a dinner party and as they cooked, I whipped them out and wrapped them all layered in foil to keep them warm in a very low oven. I served them with fresh dips.

Sauciness: I think my guests were incredibly impressed. 'You made these? Seriously?' Talk about a feel good cooking experience!

Overall pleasure level: See above. Huge feel good result. As Nigella herself would say, maximum pleasure for minimum effort. 10/10

Baklava Muffins

...these taste so good: gooey, crunchy, soft and filling; sticky buns for the slapdash cook - Nigella Lawson

The verdict:


I must have been feeling very slapdash the day I made these because everything just felt right.

Unusual or substituted ingredients: The recipe asked for demerera sugar but I was all out so I just used plain raw sugar.


The wonder of these muffins is that you make a mixture of chopped walnuts, demerera or raw sugar and cinnamon which will later make a kind of filling. I struggled not to eat too much of this mixture myself.

Special utensils or cookware: Just a muffin pan and muffin papers. Sadly, I ran out of all the muffin papers I needed. Who knew you would ever run out of muffin papers when they come in a pack of 200?


After you've made the plain muffin mixture, you half fill a cup, add the filling (Yum!) then add more mixture. Finally, top it off with a sprinkling of the remaining filling.


And yes, I did have some filling left. I hadn't eaten ALL of it.

Then bake.


Repeatability: I can see myself making these many, many times.


Sauciness: Given that baklava is one my personal favourite middle eastern desserts, I think it's pure genius to replicate the idea in muffins. And the true, saucy joy? You pour honey over them at the end of the baking, while they're still warm! Finger licking sticky goodness.



Overall pleasure level: 9 out of 10 for me. Near perfection. I should have got a photo of the inside of them, where the nuts and sugar make a river of sweet, crunchy delight that shows up when you bite into them. Wonderful.

My Mother-in-Law's Madeira Cake

It's just one of those plain cakes you can't see the point of, until you start slicing and eating it - Nigella Lawson


The verdict: I've made this cake numerous times, prior to this blog. I made it again recently when I felt like making something simple and comforting. Read on though and you'll learn about the rather amusing mistake I made.


Unusual or substituted ingredients: The recipe is for a plain, lightly lemon flavoured cake, which came from Nigella's mother-in-law. The plain one is excellent but I like the variation to make it into a lemon poppyseed cake.




Take a close look at the photo above. Not until I was starting to gather the photos for this post did I realise what I'd done.

Do they look like poppyseeds?

No. They're in fact NIGELLA SEEDS! What a scream. I am highly amused by this, not least of all because of the name. I asked Sean if he noticed something odd about the cake and when I explained I'd accidentally used Nigella Seeds (which, if you don't know them, are a kind of onion seed) he said he had not noticed at all. Truth be told, neither had I. We have eaten it drowned in a lemon sugar syrup though, which might have disguised the faint onion flavour a bit!

Special utensils or cookware: None. It's as straight forward as you can get.




Repeatability: I'll make this cake and its variations again and again and again.


Sauciness: It's not so much a saucy cake as a good, simple and very gratifying cake. That said, you can do as we did and up the stakes by making a lemon sugar syrup, heating up a slice of cake in the microwave, dousing it in syrup then adding a dollop of cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. A winner, for sure.


Overall pleasure level: This cake is wonderful. The greatest pleasure for me is in the sugary, crispy surface you get by sprinkling caster sugar over the surface before you bake it. It splits the cake open and creates a delightful, light, crisp crust. This is an 8 out 10 for me. Nigella seeds and all. Although next time, I'll make sure it's poppyseeds I've got, not Nigella seeds!