Mini Cheesecakes

These are very easy to make, but I do have to say that lining the mini-muffin tins with the digestive biscuit crust can get a little tedious. This is where your darling children come in - their little fingers are made for the job - Nigella Lawson

The verdict:

I agree entirely with Nigella - these really are very easy to make. Not having any darling children though meant I had to struggle a little with the tin lining. Not to worry, it was worth it!

Unusual or substituted ingredients:
No unusual ingredients at all - although I've got to say that either Nigella has way overestimated the quantity required for the biscuit base, or underestimated the amount of filling required. If you are going to make these, either halve the amount of the biscuit base, or double the amount of the filling (that's what I'll be doing!) .

I also found the amount of butter specified for the biscuit base wasn't quite enough to get the right consistency of "sand" for the base - it did stick, but not as much as I'd have liked - thus making the lining of the teeny tiny muffin forms even harder!

Special utensils or cookware: I don't have mini-muffin tins, so I used a cupcake tin, silicone mini-cupcakes and individual tart cases. I spooned the mixture in and pressed it down with the spoon and then my fingers - getting it up the sides was the hardest, but it was ok in the end.

I used the magimix to crush the biscuits and add the butter to a sand-like consistency, and then washed it and reused it to mix the filling - very easy. It is a baked cheesecake, but only for 10 minutes, so it keeps a nice consistency.

Repeatability: I made these for a playdate with a couple of friends, and I think they were a good choice - can be made the day before, are very easy to transport, no annoying cutting required, just the right size for an after-lunch dessert or with coffee. I would definitely make these again. Just with more of the filling!

Sauciness: These are light and tasty - and would be very easy to modify by adding some berried to the mixture (either before cooking or just on top), or perhaps swirling some melted chocolate through the mix.

Overall pleasure level: Hmmmm, I think these are a 7.5 out of 10 for me. Sweeeeeet!

Easter Nests

Yes, these are cute; yes, they are kitsch, but I love them all the same - Nigella Lawson

The verdict: How could you not love easter nests? Cute, so easy to make, and hello? chocolatey!

Unusual or substituted ingredients: I wasn't sure if I'd be able to buy shredded wheat here (it's such an English sounding ingredient!), but yes, in the cereal aisle, there it was. It comes in pillow like biscuits (about the size of weetbix) so it needs to be broken up, and that's about the hardest job of all in this recipe. That, and not eating the chocolate before you melt and mix it with the shredded wheat.

Oh, and stopping your husband from eating the bird's eggs (sugar coated solid chocolate eggs, not actual bird eggs!!) straight out of the bag.

Special utensils or cookware: None. This is a no-bake recipe - the most "baking" you have to do is melting the chocolate with a bit of butter in the microwave!

Repeatability: This is a very quick and easy thing to whip up at easter - if you are having people over for coffee or having a lot of kids (grandchildren, nephews and nieces, whatever) it is easy to make these. Nigella must make them big, as she got 5 nests out of the mix. I got 12. I don't think you want them too big, to be honest.

Sauciness: Well, you know how I feel about chocolate - it's always saucy! This is a simple recipe though that Nigella includes in her "children" chapter - it is definitely something that the kids could make with some help, and I'm pretty sure they'd make a big mess, but have fun doing it!

Overall pleasure level: I didn't mind these at all! 7 out of 10 for me! Happy Easter everyone!

Roxanne's Millionaire's Shortbread

Amazingly, Nigella doesn't give any kind of Nigella-esque quote for this recipe. Don't know why, because it is a very Nigella-esque recipe! - Rose Red

The verdict: You know, when I first saw this recipe I thought "oh, shortbread dipped in chocolate. Whoopee". Clearly I didn't read past the first sentence, because this recipe is actually what we in Australia usually call Chocolate Caramel Slice - much more descriptive of what it actually is. Although the idea of calling it Millionaire's shortbread is very apt - it is as rich as all get out! Unusual or substituted ingredients: Nothing unusual. Just sweet sweet sweet - condensed milk, golden syrup, chocolate. Plus flour, butter and sugar for the shortbread. And because milk chocolate could not be decadent enough, I used dark chocolate. But of course!
Special utensils or cookware: Nigella says this recipe introduced her to the concept of both melting chocolate in the microwave, and also making caramel in the microwave. Having never made caramel at all before, I can't comment on the relative benefits, but it was very quick and easy to use the microwave. Nigella cautions to regularly check and stir the caramel to avoid burning it, and I followed this advice to the letter. In fact, I quite possibly didn't cook the caramel enough (about 5 or 6 minutes I think), but it still worked out absolutely fine! Amazing actually, watching the condensed milk caramelise.

Repeatability: Oh, I would definitely make this again. For sure! It is darn hard to cut though. The chocolate on the top cracked and so it ended up being a bit messy. Perhaps if the chocolate was a bit thinner it would be easier. Also, I recommend cutting into small pieces - it really is very rich.

Sauciness: Oh yeah baby! Plenty of bowls to lick with this recipe! As well as the tin of condensed milk (am I the only one who can confess to eating condensed milk straight from the tin? Sometimes my mum would have a tin in the fridge with leftovers, and my brother and I would compete to eat it in secret, a teaspoonful at a time...heaven!)

And you really get your hands dirty making the shortbread - I thought I would never get all that butter rubbed into that flour. But I got there in the end.

Overall pleasure level: I know some people find this too rich (husby wouldn't even try a tiny piece) but for me, it was divine! 10 out of 10. Make it - you won't regret it! (and lest you think I ate it all by myself, I took most of it into work!)

Butter Cut-Out Biscuits

Any time you want to play supermummy in the kitchen, here is where you start - Nigella Lawson

I admit it, I've been a bad bad baker over the last couple of months. Oh, I've got plenty of excuses, but really, I've just been bad. So I finally forced myself out of my baking rutt, and these are the result.

Aren't they pretty!!

The verdict:
Unusual or substituted ingredients: None. You should have everything you need in your pantry. Except perhaps a range of food colouring, which is why I've got pink, blue and white (not because I like girl and boy biscuits or anything like that. In fact, kill me if I ever make blue biscuits for a boy's party, or pink ones for a girl).

Special utensils or cookware: A range of cookie cutters is probably a good idea. That way, you won't be forced to use your Christmas shapes and the overly large gingerbread person shape, rather than, say, numbers as Nigella uses in the book, or animal shapes or whatever. Must remember to buy some new shapes next time I'm in the homewares store.

Otherwise, you just wizz it all up in the kitchenaid or with a handbeater, whatever takes your fancy.Repeatability: The mix makes a lot of biscuits - Nigella says around 50-60 and for once I think I pretty much got the number she suggested, or at least I would have except for giganto ginge! You can also freeze the dough ("it makes sense - in a smug, domestic kind of way - to wrap half of this in clingfilm and stash it in the deep freeze until next needed" - thanks Nigella!)
Sauciness: The rolling out of the dough and cutting the shapes is pretty darn messy. You refrigerate the dough for an hour before rolling/cutting. If the weather is warm, keep it in the fridge a bit longer (eg 1.5 hours) and make sure you roll and cut quickly.

And don't roll too thin. Or else you won't be able to pick up the shapes and get them on the baking tray without them breaking. Ask me how I know!
Overall pleasure level: Not only pretty, but pretty darn good, although it's the icing that really makes them! I'm giving them a 7.5.

Snickers and Peanut Butter Muffins

These muffins have a special charm: I think the ingredients speak for themselves - Nigella Lawson

These muffins are just another example of what my sister calls "Nigella's insane levels of indulgence" - Bells

And both Nigella and Bells' sister are right - the ingredients definitely say to me "this is insanely indulgent, but just a little bit special". How could it not be with a recipe that contains these:

The verdict:
Unusual or substituted ingredients: Hey, did anyone know that 6 tablespoons of peanut butter is over half a jar?? I didn't, until I made these! And while some may call peanut butter and 3 snickers bars unusual, the only substitution I made was regular caster sugar for golden caster sugar.
Special utensils or cookware: Standard utensils and cookware all the way. I have to say, it is hard to get an exact measure of a tablespoon of peanut butter (it's just so sticky!) and so I guestimated my tablespoons. I probably ended up putting a bit too much in, which made the muffins a little dry or crumbly, but they were still quite edible!

Repeatability: These were good, but won't be the first on the list to make again, I have to say! Sauciness: Well, come on, how could they not be, with 3 chopped snickers bars!! The caramel and chocolate goes all goey and yum, but the slight saltiness of the peanut butter ensures they aren't too sickly sweet.
Overall pleasure level: Hmmm, this is a hard one. I think 6.5 for these. So very very wrong but so very very right!

Mini Pavlovas

It's a palaver, but worth it: they look so pretty people can't stop themselves - Nigella Lawson

One word for these: YUM! And it's not really a palaver, it's actually fairly easy to make these!!

The verdict:
Unusual or substituted ingredients: Only if 8 egg whites is considered unusual. Now all I need to do is find a recipe which uses 8 egg yolks! Special utensils or cookware: A large oven would be helpful - with enough room for 3 baking trays - or at the very least, 2 large baking trays - this recipe makes 18 mini pavlovas (or 16 in my case, but I could have easily made them slightly smaller!) As always, the KitchenAid made the mixing a whole lot easier!

Repeatability: Pavlova has always been a favourite dessert of mine (to bake as well as to eat!). I thought the recipe I always used (from A Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander, in case you were wondering) was a total winner - but I have to say, I am a big fan of the mini pavlova. I think because you get more crust?
Sauciness: Oh yeah, these were a huge hit! I served them up just with the whipped cream, plus raspberries, blueberries and banana slices on the side, so that our guests could choose their own adventure in terms of toppings!
Overall pleasure level: Even though these aren't chocolate, I do think I have to give them a 10. And because the recipe makes so many, they are like a gift that keeps on giving. Dessert on Saturday night, Sunday lunch and then tonight as well. Mmm mmmmm.

Coca-Cola Cake

It's really just a divinely tender-crumbed chocolate cake - and there's nothing wrong with that. And however odd you might think it, everyone loves it when I make it - Nigella Lawson

And she's right! It really is just a very moist, delicious chocolate cake - if you didn't know it had coke in it, you would never pick it!

I've been wanting to make this cake ever since I got the book. This weekend gave me the perfect opportunity - dessert for dinner with my brother and his family (all great lovers of coke!). And even a glass of the black gold leftover to enjoy while the cake is baking!The verdict:
Unusual or substituted ingredients:
Well, for a start, a can of coke. Not an unusual item to have in your house, but (in Australia at least) unusual to put in a cake. American readers, is this a US tradition or just what we non-Americans might think is popular fare?? I did use Coke Zero though, only because I happened to have a can of that.Also, buttermilk. Nigella says if you don't have buttermilk, which I didn't, you can use low-fat milk and some yoghurt. Since I hate yoghurt, I don't usually have any of that in my fridge either. My mum is visiting for a few weeks and likes it, so she has some. But it's passionfruit yoghurt. I didn't think it would work too well with a chocolate cake that also has coke in it. So I used low-fat milk and a squeeze of lemon juice, which is another alternative to buttermilk.

Finally, golden caster sugar. I knew I should have bought some last week at the deli. Not to worry, just used normal caster sugar.

Special utensils or cookware:

None, except that as this is a very runny cake mixture, Nigella recommends lining the springform tin with foil. Which I did. Even though I was not entirely confident I would be able to get the foil off, or that the foil would even do the intended job.

But it did - hurrah! I would recommend gettting extra wide foil, so you only need one piece for the whole cake tin. Otherwise, the mix slips under the join in the foil. Not to worry, cook's treat!
Repeatability:
I would definitely make this cake again - very moist and chocolately. As usual though, Nigella's icing mix could be halved and you would probably still have leftover icing. She must spread it on soooo thick! Too sweet for me!

Sauciness:
Mmmm, this is one good cake. But not much left to lick out of the bowl, since it is so runny! But not to worry, lots of leftover icing!!

Overall pleasure level:
Oh very good - not really a novelty cake at all! I'll give this a 9 out of 10!

Peanut Butter and Jam Jewels

They look beautiful, like the sort of jewels worn by fairy-tale princesses - Nigella Lawson

Heh! If you are Princess Fiona maybe!

The verdict:

Unusual or substituted ingredients: I used plum jam on half and peach jam on the other half (not strawberry as suggested - don't like the pips!). Best to use a fairly solid jam which doesn't have large pieces of fruit in it, as this makes it easier to spoon into the indentations. Nigella says the jam is supposed to go a bit runny and then harden (into the "jewels") but mine didn't do that. It didn't make any difference to the eating!

Special utensils or cookware: None. Just an electric mixer for the creaming. Nigella suggests using your thumb to make the jam indentations, but I found a pate knife with a nice rounded bottom and used that. Even so, the indentations rose and practically disappeared during baking - luckily they are soft enough to re-indent once you take out of the oven. Then you spoon the jam in. I wonder if it might be easier to spoon the jam into the indentations before you bake them (which is what my mother does with her Jam Drops).

Repeatability: Yes, I would make these again. Vary the jam for interest!
Sauciness: More like sticky, whilst cooking anyway - you have to refrigerate the dough for at least an hour after mixing - it is very sticky (yep, peanut butter will do that!!) and refrigerating makes it much easier to manage when rolling the dough balls. And, as I discovered, you can easily refrigerate for a whole day, as I made the mixture on Saturday morning but didn't get a chance to bake them until Sunday afternoon.

Overall pleasure level: Combining one of the best things to come out of the US (good ol' PB&J) into a biscuit is clearly a recipe for biscuity goodness. These are an 8 for me.

Meringues

I've never met a child who didn't like meringues, and they're child's play to make, too - Nigella Lawson

Well, yes they are! Very very easy. And a great way to use up left-over egg white from this (or any other recipe calling for egg yolk/s only).

The verdict:
Unusual or substituted ingredients: This recipe is so simple that it only has two ingredients (or 3 if you want coloured meringues). Egg white and caster sugar - 60g of caster sugar per egg white. Can't get simpler than that!
While I mostly stuck with the white meringues, inspired by Nigella's description of using the back of a spoon to make "neat nippled small bosomed shapes", I decided to go the whole nine yards and make them pink as well, for added realism (or childish delight, more like!)
Special utensils or cookware: I used the kitchenaid to mix the whites and sugar - meaning this is truly a recipe you can make while doing something else (eg knitting!). Just put the mixer on to beat for about 5-10 minutes and go and multitask! A good way to tell when you've beaten your egg whites and sugar enough is to rub a little between your thumb and forefinger - if it feels gritty, beat some more. You will probably never get it entirely smooth, but the level of grittiness will reduce.Beat until it is a "gleaming, satiny mass".

Repeatability: If I have leftover egg whites I will definitely make these again - the other great thing about meringues is that they keep very well in an airtight container - and they taste good too! When I was making them, my husband asked me what I was going to do with them and I told him I was planning on taking them to work. After he'd eaten his first one, he wasn't so keen on me taking them out of the house!
Sauciness: "neat nippled small bosomed shapes" - need I say more??!!
Overall pleasure level: I hadn't had a meringue for ages before these - I'd forgotten that lovely chewy centre and crisp crust (heh, bet you can't say "crisp crust" ten times in a row!). These are really very good and fun to make to boot! - 8/10 for me!

Fairy Cakes

I noticed that the people who really seemed to get excited by [fairy cakes] were the children's parents. I think that it's not until you hit 30 that nostalgia is even a remotely comforting option - Nigella Lawson

I do love a fairy cake - a sweet little ball of light airy nothingness that is gone in a couple of bites - the perfect afternoon tea pleasure for me. No need to worry about cutting slices or even a plate. And even better, they are good. Really good.

The verdict
Unusual or substituted ingredients: None - these are as simple as they come. Except for the Royal Icing Nigella constantly uses. What is it? Can you buy it in Australia? If so, is it called something else?? (ok, so I just looked it up on wikipedia - now I know what it is at least). So, not having access to Royal Icing, I just used a standard icing sugar, blob of butter and warm water icing mix, which, in my opinion, works perfectly for these cupcakes - Royal Icing, by the sound of it, would be quite heavy on top of these very light cakes.Special utensils or cookware: Nigella suggests whipping the mix up in the food processor - which I have to say is perfect - love this method - and just too easy. I used the cupcake tray rather than the muffin tray, and so got 4 extra cupcakes than Nigella suggests - I think these are a good size.Repeatability: Yes definitely - perfect for kids and so quick to make. If you've got kids, they would also have a lot of fun decorating these - the options are practically endless! For an elegant touch, use thick icing and sugar flowers, for kids use 100s & 1000s or lollies, and also easy to theme (Nigella uses this recipe as the basis for her halloween cupcakes).

Nigella suggests cutting the top off so you have a flat surface to decorate. This might work if you are using a very thick solid icing, but I think otherwise it might mean the icing soaks into the cake, which in my view would not be quite as nice. Oh yeah, and a waste of good cake (well, except that clearly I would have eaten all the tops...)Sauciness: More sweet and innocent than saucy - but Nigella obviously loves them - if you have seen the book, you will know the cover features a fairy cake (a very elegant white on white fairy cake, but a fairy cake nonetheless!).
Overall pleasure level: I love these. An 8.5 for me. Make them, you won't regret it!