Banana muffins

Any sort of muffin is easy and quick for a child to make ... small children seem to have an inordinate passion for mashing bananas - Nigella Lawson

As do adults, I'd say! If you are looking for an easy item for your weekend breakfast or brunch, these fit the bill quite well. Simple ingredients, easy to make, fairly healthy, and (for those of you with kids) easy enough for the kids to help with.

The verdict

Unusual or substituted ingredients: Nope - all straightforward pantry items, plus a couple of (preferably overripe) bananas. (This was not a recipe I made after the Queensland cyclone which pushed the price of bananas up to $15-$16/kilo!!)

Special utensils or cookware: Just a regular muffin tin (not a huge muffin tin though!). I also use paper muffin cases, so I don't have to worry about greasing the muffin holes.Repeatability: Yes, eminently repeatable - in fact, I've probably made these at least 8-10 times, sometimes when we want something a bit special for breakfast (well, special when compared to say, toast!) or if we have people over for morning tea, as we did last Sunday, when I made this batch. Not the most attractive looking mixture I have to say, but don't let that put you off!

Sauciness: The sweetness in the muffins comes from the bananas, but also from 2 "oozingly heaped" tablespoons of honey (you won't be surprised to find they are Nigella's words!!). The honey though also makes the muffins a little sticky - most times I've made this recipe, the paper case has not come away cleanly from the muffin (like they usually do with cupcakes), but that's ok, a bit of time peeling the paper off just enhances the anticipation of the eating!

Overall pleasure level: For a simple breakfast, these are delicious! I'd say a 7. They are quite good for you - no sugar, only a little butter, just honey, bananas, flour and a bit of vanilla (and probably baking powder too). And while I've never made them with kids, I can see that they would be the type of recipe kids would enjoy making.

Snickerdoodles!

You can't help wanting to cook a biscuit with a name like this - Nigella Lawson

She's absolutely right you know. In December last year, the Samurai Knitter was in the middle of a baking frenzy for Christmas. On her extensive list of biscuits (ok, cookies, she's American) were these things called Snickerdoodles. The name makes me giggle. As it should. I found myself humming Yankee Doodle while making them. I've meant to make them ever since. So thank you Nigella, for reminding me to get off my butt and do it.

As a side note, Wikipedia says the name may be derived from a corruption of the German name for 'snail noodles' or Schneckennudeln. Ah, that makes more sense. And sounds better too. I might just call them that from now on.

The Verdict
You know, I'm half inclined to just post the recipe with two words. Make them. They're that good. Nigella describes them sort of half cake, half donut. I think these are about as close to perfect a biscuit as I've ever had from my own kitchen. When I was telling my sister about them on the phone, she said something like, 'oh that is so Nigella. I bet she just deep fried Snickers, didn't she?' Not quite, but I wouldn't ever put it past her.


Unusual or substituted ingredients
None. Just flour, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, eggs, butter etc. I did find I had to add about 2tbs more butter. The mixture was supposed to be like a batter. It was more like breadcrumbs.

Special Utensils or cookware
None at all.

Repeatability
Put it this way, because we each took a few to work today (I shared mine; a certain husband didn't), we're running low on snickerdoodles now. It's only because I'm blogging now and have a fair amount of knitting I want to do tonight that I'm not baking another batch.

Sauciness
Rich, buttery, cakey, cinnamony sweetness. You can't beat it.

Overall Pleasure Level
Without a doubt, 10 out of 10. I believe my husband had a mouthful of one himself just now when I called out, 'I'm giving the snickerdoodles a 10. Do you agree?'

He nodded and looked more than a little sheepish.

Bells

Sweet and Salty Peanut Biscuits

If greed alone were the spur and measure, these would be my favourite biscuits - Nigella Lawson

Well, it has to be said, I think Nigella has a little case of hyperbole when it comes to these biscuits. I mean they are perfectly good biscuits, but they wouldn't be my first choice if greed alone were indeed the spur and measure. They wouldn't be my first choice even if it wasn't! But yes, acceptable afternoon tea (or in our case, coffee) fare.

The verdict

Unusual or substituted ingredients: Despite Nigella loving the charm of the "trailer-trash Trex" (vegetable shortening, or Copha as we call it in Australia) because it makes these biscuits light, I can't say I share her admiration in this case. I used the recommended amount of copha, but I think if I was making these again, I'd probably just use butter instead (even though Nigella warns against it). For me, the biscuits were too light, too crumbly, and I blame the copha!!

Special utensils or cookware: None - you can beat by hand or use mixer (which is what I did - cooking for the lazy person here!!). I do recommend ensuring the copha isn't too hard when you use it as it is quite hard to mix it in - if you look closely at the photo below you can see some unmixed bits of copha.

Repeatability: As mentioned already, not the best biscuits I've ever had. But they are still good, nice and easy to make, you can whip up a batch fairly quickly. Husby seems to like them, as the number of biscuits left in the container is steadily getting smaller each day!

Sauciness: Nope, none at all. Even Nigella's talking up of serving them with ice-cream or as an ice-cream sandwich doesn't make these saucy for me.

Overall pleasure level: Hmmm. I think these can be no more than a 5.

Blueberry Boy Bait

Aromatic custardy sponge, sweet gooey fruit and meringue, sugar-crisped - boy-bait Brit-style.' - Nigella Lawson

I'm assuming there's some corny story behind the notion of a boy bait pudding. To me it screams 1950s America with girls baking this dish for the dream boy they longed for. A quick google search told me the dish dated back to the 1920s, although Nigella says it was the result of a teenage girl's entry for a baking contest. Anyone know for sure?

Either way, it seemed appropriate as a dessert to cook on a night when we were having a celebratory, romantic night in. Sean got steak with blue cheese sauce for mains, then blueberry boy bait for dessert.

The way to his heart? I think so.

The Verdict
I had two enormous servings of this marvel. My God. I'd say 'words defy me' but let's face it. We all know that would be a lie.

I have to say I was curious to make this pudding, but more than a little skeptical. A base of eggs, milk and breadcrumbs? I was imagining a gooey, sodden lump. Oh no, no. I was so wrong. This one's a winner in every sense.

So what is it? It's, as I said, a base of breadcrumbs, egg yolks (5), caster sugar and milk. You bake that layer first while preparing the fruit and meringue. You make a jammy mix of blueberries for the middle layer and top it off with sweet (very sweet) fluffy egg whites. Heaven.

Unusual or substituted ingredients
I was skeptical about a base made by mixing fresh breadcrumbs into milk and eggs. Nothing unusual about those ingredients as such, but the combination made me unsure. I needn't have been. They're like a bready cake at the bottom and not overly sweet (unlike the rest of it!).

I used frozen blueberries instead of fresh. No problem there.

And don't be put off by the meringue top layer. I've never made meringue before but there's nothing to it, I now know.

Special Utensils or Cookware
Nope. Nothing in particular. As long as you can blitz bread for fresh breadcrumbs, you're going to be fine.

Repeatability
You know what? I'd do this for a dinner party with friends or again for just us on a weekend. It's old fashioned and amazingly so. It's a pudding in every sense of the word. I'd probably cut back on the sugar though next time. It's intensely sweet. Especially the bucketloads that are added to the blueberry mix in the middle. That's just blueberries, lemon and sugar. Cut back a little on the sugar there and in the meringue, and it's perfect.

Sauciness

Oh boy. You can't beat it. Decadent and delicious - and it's got real fruit in it so it can't be all bad!

Overall pleasure level

An absolute delight. Sean loved it. He gave it an 8 out of 10. That slightly crispy, golden meringue topping is the real surprise. I didn't expect that to turn out nearly so well.

And around the edges, later, when you're supposed to have finished gorging yourself, those extra crispy edge bits....well, there weren't many of those left!

Bells

New York Cheesecake

I ate a cheesecake just like this in New York once - Nigella Lawson

Wanting something that husby's family will like (for our mother's day lunch) I decided upon cheesecake. Husby's mother has made it in the past and I know his brother likes it too, so this was a safe option (although m-i-l doesn't make a baked cheesecake but rather a refrigerated one, if that makes sense).

looks a little dark on top I know - it wasn't that dark in real life!

The verdict
Unusual or substituted ingredients: Nothing unusual, except I have to say, I was slightly grossed out when I realised that the recipe calls for over 1 kg of cream cheese/sour cream/double cream all together - oh my that's a lot of dairy and a lot of fat...and that doesn't even count the butter used for the base!!!
I did choose low fat cream cheese and low fat sour cream, and just used thickened cream (my corner store didn't have double cream at 7pm on a Saturday night, which is when I did the shopping for this!). Fortunately, it did have proper digestive biscuits - they aren't really an Australian thing - I usually use Arnott's Marie biscuits, but in this case, used actual digestives, and I think it really did make a difference to the base, which was not crumbly at all (which has been my experience in the past with cheesecakes).

Special utensils or bakeware: You do need a springform tin for a cheesecake, make sure it is the right size, as this is a big cheesecake - my tin was full to the brim of mix once I got that kilo of cream cheese mix into it!
I used an electric hand mixer to mix the filling. Do leave yourself enough time to make it though (I had to get up at 7.30am on a Sunday - a SUNDAY! to make this and I still couldn't leave it in the oven for the suggested cooling time (1.5 hours to cook, 2 hours to cool with oven door shut, 1 hour to cool with oven door open)). It's best made the day before I think if that is possible.

Repeatability: I would make this again. It is, for a baked cheesecake, incredibly light and fluffy. Nigella says the secret is in the whipping of the egg whites (shhhh don't tell!) and folding them into the filling mix.
Sauciness: There are a few dishes with this one, separate bowls for making the base, the filling and the beating of the egg whites. In terms of the eating, it is not too rich, and not too solid or dense (as some baked cheesecakes can be). My 9 yo niece (who "doesn't like cheesecake") loved it - yay!
Overall pleasure level: Hmmm. I think this is an 8.5. Pretty much everyone likes cheesecake so you can't go wrong. Would be good served with berries or coulis (heh, coulis!) or both, and is equally delicious on its own.

Store Cupboard Chocolate Orange Cake - mark II

Bells Bells Bells ... For every swing, there's always a roundabout!

While I do agree this is not an attractive cake (even Nigella warned about that), a little dusting of icing sugar can hide most sins.

Bells has given the verdict, so I won't go into that again but read on for an alternative experience with this recipe!

I can agree that mine was not a complete success, as it did stick to the bottom of the (alleged) non-stick cake tin. I used one of those silicone flexible cake tins - and of course, the high jam/marmalade content made it stick to the bottom, as I should have foreseen if I'd given it any thought. If I make this again, I'll be using a well-greased and possibly floured and lined springform tin. Like Bells, though, I probably won't repeat it. Just because there are so many other options out there, not because it was horrible! My brother and sister-in-law liked it so much they had seconds!
A highlight for me of this cake is the easiness in making it - you will have most, if not all, of the ingredients already in your pantry, and it is mixed in a saucepan using a wooden spoon (or in my case, a spatula) - no need for mixer, handbeater or 5 different bowls. Excellent for shopping and washing up efficiency! You melt the butter, add the dark chocolate until it is soft then remove from heat and stir stir stir. Then you add caster sugar, eggs, pinch of salt and the jam. Then last of all, SR flour. Mix mix mix then bake.

And hey, if you don't like marmalade, you could always substitute another jam - wouldn't raspberry be delicious!

Store Cupboard Chocolate Orange Cake

Even if you don't like marmalade, you should try this: all you taste is orange - Nigella Lawson

I'm going to declare my hearty disagreement with Nigella on this one.

I actually made it a long time ago and blogged it then, so what you're getting here is a re-hashing of old material, but in the new format of this blog. I always annotate my recipes and all i wrote in the corner of the page on this one was a bold horrible. Let's see why.

The Verdict
I am neither a fan of marmalade, nor of fruit cakes (my mum makes a good one though), so what possessed me to make a cake that contains a whole jar of marmalade, I don't know. Look at the photo. It doesn't even look nice. The thing sank in the middle and burned around the edges and was just disgusting. You're lucky I'm even posting this. My husband laughs at me the way I hide all evidence, usually, of culinary failures. If I think something is truly awful, the whole lot will be binned before you can say 'I feel slightly ill.'


Special Utensils or Cookware
None. Just cake stuff. Whatever you have.


Repeatability
Not a chance in hell. I'm not even prepared to take Rose Red's verdict on this one that it was great. I think she should do a post of her version of the cake that worked out, just in the interests of balance, because I ain't making this pile of poo again.

Sauciness
Sorry Nigella. Not even you waxing lyrical about it being gorgeously aromatic is going to convince me this cake was a good idea. I think it's fair to say that Page 170 in this book will never be looked at again.

Overall pleasure level
This was a definite low point in my culinary experience. Heavy, burned orange flavour and an hour or so of my life I'll never get back. Disgusting.

I am happy to report though that in my years of cooking Nigella recipes (since about 2001) this is the only failure I've experienced. Given the number of snooty foodies I know who bang on about how none of her recipes work (she's not a real chef, you know), I don't think that's too bad. So I'm just going to write this one off as momentary glitch. Let us never speak of it again (except for in the comments).

I've also included a new label for 'failures' just so we can easily keep track of what worked and what didn't. It'll be interesting to see how many we have!

Bells