Individual Raspberry Trifle

I turned to a Delia Smith recipe for my traditional trifle, sponge soaked in sherry, raspberries, homemade custard, whipped cream and I topped it with some chopped pistachios.

Huge bowls of trifle look amazing and have the wow factor but occasionally I like to make individual trifle.

A fellow food blogger has a wonderful Nigella recipe on her site, chocolate cherry trifle, should you need more trifle inspiration....

Back soon!

Individual Jumbleberry Crumbles

Individual berry crumbles

I love a good homely crumble and every now and again I like to use individual ramekins instead of making one large pud. This is a very quick pudding - the crumble mix is stashed away in the freezer, the same for the berries, which are fruits from my garden.  I used a mixture of redcurrants, we had loads this year and the birds actually left some for us, only a few blueberries though because the birds ate most of them and strawberries which I froze and aren't any good once thawed because they turn into mush and need to go into some sort of pie or crumble.

We ate ours with a scoop of ice cream, double cream is good too. Hubby doesn't manage to get his beloved Birds custard when I make crumble in ramekins......he really likes custard and pudding and not the other way round.  Sometimes though I could fall out with Birds custard, I really could.

This is an adapted recipe based on Nigella's Jumbleberry Crumbles.

100 grams Self-raising flour
50 grams cold butter (cut into small cubes)
3 tablespoons demerara sugar
100 grams frozen berries
1 teaspoon cornflour
2 teaspoons sugar

You will need: four ovenproof ramekins

1. Put the flour into a bowl with the cubes of butter. Using a large fork mash the butter against the sides of the bowl and into the flour.  This will produce a clumpy crumble. Now mix in the sugar.
2. Preheat the oven to 220°C.  Place the frozen fruit in the ramekins and sprinkle the cornflour and sugar over the top.
3. Top each ramekin with crumble mix, sit the ramekins on a tray and bake for 20 minutes until the filling is bubbling round the sides.

Banana Bread - Nigella Lawson Recipe

After cooling cover in cling wrap and place the cake in the fridge,
 slice and open freeze

Good news! I now have a working kitchen, now for the bad news, the kitchen is still to be finished. There is decorating taking place by my husband, a few more electrics to be fitted and various other bits and pieces.

I'm very pleased with the refit, it hasn't been fun being without a kitchen for a couple of weeks or so. I haven't a clue where anything is kept and I'm basically messing about all the time looking for stuff or moving things to another place.

The cooker is taking some getting used to but to be fair I haven't had much time to road test and get to know it.

Fresh from the oven

I thought I would treat my husband to one of his favourite cakes and make this lovely banana bread recipe by Nigella Lawson from 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'. I love the walnuts in the recipe, the heady vanilla extract and the rum soaked sultanas. Those forgotten black bananas in the fruit bowl are best for this to give the cake a light texture.

I've made this cake many times over the years and I definitely prefer to overcook the cake slightly to produce a crust which then softens as the cake becomes sticky. The perfect cake for slicing, lunch boxes and picnics.  This is quite a large loaf cake and I like to slice it and open freeze for another day - the cake is too large for us to get through and I've got my waistline to think of!

The banana bread recipe can be found on Nigella's website.

Chocolate and Vanilla Berry Pavlova - Recipe

The cream filling is softly whipped double cream mixed with natural yogurt - this lightens the cream and also gives a subtle tang.  The fruit is a pack of good quality frozen summer berries mixed with a few frozen redcurrants from my garden.  Tip the frozen berries, with the exception of the raspberries, into a sieve and allow the berries to thaw and release some of their juices, otherwise the cream will become stained with fruit juice.  I used the reserved frozen raspberries to decorate the top, this enables them to keep their shape for longer.

The adapted Nigella Lawson  pavlova recipe is one I have used many, many times and always works.

You will need:  large oven tray - draw a 20cm diameter circle on a sheet of baking paper (I use a plate). Turn the baking paper over and place onto the oven tray. TIP: Take some of the vanilla meringue and place blobs at each corner of the tray, place the baking paper on top, the meringue will secure the baking paper.

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites
250g caster sugar
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp sifted cocoa powder
300ml double cream
150ml natural yogurt

Method:

1.   Preheat the oven to 180ºC
2.   Whisk the egg whites and a pinch of salt until they reach the stiff peak stage.
3.   Gradually add the caster sugar a teaspoon at a time, whisking well in between.  Keep on whisking until the mixture is stiff and glossy.
4.   Whisk in the cornflour, vanilla extract and white wine vinegar.
5.   Remove a third of the meringue mixture to a bowl.  Add the sieved cocoa powder and stir in to combine.
6.   Take alternate blobs of vanilla meringue and chocolate meringue and place onto the marked out circle on the baking paper.  Swirl the two together.
7.   Turn the oven temperature down to 150ºC and cook for one hour.
8.   Leave the pavlova in the oven overnight.
9.   Remove the pavlova and place onto a large plate.
10. Whip the cream into soft folds and gently fold in the natural yogurt.
11. Decorate.

Gingerbread Cake with Lemon Icing

Recently I have been making 'proper cake' and decided to have a cupcake break. I made a fabulous iced lemon curd cake the other day, but it wasn't blog worthy, which was a shame. The cake was moist with a tender crumb, the lemon curd was perfect, but I didn't make enough icing for the topping. Not to be beaten I decided to make some more icing and add this to the icing already on the cake, it was too thin and dripped off the cake too much, in the meantime the lemon curd took on a life of it's own and decided to ooze out of the cake. Shame really because when I sliced the cake and put it onto plates it looked fabulous and tasted sensational, looks definitely aren't everything.

What has the above got to do with Nigella's cake? Well, I wouldn't describe this cake as a looker, but taste wise, it's got everything going for it, providing you aren't mean with the fresh ginger and you don't over cook the cake and dry it out.

I think the lemon icing is optional, even though lemon and gingerbread are a match made in heaven, the cake still tastes wonderful if you miss this out. The downside to icing the cake is the gingerbread discolours the icing after a day, and if you want to keep this cake for a few days to give it a chance to get even stickier, the icing will need to be cut off before serving. I've given twice the amount of icing specified in the original recipe because it was a bit on the mean side and the top of the cake shows through.

Slightly adapted recipe:

You will need: large roasting tin 30 x 20 x 5cm greased and lined with parchment paper.

For the cake:

150g unsalted butter, 125 dark muscovado sugar, 200g golden syrup, 200g black treacle, 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 250ml milk, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm water, 300g plain flour.

For the icing:

2 tablespoon lemon juice, 350g sieved icing sugar, 2 tablespoons warm water.

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas 3.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter with the sugar, golden syrup, treacle, ginger and cinnamon. Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk, beaten eggs and bicarbonate of soda in its water.
3. Add the flour to a bowl and pour in the liquid ingredients, beating until well mixed. Pour into the tin and bake for ¾ hour to 1 hour (I baked mine for ¾ hour) by which time the cake should be risen and firm to the touch.
4. For the icing: Sift the icing sugar, add the lemon juice, then gradually add the warm water. The icing needs to be thick. Spread over the cooled gingerbread and leave to set before cutting into slices.
5. Store the cake in an airtight tin - if you opt for not icing the cake, the cake will get stickier with storing for a few days.

Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Brownie Bowls

To make this recipe you really need to buy the 6-cavity dessert shell tin. The recipe is from Kitchen by Nigella Lawson, it's just a shame Nigella didn't include a few more recipe variations because baking tins can be quite expensive and using them for one recipe isn't ideal.

I greased my tin with Wilton Cake Release to make sure the brownie bowls didn't stick to the tin and would turn out easily. Next time I make them I'm going to use cake release and then dust the tin with cocoa powder to see if this gives the base of the bowls more eye appeal.

An easy recipe to make and the cooking time is only 12 minutes. They turn out easily, can be frozen and reheat successfully in the microwave.

I made a chocolate sauce to fill my bowls (this isn't a Nigella recipe) and topped them with vanilla ice cream. Nigella says to eat the bowls warm and and then top them with ice cream. It just remains for me to say, delicious!

You will need:

125g unsalted soft butter, 125g caster sugar, 15g malted milk powder (Horlicks or similar), 15g best-quality cocoa powder, 125ml boiling water, 125 buttermilk or runny plain yogurt, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 150g plain flour ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6 and either butter or use Cake Release to grease the tin.
2. Melt the butter over a low heat, add the sugar, keep stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar into the butter. Take off the heat.
3. Put the cocoa powder and malted milk powder into a basin and whisk in the boiling water, whisk until smooth and there aren't any lumps. Add this to the warm pan of butter and sugar, stir well to combine.
4. To a basin add the buttermilk or yogurt, egg and vanilla and whisk together, stir this mixture into the pan. Whisk in the flour and bicarb.
5. Pour the mixture into a jug and fill the 6 bowls.
6. Place in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes. When cooked they will feel slightly bouncy if you press on the surface - sit the tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes before turning out the little brownie bowls. Fill whilst still just warm or when cooled.

The bowls can be baked up to a day ahead and stored in an airtight container, layered with baking parchment. Reheat in a warm oven for 5-8 minutes before serving. I found they reheated well in the microwave oven.
The bowls can be frozen, layered with baking parchment, for up to 2 months. Defrost for 3-4 hours on a wire rack at room temperature. Reheat.

Chocolate Sauce

You will need: 25g butter, 142ml double cream, 75g good quality dark chocolate broken into small pieces, splash of brandy, rum, Amaretto or Baileys.

Place the butter in a pan with the cream and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate pieces to the pan. Stir, leave for 5 minutes for the chocolate to melt into the cream. Add a splash of either brandy, rum, Amaretto or Baileys.

STRAWBERRY AND REDCURRANT PAVLOVA

I watched Delia on a TV advertisement making Strawberry & Vanilla Pavlova, so next time I went shopping in Waitrose, I couldn't resist picking up the Waitrose Recipe Collection card.

I always use Nigella's pavlova recipe, which for me just can't be beaten, I looked at Delia's recipe and to me it's a meringue recipe and not a pavlova recipe. A friend brought us some homegrown redcurrants, I then returned to the Waitrose Recipe Collection card and made the vanilla cream and strawberry sauce. So basically, I have paired Delia up with Nigella!

The secret to a great pavlova is to make it the evening before and then let it dry out in the cooling oven. This way you will get a crisp outside and a marshmallow inner, bliss.

The vanilla cream, which is made with fromage frais and Mascarpone set to give a firm filling. Next time I would alter the recipe yet again and use my usual filling of softly whipped cream mixed with yogurt. The pavlova was delicious except for the cream filling which my husband wasn't very keen on. You must make the strawberry sauce though because it is so very, very delicious.

Has anyone else made Delia's Strawberry & Vanilla Pavlova?

Nigella's Pavlova recipe from How to Eat.

You will need: A large baking tray lined with baking parchment.

4 large egg whites, 250g caster sugar, 2 teaspoons cornflour, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they reach the soft peak stage. Whisk in the caster sugar a third at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny.
Fold in the vanilla essence, cornflour and white wine vinegar.
3. Draw a 20cm circle on the baking parchment, put blobs of meringue on a baking tray, turn the greaseproof paper over and stick the baking parchment down onto the tray.
4. Spoon the meringue onto the baking parchment circle and flatten the top and smooth the sides.
5. Place in the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 150°C and cook for 1¼ hours.
6. Turn the oven off and leave in the oven overnight to dry out.
7. Take the pavlova off the baking paper, fill with cream and decorate with fruit.

NIGELLA LAWSON'S CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD PUDDING

I never bought into the idea of chocolate bread and butter pudding, it seemed like one step too far. Nigella's recipe for chocolate chip bread pudding is a half way house for me. I wasn't sure if my husband would like this pudding, he loves bread and butter pudding and doesn't really like it messed about with.

My adapted recipe and uses only a quarter of the chocolate chips used in the original recipe, otherwise my husband wouldn't eat it! I think this pudding is a real winner and has a lot more eye appeal than the usual chocolate bread pudding.

I made a loaf of bread in my bread maker for this recipe, so that I could cut large chunks of bread. To get the best out of this pudding you need a good loaf of unsliced bread and preferably not sliced 'plastic' bread.

The recipe can be found in Nigella's latest book Kitchen.


If you are a bread and butter pudding lover, perhaps you would like to see the others I have posted on this blog, maybe this is the start of the National Collection of Bread and Butter Puddings!

NIGELLA'S CHOCOLATE BANANA MUFFINS

Nigella has brought us some great muffin recipes to try at home and these in particular were met with a huge mmmm! Whose recipe is this, asked my husband - Nigella's I replied. My husband said he thought her double chocolate chip muffins couldn't be beaten but mmmmm.

I have frozen these and they thaw successfully, I've even thawed them and warmed them up in the microwave, although Nigella says to put them in the oven for a few minutes to warm.

Why not make some? You'll be glad you did!

This recipe comes from Nigella's new book Kitchen

LAVENDER CUPCAKES

The inspiration for these cakes came from the wonderful lavender bush in my garden. I looked for recipes using lavender but as I am on a 'flowers and cupcakes' mission at the moment, Nigella's recipe in her book Forever Summer was perfect.

Nigella created these lavender cupcakes to raise money for the Lavender Trust, which is a charity for young women with breast cancer and was set up in memory of Ruth Picardie.


Whilst in the garden on a glorious hot and sunny day, I gained an unexpected 'new friend', a butterfly no less. As I started to cut a few lavender sprigs, he settled on the bush. He was a little camera shy and the photograph, unfortunately, doesn't show all of his markings.

For this recipe you will need to make some lavender sugar first. Simply put a few sprigs of lavender into some caster sugar for a few days and hey presto, lavender sugar.

For the cupcakes you will need:

125 g self-raising flour, 125g very soft unsalted butter, 125g sieved lavender sugar, 2 eggs, pinch salt and a few tablespoons of milk.

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C /Gas 6 and line a 12 bun muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Put all of the cake ingredients, except the milk, into a food processor and whizz, now blend in the milk.
3. Fill the cake cases and bake for 20 minutes or until cooked.

For the icing:
250g Instant Royal Icing, violet icing colour, twelve sprigs lavender

1. Cut the peaked tops off the cooled cupcakes.
2. Make up the icing with a little water to a thick double cream pouring consistency. Put some food colour paste onto a skewer and dye the icing to a pastel violet.
3. Spoon some of the icing over the top of the cupcakes. Top each of the cupcakes with a little sprig of lavender before the icing sets.

Cupcake

COFFEE CAPPUCCINO CREAMS WITH CREAM AND SWEET COFFEE SAUCE

Goodness! That's a long title for a dessert, but deserved it is.

I love coffee and have been longing to make these for a long, long time now.

Last weekend I had a few special meals to cook and it was an opportune time to make these.

These wonderful desserts have now made it to my list of 'I'm definitely going to make these again'.

First you put your spoon through the clouds of whipped cream laced in a sweet coffee sauce, then dip further into the smooth coffee mousse - need I say any more!

This wonderful recipe comes from Delia's How To Cook Book Two - ISBN 056338431X - Page 188.

Delia's recipe uses instant espresso powder for the mousse and the sweet coffee sauce.
Here is a link to Nigella Lawson's cappuccino cupcakes I made, way back in 2007, and fabulous they were too, this recipe also uses instant espresso powder.

SHORTCAKES WITH BLACKBERRY AND ORANGE COMPOTE

Blackberries are now in the hedgerows and the best news - they are free! Where I live we have an endless supply, in the hedgerows on the canal paths.

Wild blackberries are one of my favourite fruits and you can make endless desserts with them. The BBCGoodFood site have 33 recipes you can make using blackberries. UKTV Food have some wonderful recipes too.

The larger blackberries in the photograph are cultivated ones from my own garden and they taste surprisingly good, and I have mixed these with some wild blackberries. A few years ago I bought some thornless blackberry plants and this year I've picked a bowlful of berries from them almost every day.

The shortcake recipe I used was disappointing, the texture was quite dense and they were a little on the heavy side.

Nigella's shortcakes, a recipe I have made lots of times, would be perfect and I will give the recipe below for Nigella's shortcakes and the blackberry compote.

HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS - NIGELLA LAWSON

ISBN 0701168889 - Page 69

You will need: 1 baking tray, greased, 6.5cm round cutter

For the shortcakes:

325g plain flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 5 tablespoons caster sugar, 125g frozen unsalted butter, 1 large egg beaten, 125ml single cream, 1 lightly beaten egg white.

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/Gas mark 7
2. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder and 3 tablespoons of the sugar in a bowl. Grate the butter into these dry ingredients and use your fingertips to finish crumbling the butter into the flour.
3. Whisk the egg into the cream, and pour into the flour mixture a little at a time, using a fork to mix. You may not need all of the eggy cream to make the dough come together so cautiously.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll gently to a thickness of about 2cm. Dip the cutter in flour and cut out - you should get 8 in all.
5. Place the shortcakes about 2.5 cm apart on the baking sheet, brush the tops with egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of caster sugar.
6. You can now, if necessary, cover and refrigerate them for up to 2 hours.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and let them cool for a short while on a wire rack.
8. Meanwhile, make the filling.

BBC MASTERCHEF GOES LARGE

ISBN 0091905575 - Page 179

For the filling:

250g blackberries, 1½ tablespoon caster sugar, grated zest and juice of 1 orange, 150ml double cream.

1. Place half of the blackberries in a saucepan, add the sugar, orange zest and juice. Cover the pan and cook on a low heat for a few minutes. The fruit needs to be tender and hold its shape. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
2. Beat the double cream until it forms soft peaks. Split the shortcakes in two and fill with cream and fresh blackberries. Drizzle over the compote and serve.

LEMON LINGUINE

I love eating this, but trust me, it doesn't taste the same if eaten indoors! A wonderful warm sunny day so that you can eat alfresco is a must.
Unfortunately I couldn't get any linguine, and so I had to second-best it and use spaghetti, still ok but not quite the same.
When a recipe asks for pasta, lemon, Parmesan cheese and parsley you really can't go far wrong.
Some green leaves need to be served alongside this, I opted for watercress. A piece of toasted ciabatta is good too.
How to Eat by Nigella Lawson is still one of my favourite cookery books. It's packed with recipes and just a handful of photographs.
The weather forecast is good for this coming weekend, so here is something quick, simple and very tasty.

HOW TO EAT BY NIGELLA LAWSON

ISBN 0701165766 - Page 253

Serves 6 (can easily be scaled down)

750g linguine, 2 egg yolks, 150ml double cream, 50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese, zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon, 15g butter, fresh flat-leaf parsley.

1. Fill a pot with water and bring to the boil. Add some salt. Tip in the pasta, bring back to the boil and cook for a couple minutes less than it says on the packet of pasta.
2. In a bowl, put the yolks, cream, grated Parmesan cheese, zest of the whole lemon and juice of half of it, a pinch of salt and a good grating of pepper and beat together until just combined.
3. Remove a cup of cooking liquid, drain the pasta and then, off the heat, toss it back in the pan, throw in the butter and stir and swirl about to make sure the butter's melted and pasta covered by it all over.
4. Stir in the egg, cream, cheese and lemon mix and turn the pasta well, adding some of the cooking liquid if it looks a bit dry (2 tablespoons or so should do it).
Sprinkle over some just-chopped parsley and serve straight away.

UPMARKET MUSHY PEAS

Nigella's original recipe for the peas (which includes a head of garlic and creme fraiche) is to go with roast cod for a more formal fish dinner.

I have adapted this recipe to go with the fish and chip dinner above.

HOW TO EAT - NIGELLA LAWSON

ISBN 0701165766 - PAGE 194

800g frozen petits pois, 100g butter.

1. Cook the peas for longer than you would do if you were eating them normally.
2. Drain, then tip into the bowl of a food processor, add the butter and process.
3. Place the peas back into the saucepan and reheat.

These mushy peas are a doddle to make and so why not give them a go?

SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN WITH LEMON AND ROSEMARY

This recipe is a particular favourite of mine. It can be cooked both in the oven and on the barbecue (It is best to cook the chicken in the oven before finishing on the barbecue). This is one of those never fail to please recipes, and so I think that makes it perfect.
We aren't talking about pretty here with this recipe, we're talking about a beautiful golden chicken that is moist and tastes delicious. When you put the chicken onto your table it really is a wow! moment. To see this chicken in all its glory click onto the photograph for a better view!

I have been asked about the pretty jug in the photograph. This was bought from Clive Ramsays Deli in the beautiful Scottish village, Bridge of Allan. Basically, this jug holds 'liquid gold'! We were looking around the deli and were literally seduced by the place. I bought lots of goodies and my husband also chose some things. The jug holds extra virgin olive oil. I went outside whilst my husband paid and when he came to me he had turned 'a whiter shade of pale', and said the bill was a lot more than he had expected! The culprit was the jug of olive oil. Being in holiday mode I hadn't paid much attention to the price, but I just loved the jug. I kept very quiet and hoped and prayed the contents were going to be OK. What a relief the extra virgin olive oil within the jug is fabulous and I use this specifically when I am making Nigella's Ultimate Greek Salad!!

NIGELLA LAWSON FOREVER SUMMER

ISBN 0701173815 - Page 136

SERVES: 4 people

When I have seen Nigella spatchcocking a chicken on television, she does it with a glint of mischievousness in her eye, and tells us how she loves a bit of DIY surgery!!
Anyway, this is how to do the spatchcocking, which is very easy. First take the chicken, breast side down, cut through all along one side of the backbone. Then cut along the other side of the backbone, remove this. Turn the bird the other way up and press down as you open it out. Hey presto! one spatchcocked bird.

It is best to marinade the chicken the day before you want to cook it.

1 spatchcocked chicken (2-2.25kg)
3 long sprigs fresh rosemary
juice of lemon, plus more lemons to serve
1 red onion
100ml olive oil
Maldon Salt

1. Put your spatchcocked chicken into a large freezer bag. Pull the needles off 2 sprigs of rosemary and drop them on top. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice, put the empty shells in the bag as well. Cut the unpeeled onion into eighths and add these to the bag. Pour in the olive oil and tie up the bag and place in the fridge.
2.Take the chicken out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature.
3. Preheat the oven to 210° C/Gas Mark 7.
4. Lay your chicken, skin side up on a tin lined with foil, along with the lemon husks and onion pieces, add the remaining sprig of rosemary torn into a couple of pieces, tucking them between the leg and breast. Cook for about 45 minutes, the chicken should be crisp skinned and tender.
5. Take the chicken out of the oven, cut the chicken into four pieces and arrange these on a plate, along with the onion, pour over any syrup juices from the tin and sprinkle with Maldon salt. Cut a lemon or two into quarters and scatter these around the chicken.
6. Serve with Nigella's Ultimate Greek Salad.

Since writing this post I have added two more Spatchcock Recipes:

Spatchcock Chicken with Gremolata served with a Wild Rice and Pepper Salad

Spatchcock Chicken with Lemon, Oregano and Paprika served with a Crunchy Rice Salad

BABY BUNDTS

On a shopping outing with my husband I spotted a wonderful bundt tin - it said buy me and so I did! I saw an article on mini bundts by Brilynn on her foodblog Jumbo Empanadas and so I decided to have a go.

HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS BY NIGELLA LAWSON

ISBN 0701168889 - PAGE 26

Makes: 6 cakes

Skill Level: Easy

Taste Test: Doughnut texture and slightly sticky.

These are made with plain yoghurt and so obviously I used some that I had made. I thought these would be a fairly bland cake mixture and so I added a teaspoon of culinary lemon oil to liven them up. I read on another foodblog that they had added some raisins to the mixture because they also felt the sponge was rather bland.
They are a doddle to make, even a child with the necessary supervision could have a go at these. The bundt tin needed lots of greasing otherwise I think they would just stay in the tin forever! I use Cake Release to grease tins and the problem of turning cakes out isn't a problem anymore. These could be made in muffin cases - just spray the cases first with an oil mister.
The topping is made with lemon juice and icing sugar - you really need the hit of lemon in the icing otherwise these cakes are in danger of being too bland.

Kitchen Equipment Used: Nordic Ware Bundt Tin.

GREEK LAMB STEW

I have made this once before, but wasn't too happy with the result. This time it was perfect. I cooked it in the slow cooker, popped it in the fridge overnight and then the next day I brought it to the boil on the hob and then cooked the stew again for a few hours in the slow cooker.


HOW TO EAT BY NIGELLA LAWSON

ISBN 0701165766 - Page 108

Serves: 10 people but the recipe can easily be scaled down.

Skill Level: Easy

Taste Test: The meat was meltingly tender and the sauce was luscious.

It is important to lightly brown the meat and not to make the meat too crusty. The onions really do need some long slow cooking on the hob before adding them to the stew pot - use Nigella's tip and sprinkle the onions whilst they are cooking with salt and this stops them browning, remember this isn't a brown stew and so caramelized onions are not what you are after here, but soft and translucent.
For the wine I used a chardonnay and this seemed to be perfect for the sauce, perhaps my choice of wine was wrong last time and hence I wasn't too happy with the end result.
Nigella suggests using ditalini pasta but I couldn't get hold of this and so used festoni pasta from Waitrose. The pasta should be stirred into the stew at the end, but I chose to serve the pasta separately.
The feta cheese mixed with parsley, was crumbled over the top, and melted into the stew beautifully. Don't be tempted to leave out the cheese and parsley, otherwise you will be disappointed with the end result. I served the stew with some sundried tomato bread.

Kitchen Equipment Used: Slow Cooker.

CAPPUCCINO CUPCAKES

I am a cappuccino lover and also love a good cupcake! A combination made in heaven for me, and so there was nothing for it but to have a go at making these.

HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS BY NIGELLA LAWSON


ISBN 0701168889 - PAGE 199

MAKES 12

SKILL LEVEL: Easy

TASTE TEST: Very light coffee sponge, with minor adjustments made to the topping this proved to be light, sticky and not too sweet.



The sponge used instant espresso powder instead of the usual coffee granules or coffee essence. The coffee taste was far superior and gave a much more sophisticated taste. I am now a convert to instant espresso powder.
The mixture for the cupcakes was just whizzed in the food processor and so that part was extremely easy.
I read somewhere that the topping was toothachingly sweet and so I proceeded with caution, making some minor adjustments to the recipe.
My adjustments are as follows: I used 45g white chocolate, 85g unsalted butter, 142ml sour cream and 130g icing sugar. By looking at the original recipe you will see I have cut down considerably on the icing sugar and to counteract the sweetness I used quite a lot more sour cream.
The topping was softly set and sticky, but perfect on taste for me.
These cakes were gratefully received by the lucky people who got to eat them!

KITCHEN EQUIPMENT USED: Magimix Food Processor