Tag Archives: nigella

Sep15

Nigella Lawson’s Coconut Cake

Posted on September 15, 2012 by foodthatserves

Ages ago, my friend Amy suggested this cake would be perfect here at foodthatserves and yesterday, I finally got around to making this chuck-almost-everything-in-the-food-processor cake. If you follow the recipe below, you’ll end up with a yummy looking cake much like the one above and you’ll love the taste too. For those who are trying to reduce their overall fructose intake, I was so thrilled with the result of this using dextrose instead of sugar. You can buy dextrose from the home brew section of Big W(oop) as it’s affectionately known in our household or from specialty home brew shops and health food stores. Dextrose is actually cheaper than caster sugar to buy and all I did in this case was exchange it directly for the 175g sugar required. The fructose free cake that resulted was yummy and just like a normal cake. Instead of the icing Nigella suggests, I served it with whipped cream and defrosted blueberries from the freezer – so good. Total cost to make is around $3.

175g/6oz butter, softened
175g/6oz golden caster sugar
175g/6oz self-raising flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs, beaten
50g/2oz desiccated coconut
2 tbsp coconut cream, or single cream

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FILLING AND TOPPING:

280g/10oz icing sugar
100g/4oz butter, softened
3 tbsp coconut cream, or single cream
5 tbsp raspberry jam

Preheat your oven to 180C (fan oven 160C), Gas 4. Butter two 20cm sandwich tins with greaseproof paper.
Mix the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and eggs in a food processor for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Gently stir in the coconut and cream.
Divide the mixture between the tins and smooth the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden and firm.
Loosen the edges and leave in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool. Peel off lining paper.
To make the buttercream: beat together the icing sugar, butter and coconut cream until smooth. Spread one sponge with the jam. Top with just under half the buttercream and sandwich with the other sponge. Swirl the remaining buttercream on top of the cake.

May12

Nigella’s Chocolate Pavlova

Posted on May 12, 2012 by foodthatserves

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My friend Amy put me onto this recipe about 8 years ago and since then it’s become one of my favourite dessert options for catering. It literally only takes a couple of minutes measuring and mixing and then it’s into a low oven for an hour and a quarter – allowing me to get other things done. I generally make it in the morning and leave it to cool in the switched off oven for the rest of the day. From there it’s ridiculously easy to whip cream and top it with whatever you like. Nigella suggests fresh raspberries on top but I’ve often used frozen ones and actually we all like it best with bananas, strawberries and a handful of maltesers dumped on top. Also, when cooking other desserts that call for egg yolks only, I keep the whites and freeze them in zip lock bags. They thaw out beautifully and this often means I don’t have to use new eggs – another money saver. This low fuss dessert will set you back about $8 and serves 10.

6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
50g dark chocolate, finely chopped

300-500ml double cream
500g raspberries
2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
Beat the egg whites until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over the cocoa and vinegar, and the chopped chocolate. Then gently fold everything until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in. Mound on to a baking sheet in a fat circle approximately 23cm in diameter, smoothing the sides and top. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 150°C/gas mark 2 and cook for about one to one and a quarter hours. When it’s ready it should look crisp around the edges and on the sides and be dry on top, but when you prod the centre you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and let the chocolate meringue disc cool completely.3.
When you’re ready to serve, invert on to a big, flat-bottomed plate. Whisk the cream till thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter over the raspberries. Coarsely grate the chocolate so that you get curls rather than rubble, as you don’t want the raspberries’ luscious colour and form to be obscured, and sprinkle haphazardly over the top, letting some fall, as it will, on the plate’s rim.

May10

Nigella’s Chocolate Brownies

Posted on May 10, 2012 by foodthatserves

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This is the best recipe for Brownies I’ve ever found. Unlike so many brownie recipes, the whole thing cooks evenly with no drying out of the edges. It makes a whole large roasting dish worth of Brownie which makes 25 dessert sized pieces or 40+ slice sized serves. Originally from How to be a Domestic Goddess, I think this is one of Nigella’s best. Total cost is about $9, but it makes LOTS. To decrease the cost, I pretty much always leave out the walnuts.

375 g soft unsalted butter
375 g dark chocolate
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
500 g caster sugar
225 g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
300 g chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Line your approximately 33 x 23 x 5 1/2cm roasting dish with foil or baking paper.
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy based saucepan.
In a bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla.
Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.
When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar mixture, and then the nuts and flour.
Beat to combine and then scrape out of the saucepan into the lined brownie pan.
Bake for about 25 minutes.
When its’s ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey.
Keep checking the brownies as they cook; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool.