Honey Lemon Cream Puddings

These little cuties come from Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook by Annabel Langbein.  I made them one year for Valentine’s dessert, and now I think it’s a tradition.  They are honey and lemon cream puddings, and the first time I made them I served them in these little teacups, and now I feel I must do the same, they are just perfect for these little puds. J

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

During times of stress I either don’t bake at all or bake a lot.  It feels like life can be a bit better with something under the cake some…

I plumped for a recipe from The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond. No-bake peanut butter bars. I made this really for my daughter (and me….) because although the Hubby loves peanuts, he is not so keen on peanut butter.  These bars are so good. The recipe can be found here as it isn’t in a book yet, though I hope it will be at some point, as I have a fear of losing recipes on printed out bits of paper that we have enjoyed.

Due to this recipe hailing from the US it has vanilla wafers in it, I (being in the UK) substituted digestives, I also halved the recipe for a 7 inch square tin, and we all thought they turned out well.  Sophie kept lifting the cake dome lid and just inhaling the peanut butter and chocolate. I do let her eat them! Though probably not as many as she would like…Ha!  Hubby really liked them, which surprised me, but I reckon if someone who doesn’t really like peanut butter in the normal run of things like them, then they must be pretty good. 

Grasshopper Pie

Today’s sweet delight hails from Kitchen: Recipes From The Heart of the Home by Nigella Lawson (Chatto & Windus 2010). Grasshopper pie, which has nothing to do with actual grasshoppers, but it more to do with the colour I suspect.

A boozy (crème de cacoa and crème de menthe) creamy, dreamy light dessert. You wouldn’t think it would be as light as it is, but there you go. I have made this one a number of times now, the only slight variation I make is to use sprinkles and chocolate for the topping, instead of biscuit rubble…. Because I can’t help myself sometimes. ;)

Chocolate Malteaser Cake

 

Now, this is one of my all-time favourite cakes. I just love it! The cake hails from what is an enduring favourite cook book. Feast Food That Celebrates Life by Nigella Lawson (Chatto and Windus 2004).

The cake and frosting are flavoured with Horlicks powder. The sponge is moist and flavourful, with just a hint of toothsome-ness, because of the Horlicks. The buttercream frosting is just so good, it is the kind of sweet deliciousness that inspires the processor bowl that it was made in to be scrapped totally clean – so as not to waste a drop.  The cake decoration or ‘Malteaster crown’ as Nigella puts it is the perfect decoration. Simply beautiful.

After Feast was published, I made this for so many birthdays, including my daughter’s first birthday tea party. Perhaps I’m getting maudlin in my of age (ha!) but I love to see it under the cake dome, brings back such happy memories.

Dark and Sumptuous Chocolate Cake

A fabulous chocolate cake from Simply Nigella by Nigella Lawson. It is incidentally vegan, but you could never tell as it is just so delicious.

I say you could never tell, because I spent a few years being gluten intoletant, and boy,  you could certainly tell if something was gulten free as more often than not it would turn out to be much less than was hoped for.   Things have moved on though, as this cake clearly shows.  It’s expensive to make, and the icing was a bit tricky I found (separated and needed beating back together), but still completely worth it.  One to go into the repertoire. :)

Poached Pistachio Sprinkled Apricots with Crème Fraiche

It’s a funny  thing,  we love these apricots from How To Eat by Nigella Lawson (1998), but I often forget about them.  (Actually I’m hoping this page may help me remember good things I’ve made.) Possibly it’s a side effect of cooking a lot, you forget about all the good things that have passed through your kitchen, and when you need a dessert or main for an occasion, or even just regular dinner any day of the week, you draw a blank.

Anyhow, I was flicking through How To Eat, and I had a bookmark in the page of the poached pistachio sprinkled apricots with crème fraiche recipe. Having  made them before several times, I could just taste them reading the recipe, could see their beauty on a plate, smell their luscious fragrance. The apricots are poached in a cardamom scented syrup, there is no booze, but it’s so intoxicating. There is a little sugar in the poaching syrup, but the dried apricots themselves are sweet so here I do go with the crème fraiche in the stuffing, as the sourness balances out the sweetness for a flavour sensation.  

 

This is not a quick recipe, you soak the apricots overnight. Make a syrup, poach them in the oven. Let get them become cool, then chill and later stuff with the crème fraiche, drizzle with the syrup and lastly sprinkle with some chopped pistachios.  This is the kind of kitchen pottering I enjoy most. Although I’m not knocking fast cooking, as it is most definitely needed in my daily quest to bring supper to the table… it’s just the kind I enjoy most is the pottering variety where it feels somehow special to invest a little time on something good to eat.

Nanaimo Bars

I love a good Nanaimo bar!

It’s the combination of the nuts, custard and chocolate.  Makes for a fabulous mouthful of joy.  I’ve made a few before and have enjoyed each and every one of them.  This version from The Boy Who Bakes by Edd Kimber (2011) has a softer topping than I’d come across before, but that just makes them all the more gooey and easier to cut.  

This book was Edd’s first baking cookbook after winning the Bake Off, there have been two more since; he is a great baker.

Buckwheat Triple Chocolate Cookies

This weekend's bake was from one of my favourite books of 2015, Simply Nigella by Nigella Lawson.  These cookies are sort of like brownies in cookie form, or maybe a cross between the two is more accurate.  Anyhow they are dark and delicious, not too sweet and they have THE most fabulous tasting cookie dough! Though, if you are worried about the raw egg in the cookie dough, just wait for the actual baked cookies!

Nigella made them on her Simply Nigella Christmas special episode, and they just looked so good, I had to give them a go, even if it is now February. It's still winter, so I'm reckoning that still counts. :)

 

If you don't have the book, the recipe is online here at Nigella.com

Nutella Cheesecake

This is one of my daughter’s favourite cakes!  Nutella cheesecake from Nigellissima by Nigella Lawson. It's luscious, rich and delicious, but still light.

 Last year she chose it as her birthday cake, so I guilded the lily a little!