DOVES FARM SPELT BREAD

DOVES FARM SPELT BREAD

Spelt naturally proves and rises more quickly than conventional wheat flour, so bake it as soon as it has doubled in size. The flavour is delicious.

Ingredients

500 g White Spelt Flour or Wholegrain Spelt Flour
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Quick Yeast
1 tsp Sugar
300 ml Warm Water
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method

Temperature & cooking time:
220°C/Fan200°C/425°F/Gas 7

In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, quick yeast and sugar.
Add the water and roughly mix it into the flour.
While the dough is still lumpy add the oil and knead well until it feels smooth and pliable.
Leave the dough covered with a tea towel, in a draught free place, for it to double in size. (This should take about an hour).
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough firmly for several minutes.
Shape the dough and put it into an oiled 1kg/2lb bread tin or place it on an oiled baking sheet.
Cover with a clean tea towel and leave dough to rise for about 25 minutes in a warm place.
Bake in a preheated oven 35/40 minutes.

DOVES FARM ROMAN STYLE SLIPPER LOAF

DOVES FARM ROMAN STYLE SLIPPER LOAF

This Roman bread is made with a slightly wetter dough than many bread recipes the resulting loaf has an appealing wheaty flavour and good crumb structure. The title of this recipe is based on the recipe writing of the Roman scholar Apicius.

Ingredients

500 g Wholegrain Spelt Flour
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Quick Yeast
1 tbsp Honey
400 ml Water
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Method

Temperature & cooking time:
200°C/Fan 180°C/400°F/Gas 6

Mix together the flour, salt and quick yeast in a large bowl.
Dissolve the honey in the water and roughly mix it into the flour.
While the dough is still lumpy add the oil and mix to form a dough.
Pick up the sticky dough and throw it back into the bowl. Do this 100 times.
Cut the dough in half and drop the pieces onto a large oiled baking tray which has been dusted with flour.
Dust the loaves with flour and gently form into an oval.
Leave to rise in a warm place for 25 minutes.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 30/35 minutes.

DOVES FARM ROMAN ARMY BREAD

DOVES FARM ROMAN ARMY BREAD

The extra liquid in this recipe bakes a loaf with a crumpety crumb structure. A traditional loaf, similar to bread favoured by the Roman army. Olive oil and honey combined with spelt give it a rich, delicious flavour.

Ingredients

500 g Wholegrain Spelt Flour
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Quick Yeast
1 tbsp Honey
400 ml Warm Water
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Method

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt and quick yeast.
Dissolve the honey in the water and roughly mix it into the flour.
When the dough is craggy, add the oil and mix well.
Knead or work the dough for a few minutes, then divide between 2x 500g/1lb bread tins or place on a large, well-oiled baking tray for an artisan-style loaf.
Cover and leave to rise for 25 minutes in a warm place.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes if using a baking tray, or 40/45 minutes if using loaf tins.

DOVES FARM RICE BREAD

DOVES FARM RICE BREAD

Ingredients

500 g Rice Flour
2 tsps Xanthan Gum
1 tsp Salt
2 tsps Sugar
2 tsps Quick Yeast
550 ml Warm Water
3 tbsps Oil

Method

Temperature & cooking time:
220°C/Fan200°C/400°F/Gas 7

Mix in the warm water, sugar and quick yeast.
In another bowl mix the rice flour, xanthan gum and salt.
Beat in the yeast liquid and stir well.
Mix in the oil and pour into an oiled 1kg/2lb bread tin.
Smooth the top and leave to rise for 90 minutes.
Cover the tin with metal foil.
Bake in a pre heated oven for 50/60 minutes.

DOVES FARM PIKELETS

DOVES FARM PIKELETS

Ingredients

200 g Plain White or White Spelt Flour
1 tsp Quick Yeast
2 tsps Sugar
250 ml Milk
1 Egg
3 tbsps Oil

Method

In large bowl mix together the flour, yeast and sugar.
In another bowl beat together the milk, water and egg.
Stir the mix mixture into the flour and beat to a smooth batter.
Leave to stand in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
Lightly oil a heavy frying pan and put on medium heat.
Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the pan.
Cook until air bubbles appear and the pancake is set.
Turn over and cook the other side briefly.

DOVES FARM ONION BHAJAS

DOVES FARM ONION BHAJAS

Ingredients

75 g Gram Flour
2 tsps Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tsp Turmeric
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Mixed Spice
4 tbsps Water
100 g Grated Onion
25 g Grated Potato
5 tbsps Oil

Method

Mix together the gram flour, cumin seeds, coriander, turmeric, salt and mixed spice.
Stir in the water and beat to a smooth batter.
Add grated onion and potatoes and mix well.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently drop in spoonfuls of the mixture.
Turn and cook until golden brown on all sides.
Remove and drain on a paper napkin before serving.

DOVES FARM MIXED SEED AND NUT WHOLEMEAL LOAF

Ingredients

500 g Strong Wholemeal Bread Flour or
500 g Wholegrain Spelt Flour
1 tsp Quick Yeast
1 tsp Sugar
325 ml Water
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
150 g Sunflower, Sesame, Poppy or Pumpkin Seeds or any kind of Nuts
½ tsp Salt

Method

Temperature & cooking time:
220°C/Fan200°C/425°F/Gas 7

In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, quick yeast and sugar.
Add the water and roughly mix it into the flour.
While the dough is still lumpy add the oil and knead well until it feels smooth and pliable.
Add the seeds and knead until they are combined into the dough.
Leave the dough covered with a tea towel, in a draught free place, for it to double in size (This should take about an hour). To make a quick bread, omit this stage and proceed straight to step 6.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough firmly for several minutes.
Shape the dough and put it into a 1kg/2lb bread tin or place it on an oiled baking sheet.
Cover with a clean tea towel and leave dough to rise for about 25 minutes in a warm place.
Bake in a preheated oven 35/40 minutes.

DOVES FARM MAPLE RYE DROP SCONES

DOVES FARM MAPLE RYE DROP SCONES

Ingredients

100 g Rye Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 Egg
3 tbsps Maple Syrup
150 ml Milk
4 tbsps Oil (approx)

Method

Put the rye flour and baking powder into a bowl.
Add egg, maple syrup and milk.
Beat well.
Oil and heat a heavy frying pan.
Drop spoonfuls of batter onto the hot pan.
When bubbles start to form on the surface, turn the scones over and cook until golden brown.

DOVES FARM MALTHOUSE BREAD

DOVES FARM MALTHOUSE BREAD

Ingredients

500 g Malthouse Bread Flour
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Quick Yeast
1 tsp Sugar
300 ml Warm Water
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method

Temperature & cooking time:
220°C/Fan200°C/425°F/Gas 7

In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, quick yeast and sugar.
Add the water and roughly mix it into the flour.
While the dough is still lumpy add the oil and knead well until it feels smooth and pliable.
Leave the dough covered with a tea towel, in a draught free place, for it to double in size (This should take about an hour). To make a quick bread, omit this stage and proceed straight to step 6.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough firmly for several minutes.
Shape the dough and put it into a 1kg/2lb bread tin or place it on an oiled baking sheet.
Cover with a clean tea towel and leave dough to rise for about 25 minutes in a warm place.
Bake in a preheated oven 35/40 minutes.

DOVES FARM ALMOND RYE SHORTBREAD

DOVES FARM ALMOND RYE SHORTBREAD

Ingredients

125 g Rye Flour
125 g Ground Almonds
125 g Butter
75 g Caster Sugar

Method

Temperature & cooking time:
170°C/Fan150°C/325°F/Gas 3 for 40 minutes

Mix together the flour, ground almonds, butter and sugar to form a soft, crumbly dough.
Press the dough into an oiled 20cm/8" round tin.
Cut across the tin several times to form 12 triangles.
Use a fork to make holes all over the surface of the dough.
Bake for 40 minutes in a pre-heated oven.
Remove from the oven and cut through the triangles again.
Allow to cool in the tin.

DOVES FARM HERITAGE WHOLEMEAL FLOUR BISCUITS

DOVES FARM HERITAGE WHOLEMEAL FLOUR BISCUITS

Ingredients

100 g Butter
50 g Caster Sugar
150 g Heritage Wholemeal Flour

Method

Temperature & cooking time:
Oven 180°C/Fan160°C/350°F/Gas 4

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Work in the flour to form a stiff dough.
Roll out dough on a floured surface until 3mm/⅛” thick.
Cut into shapes and place these on an oiled baking tray.
Gather together the off cuts and re-roll to make further biscuits.
Bake in a preheated oven for 10/12 minutes.

DOVES FARM ELDERFLOWER FRITTERS

DOVES FARM ELDERFLOWER FRITTERS

Ingredients

100 g Self Raising Flour
25 g Icing Sugar
1 Egg
125 ml Cider
8 Elderflower Heads
50 g Butter
3 tbsps Sunflower Oil

Method

Shake the elderflower heads to remove any insects.
Mix together the Self Raising Flour and icing sugar.
Add the egg and cider and beat together well.
Warm half the butter and oil in a large frying pan.
Dip half the elderflower heads in the batter.
Shake off excess batter and put them flower side into the pan.
As the fritters start to cook, snip off any excess stalks with a pair of scissors.                                                                                                            
Cook on medium heat then turn over and cook the stalk side.
When both sides are golden remove and keep warm.
Repeat with remaining butter, oil and elderflower heads

DOVES FARM CUSTARD TART

DOVES FARM CUSTARD TART

Ingredients

150 g Plain Gluten Free Flour
75 g Butter
3 tbsps Cold Water
200 ml Cream
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
3 tbsps Sugar
1 tbsp Cornflour
2 tbsps Milk

Temperature & cooking time:
180/Fan160°C/350°F/Gas 4

Method

Mix together the flour and butter until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Add the water and bring together into the dough.
Press pastry into an oiled 7"/18cm flan dish.
Place a circle of parchment paper over the raw pastry.
Cover the paper with ceramic baking beans. (If you do not have these you can use any dried beans, rice or even flour although it will not be re-usable)
Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 25/30 minutes.
In a bowl mix together the cornflour and milk.
Put the cream, sugar and vanilla into a saucepan and heat gently.
Stir in the warmed cream.
Return everything to the saucepan and cook while stirring until thickened.
Remove the beans and paper from the pastry case and pour in the mixture.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20/25 minutes

DOVES FARM PITTA FLATBREAD

DOVES FARM PITTA FLATBREAD

Ingredients

150 ml Natural Yoghurt
250 ml Water
500 g Kamut® Bread Flour
1 tsp Quick Yeast
1 tsp Salt

Temperature & cooking time:
220°C/Fan200°C/425°F/Gas 7

Method

Put the yoghurt into a bowl, stir in the hot water and allow to cool until hand hot.
In a larger bowl mix together the flour, quick yeast & salt then stir in the cooled yoghurt liquid.
Bring together into a dough and knead for 5 minutes. Cover & leave to rise for 4/6 hours.
Place a dry baking tray in your oven and turn it on to pre heat the tray.
Knead the dough for 5 minutes, then cut it into twelve pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into a ball.
Using well floured hands, flatten each piece of dough & gently tease it into a 10x20mm/4x8" oval.
Working quickly and carefully, open the oven, lay some pitta on the baking sheet and cook for 8 minutes.
Remove the pitta and wrap in a clean towel to cool.
Cook remaining pitta in the same way.

DOVES FARM CHAPATI FLOUR BREADS

DOVES FARM CHAPATI FLOUR BREADS

Ingredients

250 g Strong White Bread Flour
1 tbsp Sunflower Oil
150 ml Warm Water
Method

Mix together the flour, oil and water to form a dough.
Knead well, cover with film and leave in a warm place for 2/4 hours.
Knead the dough and cut it into 6 pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into a ball and put it on a flour dusted board.
Roll the dough into an 20cm/8" circle.
Brush a large frying pan with a drop of oil and put on to heat.
Put the dough circle into the pan and cook on medium heat for a few minutes.
When air bubbles start to appear turn it over and cook the other side.
Wrap chappati in tin foil and keep warm until ready to serve.

DOVES FARM BUCKWHEAT AND ORANGE DROP SCONES

DOVES FARM BUCKWHEAT AND ORANGE DROP SCONES

A warming treat for tea, this easy drop scone recipe does not require milk. We like these best when served warm and spread with honey. The recipe makes about 12 drop scones.

Ingredients

100 g Buckwheat Flour
1 tbsp Icing Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Cinnamon
1 Egg
1 Orange rind and juice
140 ml Water
1 tbsp Sunflower Oil

Method

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon.
Grate the orange and squeeze the juice into a measuring jug.
Add water until you have 150ml/5floz of liquid (you may not need it all, or slightly more than specified depending on the orange) .
Mix the egg into the liquid then pour everything into the flour.
Stir to make a smooth batter.
Lightly oil a heavy frying pan and heat well.
Put a large spoonful of batter into the hot pan, smoothing to a circle.
Cook until bubbles form and the bottom is golden, then turn over and cook on the other side.

DOVES FARM BROWN SODA BREAD

DOVES FARM BROWN SODA BREAD

Ingredients

500 g Wholemeal Flour or Gluten Free Brown Bread Flour
½ tsp Salt
2 tsps Cream of Tartar
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
450 ml Milk
3 tbsps Bran or any Gluten Free flour

Method

Temperature & cooking time:
35/40mins at 220°C/Fan200°C/425°F/Gas 7

Mix together the flour, salt, cream of tartar and Bicarbonate of Soda.
Add just enough milk and mix into a soft, slightly sticky, dough.
Shape the dough into a ball and roll it in the bran. (If you don’t have bran sieve some more flour until you have sufficient bran in the sieve)
Place the dough on an oiled baking tray.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 35/40 minutes

DOVES FARM BARLEYCORN BREAD

DOVES FARM BARLEYCORN BREAD

Ingredients

500 g Barleycorn Bread Flour
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Quick Yeast
1 tsp Sugar
275 ml Warm Water
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

Method

Temperature & cooking time:
35/40min at 220°C/Fan200°C/425°F/Gas7

In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, quick yeast and sugar.
Add the water and roughly mix it into the flour.
While the dough is still lumpy add the oil and knead well until it feels smooth and pliable.
Leave the dough covered with a tea towel, in a draught free place, for it to double in size (This should take about an hour). To make a quick bread, omit this stage and proceed straight to step 6.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough firmly for several minutes.
Shape the dough and put it into a 1kg/2lb bread tin or place it on an oiled baking sheet.
Cover with a clean tea towel and leave dough to rise for about 25 minutes in a warm place.

Bake in a preheated oven 35/40 minutes.

QUADRUPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

QUADRUPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

This cake is not named for the bypass you might feel you'd need after eating it, but in honour of the four choc-factors that comprise its glory: cocoa to make the cake; chocolate chips or morsels to fold into it; a chocolate syrup to drench it once out of the oven; flakily sliced dark chocolate to top it before slicing.
I love this for tea, even for weekend breakfast, or late at night when its melting squidginess tends to fall darkly on to my white sheets - and I don't care. It's always wonderful as a pudding: put it on the table, ready to slice, alongside a bowl of strawberries and another of creme fraiche.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

For the cake
200 gram(s) plain flour
½ teaspoon(s) bicarbonate of soda
50 gram(s) cocoa powder
275 gram(s) caster sugar
175 gram(s) unsalted butter (soft)
2 medium eggs
1 tablespoon(s) vanilla extract
80 ml sour cream
125 ml water (boiling)
175 gram(s) dark chocolate chips (unless you prefer milk)
For the syrup
1 teaspoon(s) cocoa powder
125 ml water
100 gram(s) caster sugar
25 gram(s) dark chocolate (from a thick bar)

Method

Take whatever you need out of the fridge so that all ingredients can come to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/170°C, putting in a baking sheet as you do so, and line a 900g loaf tin (mine measures 21x11cm and 7.5cm deep and the cooking times are based on that) with greased foil - making sure there are no tears - and leave an overhang all round. Or use a silicon tin.
Put the flour, bicarb, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream into the processor and blitz till a smooth, satiny brown batter. Scrape down with a rubber spatula and process again while pouring the boiling water down the funnel. Switch it off then remove the lid and the well-scraped double-bladed knife and, still using your rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips or morsels.
Scrape and pour this beautiful batter into the prepared loaf tin and slide into the oven, cooking for about 1 hour. When it's ready, the loaf will be risen and split down the middle and a cake-tester, or a fine skewer, will pretty well come out clean. But this is a damp cake so don't be alarmed at a bit of stickiness in evidence; rather, greet it.
Not long before the cake is due out of the oven - say when it's had about 45-50 minutes - put the syrup ingredients of cocoa, water and sugar into a small saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. You may find it needs a little longer: what you want is a reduced liquid, that's to say a syrup, though I often take it a little further, so that the sugar caramelizes and the syrup has a really dark, smokey chocolate intensity.
Take the cake out of the oven and sit it on a cooling rack and, still in its tin, pierce here and there with a cake tester. Then pour the syrup as evenly as possible, which is not very, over the surface of the cake. It will run to the sides of the tin, but some will have been absorbed in the middle.
Let the cake become completely cold and then slip out of its tin, removing the foil as you do so. Sit on an oblong or other plate. Now take your bar of chocolate, wrapped in foil if you haven't got much of its wrapper left, and cut with a heavy sharp knife, so that it splinters and flakes and falls in slices of varying thickness and thinness.
I've specified a weight, but really go by eye: when you think you've got enough to scatter over the top of the loafcake, stop slicing. Sprinkle these chocolate splinters over the top of the sticky surface of the cake.

HOKEY POKEY

HOKEY POKEY

Hokey pokey is a Cornish term for honeycomb. It is wonderful eaten in golden shards or crumbled into the best vanilla ice cream. It is also the perfect present to take to a dinner party. Better than flowers, as they need to be put into a vase, better than chocolate, which people tend to smile politely at, but put away in a drawer: no one can resist a bit of hokey pokey I've found.
The quantities I've specified don't make an awful lot - enough to fill a little tin 12cm in diameter by 6cm deep - but any more and you'd be sued by your dentist.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

100 gram(s) caster sugar
4 tablespoon(s) golden syrup
1.5 teaspoon(s) bicarbonate of soda

Method

Put the sugar and syrup into a saucepan and stir together to mix. You mustn't stir once the pan's on the heat, though.
Place the pan on the heat and let the mixture first melt, then turn to goo and then to a bubbling mass the colour of maple syrup - this will take 3 minutes or so.
Off the heat, whisk in the bicarbonate of soda and watch the syrup turn into a whooshing cloud of aerated pale gold. Turn this immediately onto a piece of reusable baking parchment or greased foil.
Leave until set and then bash at it, so that it splinters into many glinting pieces.

INSTANT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

INSTANT CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

When you haven't got time for overnight setting in the fridge or you don't want to use raw eggs, this mousse is perfect. In fact, at all times, constraints or not, it is chocaliciously gorgeous.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

150 gram(s) mini marshmallows
50 gram(s) butter (soft)
250 gram(s) dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids) chopped into small pieces
60 ml water (hot)
284 ml double cream
1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

Method

Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan.
Put the saucepan on the hob, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture.
Pour or scrape into 4 glasses or ramekins, about 175ml each in capacity, or 6 smaller (125ml) ones, and chill until you want to eat. The sooner the better!

ROCKY ROAD CRUNCH BARS

ROCKY ROAD CRUNCH BARS

No one is ever going to complain about having one of these in their lunchbox, and they're pretty handy to have around in the kitchen for a quick, snatched burst of energy at any time.
I'm not claiming them to be a health food, but when you're talking about lunch on the run, packing quite a few calories into a small parcel can be seen as an advantage. That's my view, and I'm sticking to it.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

125 gram(s) butter (soft)
300 gram(s) dark chocolate (best quality minimum 70% cocoa solids) broken into pieces
3 tablespoon(s) golden syrup
200 gram(s) rich tea biscuits
100 gram(s) mini marshmallows
2 teaspoon(s) icing sugar (for dusting)

Method

Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan. Scoop out about 125ml of this melted mixture and put to one side.
Put the biscuits into a freezer bag and then bash them with a rolling pin. You are aiming for both crumbs and pieces of biscuits.
Fold the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, and then add the marshmallows.
Tip into a foil tray (24cm square); flatten as best you can with a spatula. Pour the reserved 125ml of melted chocolate mixture over the marshmallow mixture and smooth the top.
Refrigerate for about 2 hours or overnight.
Cut into 24 fingers and dust with icing sugar by pushing it gently through a tea strainer or small sieve.

CHOCOLATE MERINGUE TRUFFLE CAKE

CHOCOLATE MERINGUE TRUFFLE CAKE

This is a dinner-party stalwart from a couple of decades back, and I like it no less than I did when I first tasted it, made by my sister Thomasina, about twenty years ago. But I have added something: I make a thin meringue base instead of crumbling biscuits into the tin. This is not hard, not even remotely, and you don't have to worry about anything since you don't want airy puffy meringue, but rather a contrastingly crackling base, with just a hint of chewy marshmallow.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

For the base
1 medium egg white
50 gram(s) caster sugar
2 teaspoon(s) cocoa powder
1 drop of white wine vinegar
For the truffle filling
400 gram(s) dark chocolate
60 ml rum
60 ml golden syrup
500 ml double cream
1 teaspoon(s) cocoa powder (to decorate)

Method

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C. Line a 20cm springform tin with baking parchment and oil the sides with some flavourless oil; almond would be good.
Whisk the egg white until foamy peaks form and then whisk in the sugar a little at a time to make a thick, glossy mixture. Sieve over the cocoa and sprinkle with the vinegar, and whisk again to combine everything. Spread as evenly as you can over the bottom of the prepared cake tin and then put in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes.
Leave to cool while you make the truffle filling.
Melt the chocolate with the rum and syrup in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and let it sit off the heat for 5 minutes or so.
Whisk the cream until it thickens slightly - it should be slightly aerated and have the consistency of thick pouring custard, no thicker. Pour into the chocolate mixture, beating gently until everything is amalgamated.
Pour into the meringue-bottomed tin and cover the springform with clingfilm, and put in the fridge for a night or day, or for up to two days.
A short time before you are ready to serve the cake, take it out of the fridge and let it lose its chill. It will be easier to spring open if the chocolate truffle filling has become less fridge cold, although you don't want soft room temperature chocolate.
Spring the cake free, then transfer to a plate without removing the base unless you think you can with ease (and have one of those big round spatulas). Smooth the sides with a spatula if you want a smarter look, and push the cocoa through a sieve to dust the top of the cake.

LUNCHBOX TREATS

LUNCHBOX TREATS

This is exactly what it says in the title: crunchy, crisp, sweet and toothsome, and the really great thing is that, as a parent, you feel you are doing your child some good at the same time as giving him or her a treat. The amount of milk chocolate is scant, and I get a warm rush from considering the nutritional benisons of malt, oat and sesame seeds. And how fabulous that this tastes like a homemade Lion Bar of beloved memory.
- Nigella lawson

Ingredients

50 gram(s) milk chocolate
150 gram(s) rice malt syrup
55 gram(s) butter
60 gram(s) rice krispies
30 gram(s) cornflakes
40 gram(s) quick cook oats
75 gram(s) sesame seeds

Method

Melt the chocolate, syrup and butter gently in a heavy-based saucepan.
Add all the other ingredients, turning to coat everything well.
Using your hands (encased in latex CSI gloves), shape the mixture into walnut-sized balls. You should get about 25; you could also make this using a 12-bun muffin tin lined with muffin papers to get 12 larger cupcakes.
Let them set in the fridge for an hour or so, and they will keep quite happily in there for a week of treats.

CREPES SUZETTE

CREPES SUZETTE

This is probably the queen of retro desserts and deservedly so. My version is a speeded-up and simplified one by virtue of using shop-bought crepes. But there is no need to feel this is a cop-out. For one, they can be incredibly good but, more pertinently, by the time they've been doused and soused, not to mention, flamed, the idea that you could discern their origins is laughable.
If you have only ever thought of crepes Suzette as some amusing vestige from an irrelevant culinary canon, think again. No, just forget that thought and cut straight to the cooking.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

2 oranges (juiced)
1 orange (zest)
175 gram(s) butter
75 gram(s) caster sugar
8 crepes (shop bought)
80 ml grand marnier (or cointreau or triple sec)

Method

Pour the orange juice into a saucepan, and add the zest, butter and sugar. Bring to the boil, and then turn the heat down to a simmer, cooking for a further 10-15 minutes, until the sauce becomes syrupy.
Fold the crepes into quarters and then arrange them in a large pan, or any flameproof dish, in a circular pattern and slightly overlapping each other.
Pour the warm syrup over the crepes and then gently warm them through for about 3 minutes over a low heat.
Warm the orange liqueur of your choice in the emptied but still syrupy saucepan. When the crepes are hot in the orange sauce, pour the liqueur over them and set light to the pan to flambe them. Serve immediately, spooning crepes and sauce onto each plate.

BANANA BUTTRSCOTCH MUFFINS

BANANA BUTTRSCOTCH MUFFINS

White chocolate morsels can be used in place of the butterscotch ones and my children seem to love both with equal fervour, though I'm pretty fond of these with dark chocolate chips, too.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

3 bananas (very ripe)
125 ml vegetable oil
2 medium eggs
250 gram(s) plain flour
100 gram(s) caster sugar
½ teaspoon(s) bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
150 gram(s) butterscotch morsels (or chocolate)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.
Mash the bananas and set aside for a moment.
Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs.
Put the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in the beaten-egg-and-oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas.
Fold in the butterscotch morsels, then place equal quantities in the prepared muffin tin - I use an ice cream scoop and a spatula - and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

TOTALLY CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

TOTALLY CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Along with chocolate, there is much comfort to be gleaned from reading cookbooks. This recipe combines two loves by being chocolatey to the point of madness and having revealed itself to me after a cosy, snuggled-down read of Elinor Klivans' glorious Big Fat Cookies. What I do is make up the full batch of these (hard to divide it really, since it contains only 1 egg) and form all 12 cookies, but bake only half and freeze the other half. I freeze them on a little tray and, once they're hard, I bung them in a freezer bag, seal it and stash it back in the freeze, to bake them unthawed at a later date. That way, I've got 6 chocolate cookies to keep me and my family happy without any time or effort.
This is what I call an investment. And it's worth it - these are the chocolatiest cookies you will ever come across.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

125 gram(s) dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
150 gram(s) plain flour
30 gram(s) cocoa powder (sieved)
1 teaspoon(s) bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon(s) salt
125 gram(s) butter (soft)
75 gram(s) light brown sugar
50 gram(s) white sugar
1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1 medium egg (cold from the fridge)
350 gram(s) dark chocolate chips (or semi sweet chocolate morsels)

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3. Melt the 125g dark chocolate either in the microwave or in a heatproof dish over a pan of simmering water.
Put the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl.
Cream the butter and sugars in another bowl. (I use my freestanding mixer, itself an odd source of comfort to me.) Add the melted chocolate and mix together.
Beat in the vanilla extract and cold egg, and then mix in the dry ingredients. Finally stir in the chocolate morsels or chips.
Scoop out 12 equal-sized mounds - an ice cream scoop and a palette knife are the best tools for the job - and place on a lined baking sheet about 6cm apart. Do not flatten them.
Cook for 18 minutes, testing with a cake tester to make sure it comes out semi-clean and not wet with cake batter. If you pierce a chocolate chip, try again.
Leave to cool slightly on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool.

AMERICAN BREAKFAST PANCAKES

AMERICAN BREAKFAST PANCAKES

These are those thick, spongy American pancakes that are often eaten with warm maple syrup and crisp fried bacon. I love them with the syrup alone, but if you do want bacon, I think streaky is best. You can easily cook these pancakes by dolloping the batter onto a hot griddle (smooth, nor ridged, side) or heavy based pan.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

225 gram(s) plain flour
1 tablespoon(s) baking powder
1 pinch of salt for pasta water, to taste
1 teaspoon(s) white sugar
2 large eggs (beaten)
30 gram(s) butter (melted and cooled)
300 ml milk

Method

The easiest way to make these is to put all the ingredients into a blender and blitz. But if you do mix up the batter by hand in a bowl, make a well in the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, beat in the eggs, melted butter and milk, and transfer to a jug: it's much easier to pour the batter into the pan than to spoon it.
Heat a smooth griddle or pan on the stove.
When you cook the pancakes, all you need to remember is that when the upper side of the pancake is blistering and bubbling it's time to cook the second side, and this needs only about 1 minute, if that.
I get about 16 silver-dollar-sized pancakes out of this.

MY MOTHER-IN-LAW'S MADEIRA CAKE

MY MOTHER-IN-LAW'S MADEIRA CAKE

I don't know if I ever ate Madeira cake as a child, but just the sight of this golden-yellow loaf with its long crack down the middle makes me feel satisfactorily nostalgic. This recipe, given to me by my mother-in-law Carrie, is the best of any version I've tried. It's just one of those plain cakes you think you can't see the point of, until you start slicing and eating it.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

240 gram(s) unsalted butter (softened)
200 gram(s) caster sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 unwaxed lemon (zest & juice)
3 large eggs
210 gram(s) self-raising flour
90 gram(s) plain flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3.
Cream the butter and sugar, and add the lemon zest.
Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour for each.
Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice.
Sprinkle with caster sugar (about 2 tablespoons should do it) as it goes into the oven, and bake for 1 hour or until a cake-tester comes out clean.
Remove to a wire rack, and let cool in the tin before turning out.

CHOCOLATE PEAR PUDDING

CHOCOLATE PEAR PUDDING

This is a cross between Pears Belle Helene and Eve's Pudding, but the only important thing to remember is that this is easy, quick, very comforting and seems to please absolutely everyone. It's not hard to ensure you always have what you need in the house to make this. And, for hot days when baked sponge and sauce seems inappropriate, then bear in mind that canned (or bottled) pears and chocolate sauce - with or without vanilla ice cream - make a lovely pudding on their own.
As with any baking, you really do want to have all ingredients at room temperature before you start.

Ingredients

830 gram(s) pear halves (2 cans in juice)
125 gram(s) plain flour
25 gram(s) cocoa powder
125 gram(s) caster sugar
150 gram(s) butter (soft (plus extra for greasing))
1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
¼ teaspoon(s) bicarbonate of soda
2 medium eggs
2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6 and grease a 22cm square ovenproof dish with butter.
Drain the pears and arrange them on the base of the dish.
Put all the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blitz until you have a batter with a soft dropping consistency.
Spread the brown batter over the pears, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Let stand out of the oven for 5 or 10 minutes and then cut into slabs - I cut 2 down and 2 across to make 9 slices - and serve with chocolate sauce.