DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE
Forget the name, this cake is heavenly. The crumb is tender, the filling and frosting luscious. When I made it one friday, I expected my children, resident food critics much in the mould of the Grim...
View ArticleCHOCOLATE RASPBERRY PAVLOVA
You just cannot beat a pav in summer, and in particular this dark beauty. The crisp and chewy chocolate meringue base, rich in cocoa and beaded nuggets of chopped plain chocolate, provides a sombre,...
View ArticleLITTLE LEMON PUDDINGS
These uplifting, citrusy beauties are a quick-time, short-cut version of the traditional English canary pudding: instead of being steamed, these are baked in the oven, and the fact that you use...
View ArticleCHICKEN, MUSHROOM AND BACON PIE
Even the word pie is comforting. But then, it would be hard to deny the very real lure of pastry, especially when, as here, you know you're going to dunk it in gravied juices till its luscious...
View ArticleAUTUMNAL BIRTHDAY CAKE
There is no reason on earth why this, adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, has to be a birthday cake, but since the first two times I made it were for my sister-in-law's and a friend's birthdays...
View ArticleCHOCOLATE LIME CHEESECAKE
My inspiration here was a sweet - those chocolate limes I ate in my childhood. The base is rich and dark and perfectly counters the light, tender cream-cheese custard above it, itself kept all the more...
View ArticleCHOCOLATE CLOUD CAKE
On days when I want the warmth of the hearth rather than the hurly burly of the city streets I stay in and read cookery books, and this recipe comes from just the sort of book that gives most succour,...
View ArticlePENNE ALLA VODKA
As with all dishes that find their way into a country's repertoire, even oddball ones like this, there are many versions of this recipe: some add chilli flakes, some cubes of bacon: I prefer it with...
View ArticleONE PAN SAGE AND ONION CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE
I took it into my head one day that I wanted to marinate and cook some chicken with the flavours of a traditional sage-and-onion stuffing. So onion, mustard, sage and lemon infuse the jointed bird, and...
View ArticleFLOURLESS CHOCOLATE BROWNIES WITH HOT CHOCOLATE SAUCE
However much people have eaten, there is always, I've noticed, room for a brownie. This is a different kind of a brownie, most definitely for party-pudding, melting, fudgy and damply rich. I compound...
View ArticleCHOCOLATE 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:...
View ArticleSLOW ROASTED GARLIC AND LEMON CHICKEN
This is one of those recipes you just can't make once: that's to say, after the first time, you're hooked. It is gloriously easy: you just put everything in the roasting dish and leave it to cook in...
View ArticleMINI MEATLOAVES
These mini meatloves are best eaten cold, either dunked in mayo, ketchup, brown sauce or mustard, or sliced up and made into sandwiches with the whole fandango of sauces. I sometimes add lingonberry...
View ArticleSAFFRON SCENTED CHICKEN PILAF
Call me Scheherazade, but I'm in my turquoise gauze veil and jewelled slippers for this one. The cinnamon and lemony yoghurt marinade gives the chicken a soft, perfumed tenderness; the saffron in the...
View ArticleCHOCOLATE MINT COOKIES
This is my version of after dinner mints: dispense with dessert and bring out a plate of minty breathed chocolate cookies with coffee and tisanes instead. These don't take long to make up and bake, and...
View ArticleBANANA BREAD
I haven't done a tremendous amount of fiddling with this, but I did once make it, for friends who are more chocolate-crazed than I am, by replacing 25g of the flour with good cocoa powder (not drinking...
View ArticleAROMATIC LAMB SHANK STEW
As with all stews, this is even better made in advance and reheated; for me, this only makes things easier.
View ArticleCHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE
This cake is magnificent in its damp blackness. I can't say that you can absolutely taste the stout in it, but there is certainly a resonant, ferrous tang which I happen to love. The best way of...
View ArticleSPRUCED-UP VANILLA CAKE
This is a sleight of hand, or a trick of equipment rather than an act of brilliance. True, the cake does look incredibly complicated and seasonally impressive as it comes to the table, but that is all...
View ArticleGOOEY CHOCOLATE STACK
This is for those days or evenings when you want to usher a little something out of the kitchen that makes you thrill at the sheer pleasure you've conjured up. It isn't about showing off, it's about...
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