Spruced-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 down to the shape of the tin. It’s an expense to get a tin that can’t be used all year round, but it really is a beautifully Christmassy creation, and a doddle to make. For the “spruced up” of the cake refers to the Pine Forest bundt tin I bake it in; at other times of the year, I call this Eggy Vanilla Cake and cook it in a 2.5-litre (same size as this one) non-festive bundt tin, as you can now, too. And the thing is, it doesn’t need just to be brought out as a festive flourish for a supper party, but can be satisfyingly baked and left to preside grandly over the kitchen, commanding anyone to have a slice, damply plain, or toasted, by way of a seasonal treat. To turn this into Spruced-Up Spice Cake, even more seasonal and just as good — though with less appeal to children — halve the vanilla and add 2 teaspoons each of ground cinnamon and ginger and a half teaspoon of ground cloves. Please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding. And do make sure all ingredients are at room temperature before you start.
Makes
Be the first to log a make
No makes logged yet — log yours using the button above.
You may also like
My Mother's Praised Chicken
Nigella Lawson
This may well be — indeed is — the smell, the taste, the dish that says "family" to me and my siblings, and brings our long-absent mother back to the kitchen and the table with us. This is not merely a recipe, but my family's culinary fingerprint. It's not quite poached, not quite braised, and so I've settle on "praised" - which feels exactly right, as for me both cooking and eating it feel like a devotional act. And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.
My Grandmother's Ginger Jam Bread and Butter Pudding
Nigella Lawson · Nigella Bites
This is the wholesome, comforting version of a trad English (white) bread and butter pudding that my maternal grandmother always made. Use apricot jam or regular orange marmalade if ginger's not your thing.
Marmalade Pudding Cake
Nigella Lawson
Now, this is a beauty. I don't mean flash or fancy — rather the opposite; there is something austerely handsome about its appearance, and yet gorgeously warming about its taste. But then, this laid-back Sunday-lunch pudding is what kitchen food is all about. I'm happy to leave the picture-perfect plate-decoration dessert to the professional chef and patissier. When I want to eat one, I'll go to a restaurant. That way, everyone's happy. I don't want to be too prescriptive about this marmalade pudding cake — which has the surprisingly light texture of a steamed sponge — as it doesn't seem in the spirit of things. I love the bitter edge of a thick-shred, dark marmalade and so tend to go for a proper, glamorously auburn, tawny one here; if this is too full-on for you, choose a fine-shred marmalade, instead.
Lidgate's Cranberry and Orange Stuffing
Nigella Lawson
Ed's Victorious Turkey Hash
Nigella Lawson
Zaleti - Polenta Biscuits
Nigella Lawson