Recipes

Nigella Lawson

This is not for the faint-hearted. Unashamed indulgence, wallowingly so, is what this recipe is all about: think Reese

Nigella Lawson

Over the years, I’ve made many different cakes for my children’s birthdays, but for some time now this has been the chosen one, the cake of cakes, elected to celebrate many special occasions, and with good reason. The cake itself is dark, damp and divinely chocolatey — and an easy, melt-everything-in-the-pan number — but it

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

I first came across a version of this voluptuously soft, rich chocolate mousse at Morito, one of my favourite places to eat in London. Then — as these things tend to happen — I started finding it everywhere. The olive oil doesn’t just bring its resonant flavour to the mousse, it creates its smooth, soft texture. Go for a smooth but still spicy rather than raspingly peppery extra-virgin olive oil, and use the absolute best quality you can. And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding.

Nigella Lawson

Although I first came up with this recipe because I had someone coming for supper who — genuinely — couldn

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

This is my version of after dinner mints. These don

Nigella Lawson

This is a favourite from a time, far in the distant past, when I went in for dinner parties! My late sister Thomasina brought it into my life about 40 years ago, and I still love it. Don

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson

This is one of those cakes that you make pretending it’s for the children. And of course they love it — and I have had more messages from people telling me that they’ve been under strict instructions to make this cake every single year for a child’s birthday more than just about any other cake — but it is no less enjoyed than by any adults hovering by the table, ready to snatch a slice. The maltiness is not overpowering, but subtly present (I always use the original Horlicks and not, categorically not, the one labelled ‘light” and the Maltesers — or Malt Balls if you are Stateside — make for a beautiful if ramshackle crown. And, by the way, the 15g (1 tablespoon) butter in the list of ingredients for the cake part is not a misprint!

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Bites

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 delicately smooth by being baked in a water bath (and this is easy: don

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson

I’d never come across a chocolate gingerbread, and after making this one for the first time, I wondered why not. There’s something about the glottally thickening wodge of chocolate chip and cocoa that just intensifies the rich spices of gingerbread. The chocolate chips add texture and nubbly treat within. This is very rich, very strong: not for children, but perfect for the rest of us.

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Bites

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Bites

This is the sort of cake you

Nigella Lawson

This is the perfect cut-and-come again cake for any time of the year. It lasts for a fortnight, but has the squidgy fabulousness of something so much less serviceable-sounding. I know there are a lot of ingredients listed, but you don’t have to do much more than bung them in a pan and stir, and even then only lightly. The hardest thing you have to do for this recipe is wrap the tin with brown paper. And I’m not being disingenuous: it is the sort of task that makes a klutz like me hyperventilate, but I find there is nearly always someone around who can deal with that part with magnificent ease.

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Express

First, let me say that if I can do this, you can. As I have never tried to hide, I have no patience and even less dexterity. But this is child

Nigella Lawson · How To Be A Domestic Goddess

Nigella Lawson · Nigella Bites

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, Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax. The cake itself is as richly and rewardingly sustaining: a melting, dark, flourless, chocolate base, the sort that sinks damply on cooling; the fallen centre then cloudily filled with softly whipped cream and sprinkled with cocoa powder. As Richard Sax says, "intensity, then relief, in each bite".