• christine_8yzqhh on March 22, 2026

  There is not a bad recipe in this book. It’s fabulous.

• Jane on March 14, 2009

  Love so many recipes in this book.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• (Key) lime pie

  • KarinaFrancis on September 09, 2019

    I made the uncooked variation and it was a huge hit, tangy, creamy and surprisingly light. The only thing I’d do differently is add a bit more butter to the crust because it was a little crumbly, but didn’t detract from the taste. Will make it again and work on my piping skills in the meanwhile.

• Steamed syrup sponge

  • Fiona on September 01, 2011

    Having invested in a steam pudding bowl with clip lid, my first attempt was this recipe - incredibly easy, and took just a few minutes to make. I halved the amount of lemon as the rest of the family aren't keen on lemon puddings - but still too much for them. I would have liked the syrup to permeate through the pudding a bit more than it did, but that's because I have a very sweet tooth - it probably was a good balance of soft sponge pudding with about an inch around the outside soaked in syrup. Will make again.

  • KarinaFrancis on June 27, 2013

    Loved this and it brought a sentimental tear to a British ex-pat's eye. Substituted some leftover pear and ginger syrup for the golden syrup and it worked a treat.

• Lemon-raspberry plate trifle

  • Jane on April 20, 2026

    If you have some leftover cake this is a great easy dessert. I used half of Nigella's Damp lemon and almond cake from the same book. The syllabub cream that tops the raspberries and cake was lovely.

• Cheese blintzes

  • Lepa on June 17, 2021

    Just for the record, I did not feel like a domestic goddess when I was making these. The recipe says there will be twelve crepes but I got nine. Maybe mine were too big. But I still couldn't fit all the filling into the too-big crepes. They broke and got messy when I rolled them. That said, it was all okay when they came out of the oven. They were utterly delicious with the toppings (powdered sugar, sour cream and blueberry sauce). I will make this again. . but I may wait a few months!

• Black cake

  • Jane on April 22, 2009

    Very rich - great Christmas cake. Do need to plan ahead though.

  • NicholasS on July 12, 2014

    Some copies of this edition have a misprint in the recipe relating to the use of fruit mixture. All the fruit mixture should be used rather than half. This noted on Nigella Lawson's website: http://www.nigella.com/kitchen-queries/view/Black-Cake-/3750.

  • NicholasS on July 12, 2014

    Nigella Lawson's website clarifies the amount of Madeira should be 375ml (1 1/2 cups) and the Rum 350ml (scant 1 1/2 cups). http://www.nigella.com/kitchen-queries/view/Black-Cake-/4259

• Chocolate mousse cake

  • Ro_ on February 27, 2023

    I made a smaller version of this, halving the recipe and using a smaller tin. I loved the result but even though I only cooked it for 40m it was ever so slightly over in terms of the top and the cooked-ness of the moussey interior. Didn't bother with the foil method suggested by Nigella, and just wrapped the exterior of the tin in foil instead. Would do again.

• Plum and pecan crumble

  • CourtneyT on November 05, 2025

    We absolutely love the addition of pecans to the crumble topping. I didn’t have a full kilo of plums so used a combination of plums and blueberries from the freezer. The two step baking pro works very well. Will definitely try using other frozen fruit as I work through my stash of allotment harvests.

• My mother-in-law's Madeira cake

  • lilham on August 07, 2015

    It's a lovely cake but I would prefer not to have a dusting of caster sugar on top. Should have gone with gut instinct and omit that step.

  • Foodycat on May 26, 2018

    I used demerera sugar for the final dusting, which seemed to almost disappear. But a lovely cake, a bit denser than a sponge, beautifully buttery, not too sweet and slightly lemony. The quantity of 240g butter is annoying when a pat is 250 though.

  • Tiganna on March 31, 2019

    This cake is not for me - I prefer the ratios of standard pound cake, ie equal amounts of eggs, flour, sugar, butter. This is heavier on the flour and, to me, makes for a 'floury' tasting cake. It is not bad but won't repeat.

  • deborah_nurzf9 on March 29, 2026

    Use the poppy seed version ??

  • Freyalyn on May 07, 2026

    Excellent basic recipe. I've made it with caraway seeds and orange zest, poppy seeds with lemon zest and vanilla, and plain. The latter is also improved by a little vanilla, especially if you're not using the good butter.

• Easy almond cake

  • KarinaFrancis on August 20, 2013

    I love this cake, its moist and almondy. I've tinkered with the flavourings - orange rind and orange flower water as well as orange rind and rosewater. All of the combinations work beautifully. Goes very well as a posh dessert with some quinces roasted in syrup and a dollop of yogurt.

  • Sigmax on November 14, 2019

    As seen in the book illustration, can sometimes be a challenge to turn out, but is easier and still looks lovely cooked in a plain ring.

• Rosemary loaf cake

  • sarahrainey on January 07, 2016

    great and unusual cake

  • sharifah on February 10, 2018

    Very simple cake and the rosemary adds an unusual taste and smell dimension. I followed the 2 tsp of rosemary exactly, and I think it’s just right... too little and you wouldn’t smell or taste it, and too much would be overpowering. Really nice, would make this again

  • anya_sf on July 16, 2019

    Since the batter was already in the mixer, I used that to stir in the flour on low speed, rather than folding it in by hand. For the topping, I rubbed some minced rosemary together with raw sugar. The cake was absolutely delicious. I really loved the rosemary flavor.

• Gateau Breton

  • Crowmama on February 05, 2022

    This recipe uses cake flour not plain flour.

• Damp lemon and almond cake

  • sarahr428 on October 23, 2014

    I cook this almost every week for our small hotel, I up the quantity a bit to 250g of butter/sugar/almond mainly because i think my lemons are probably twice the size of Nigella's.. if it looks a bit runny don't worry it always comes out perfectly.. and I use almond that has its skin on which gives it a bit of colour and a slightly nuttier taste.

  • Jane on April 20, 2026

    I've been meaning to make this for ages. It's a good store-cupboard dessert. Unfortunately the (new-to-me) oven I used ran hot so the outside of the cake was rather scorched, even though I took it out 10 minutes before the suggested bake time. But it did taste good. I used the leftover half cake to make the Lemon-raspberry plate trifle in the same book (with the scorched edges trimmed off).

• Lemon-syrup loaf cake

  • cassiemcgannon on March 02, 2013

    Exactly what the description sounds like - quite plain but great texture and very lemony.

  • Sigmax on November 09, 2019

    As with many Nigella recipes I find it takes a few extra minutes in the oven, but is my go-to lemon loaf cake recipe.

  • sarah_22kzqy on April 23, 2026

    Best lemon cake recipe, cooked 100s of times

• Flora's famous courgette cake

  • Livmichelle on September 08, 2017

    I've made this many times, so good!

• Boston cream pie

  • lilham on July 09, 2016

    Really lovely. Soft sponge, with creme patisserie in between two layers and a chocolate icing on top.

• Coconut cake

  • ChelseaP on May 22, 2021

    One of the most delicious and moist coconut cakes.

• Cherry-almond loaf cake

  • Foodycat on March 16, 2020

    This sort of cherry cake is one of my husband's favourites. This is a good one - very buttery, very eggy, lots of cherries. The natural dye cherries are a must - they actually have flavour. For some reason though mine had quite a big airbubble in the middle, which was annoying.

• Rhubarb cornmeal cake

  • Jane on April 22, 2009

    My 16-year old son's favorite cake (and he's not into sweet things). I like it as much for the muscat-mascarpone cream which is very addictive.

  • Victoria_from_London on June 23, 2018

    500g rhubarb

  • annettle on January 13, 2021

    The rhubarb and cornmeal flavours are both very prominent so you will need to like those to enjoy this, and I suspect it will not be to everyone's tastes - but if you do enjoy them, as I do, it's a lovely sweet-tart cake. Extremely moist, which is a good thing in my book!

• Banana bread

  • Eurydice on May 17, 2010

    My favourite banana bread so far. Maybe it's the rum and sultanas :)

  • sharifah on December 10, 2012

    This was a nice and very moist cake. I used Morgan's spiced rum because that was all I had but you can't taste the rum, it just makes the sultanas moist and plump. I was alarmed at the amount of mixture as it filled a 2lb loaf tin right to the top and I was convinced it would spill over during baking, but it didn't.

  • PiaOC on May 18, 2013

    Even without the sultanas, this is a great bread.

  • digifish_books on May 02, 2015

    Have made this often, and we just love it. I use dark rum rather than bourbon.

  • Foodycat on October 01, 2015

    1/10/15 This is such a great recipe, infinitely adaptable. I've done it with apricots in sherry instead of the sultanas. Today I've made 1 loaf with sultanas in Malibu, slivered almonds instead of walnuts, and wholemeal SR flour and 1 loaf with sultanas in Southern Comfort, slivered almonds, 2 mashed bananas and a chopped peach, and the wholemeal flour. All good. 22/8/23 The last couple of times I have made it I have used larger bananas, halved the sugar and added fresh blueberries instead of boozy sultanas and it's still been really moist and plenty sweet enough. The bread is dense enough that the blueberries don't sink to the bottom.

  • delaneymes on January 18, 2019

    The best. I always add chunks of dark choc and often just use whatever booze I have for the sultanas/raisins. My favourite banana bread!

  • Tawilliams07 on June 06, 2019

    I can’t count how many times I have made this over the years. First note along side the recipe in the book says 11-Oct-2005: really moist! Make again, followed by a few years of tweaking notes. It’s a great way of using up browning bananas. I usually put the bananas in the freezer until I have enough. When I defrost in a bowl overnight - I just add the liquid that appears to the mashed bananas. The recipe has been tweaked a bit...no walnuts [I don’t usually have in the house] or sultanas [not really keen]. Instead — 3T of dark rum and 2 ‘handfuls’ of chocolate chips. I have a bottle of dark rum in the kitchen (not the booze cabinet) just for making this.

  • kitchen_chick on April 18, 2020

    I made the chocolate variant mentioned at the top of the webpage version of the recipe: replacing 25g of flour with 25g of cocoa powder and adding 100g chocolate chips. I used 85% dark Michel Cluizel chocolate. The think the cocoa and the very dark chocolate I used muted the banana flavor. I also used pecans instead of walnuts. Finally, because we preferred reduced sugar, I reduced the sugar to 100g. This created a much less sweet bread with little burst of sweetness when you get a raisin. (The raisins are a brilliant addition, IMO.) If you want a sweet banana bread, then I wouldn't recommend cutting the sugar that much. The end result was a nice not quite savory but not very sweet chocolatey bread with an underlying banana flavor.

  • anya_sf on May 28, 2020

    I made a cross between the recipe in the US edition and the one on Nigella.com. I used the larger amounts of flour (white whole wheat) and sultanas, the smaller amounts of sugar and rum (which didn't really matter since the excess is drained), and 3 large bananas. For a taller loaf, I baked it in an 8"x 4" pan. The bread turned out moist, flavorful, and plenty sweet even with just 100 g sugar. This bread was so easy to mix, I'd definitely make it again, although my family's favorite is still the one from Flour.

  • jenmacgregor18 on August 17, 2024

    It was okay, not our favorite. We couldn’t taste the whisky. The raisins are nice and plump, but I think we just prefer banana bread without raisins. So far, my favorites are from Midwest Made, KAF, and Cooks Illustrated.

  • ArberaBarbera on February 24, 2025

    Love this recipe. Also very good (and more filling) with whole wheat / almond flour. I like to replace 75 g of wheat flour with almond flour. Last time added in a peach in pieces, very nice too. I often make muffins of the dough. Easier to freeze and take out in portions. Then it takes only 15 minutes or so in the oven.

• Marzipan fruit cake

  • Sigmax on November 09, 2019

    Moist and luscious. A pre-Christmas cake in our house.

• Burnt-butter brown-sugar cupcakes

  • Melyinoz on June 23, 2020

    I really like the cupcake recipe. The burnt butter adds a lovely richness to the taste. In my experience, the butter took a long time solidify again, so take that into consideration. I successfully made these gluten free by adding an extra teaspoon of baking powder. I ensured the extra teaspoon of baking powder and tapioca starch added up to 50g then made up the additional 100g with brown rice flour. The icing, however, was way too sweet for my taste. I felt like it gave me diabetes from eating one cupcake. Luckily, I hadn’t iced all the cupcakes and I will leave the rest plain and have them with marscapone and banana, or some other combination I can conjure up from my supplies.

• Carrot cupcakes with cream-cheese icing

  • lou_weez on October 19, 2021

    I found these were dry and the quantities for the icing were out - 250g of icing sugar to 125g of cream cheese would be very sweet.

• Rosebud madeleines

  • JJOca on February 13, 2023

    The rosewater adds a lovely twist to these, and I will look out for a mini-madeleine tin for the next time I bake these. As I find with most Nigella recipes, it just works. Also, I have to admit that the uncooked batter is delicious... ..uncooked flour dangers aside!

• Pistachio macaroons

  • Jane on April 22, 2009

    Very delicious. Great dinner party ending.

• Frangipane mince pies

  • Jane on April 22, 2009

    I can't imagine Christmas without these mince pies. I now have to make them for friends as well. The frangipane topping makes them so much more delicious than a pastry lid.

  • Lillibet on December 02, 2011

    I agree with Jane below - I don't like mincemeat, but my partner LOVES these and has been nagging me since the beginning of November to make them - He has had to wait until December but tonight is the night.....

  • lilham on December 22, 2013

    I just made a batch of this, and I can't imagine Christmas without them anymore. My husband tolerates mince pies, but raves about this. In his words, the frangipane topping makes these more like little cakes, and less dominated by the sweetness of mincemeat compared to standard mince pies.

  • anya_sf on December 17, 2020

    I don't love mincemeat, but these were delicious. I got 34 pies using mini muffin tins. Each fit about 1 tsp mincemeat and 2 tsp frangipane. Since I had a 411 g jar of mincemeat, the limiting factor was the frangipane. They needed an extra 5-7 minutes to bake - tops were browned earlier, but bottoms took longer to brown (which I didn't realize at first - had to take one out to check).

• Ricciarelli

  • Jane on April 22, 2009

    If you love almonds you have to try these.

  • bdarmanin on March 23, 2013

    These are AMAZING! Definitely ones to try... Perfect with a cup of coffee!

• Easter nests

  • Jane on April 22, 2009

    Despite my daughter being 14, we still had to make these for Easter. Very easy to make and look so cute.

• Iced rum sauce

  • Jane on April 22, 2009

    This has become my accompaniment of choice for Christmas pudding. The combination of boozy cold with fruity hot is fabulous.

  • Eurydice on May 20, 2011

    Even family members who usually refuse Christmas pudding loved it with this. Will make it every Christmas now.

• Christmas-morning muffins

  • Jane on April 22, 2009

    Families all need Christmas traditions - mine all seem to be about food. And these muffins are definitely one I'm keeping - I've made these for the last seven Christmas breakfasts and don't see any reason to stop.

• Fresh gingerbread with lemon icing

  • Eurydice on May 17, 2010

    Possibly the best gingerbread recipe? When I made it I had no golden syrup so left it out, but I don't think it mattered. The lemon icing is great with it too..

  • RNocked1 on September 19, 2020

    The best gingerbread recipe hands down. Easy to make. The icing is unnecessary.

• Snickerdoodles

  • noirem on October 04, 2011

    nice cookies, but they're not snickerdoodles.

  • Sparkles75 on April 19, 2019

    Not snickerdoodles and overall disappointing .

• Hettie Potter's suet-free mincemeat

  • Lillibet on December 02, 2011

    I am not a mincemeat eater but have highest recommendations for this from those who are. V fruity and makes mincemeat accessible to those who are on a reduced fat diet (consider filo pastry parcels to wrap it in as well). I usually change the dried fruit using dried cherries, cranberries, blueberries and strawberries as well as sultanas.

• Lily's scones

  • saladdays on December 20, 2011

    These are simple and easy to make and can be from bowl to oven and plate within 30 minutes. I must admit to adding a couple of spoonfuls of sugar to the recipe!

  • Foodycat on July 09, 2014

    Best scones I have ever made.The amount of cream of tartare looks like a mistake, but it is right, and these don't have the strong metallic taste you can get with too much baking powder. Even more successful if you substitute buttermilk for the milk in the recipe.

  • Sparkles75 on April 19, 2019

    Not necessarily the prettiest looking scone but they are always a hit regardless

• Star-topped mince pies

  • saladdays on December 20, 2011

    These are my default mince pies as I make them every year. The pastry is very delicate and they make a nice mini mouthful. Many mince pies are too heavy and filling but these are very light to eat.

  • eliza on December 04, 2023

    I’ve made the pastry for these many times, and it works great. I love the hint of orange in it; I have filled with different mincemeats (David Lebovitz, Pam Corbin etc), but I always use this pastry recipe. Freezes and reheats perfectly, even in the microwave.

  • lilham on December 30, 2016

    Lovely and light pastry. My 5 year old declared this is the best mince pie. (I prefer the frangipane mince pie on the next page myself. I used a normal tart pie instead of a mini one and baked at 200C for 15 min.

• Passionfruit cheesecake

  • gabriella on April 04, 2012

    I used passion fruit juice from a carton in the main cheesecake mix and this worked fine, although the flavour was probably more subtle than using fresh passion fruit juice.

  • k.a.g on February 11, 2026

    The best (flavoured) cheesecake recipe I know. A classic for my family now - we will accept no substitutes!

• Buttermilk birthday cake

  • cassiemcgannon on July 10, 2012

    Great as a base for decorated birthday cakes - firm enough to hold large quantities of icing and lollies, but still tastes good.

  • CourtneyT on March 25, 2026

    This is not the type of cake I usually choose but I was baking for someone looking for a simple birthday cake. I won’t choose this recipe again. The cake is underwhelming and the buttercream is far too sweet. There are much better recipes out there!

• White-chocolate and macadamia brownies

  • cassiemcgannon on August 12, 2012

    These were too sweet for my taste, and I have a pretty sweet tooth!

  • Cati on November 11, 2012

    I cut back sugar by 50 grams, but next time will try cutting back by 100 grams as they were still too sweet for me and family.Quick and easy.

  • csmith1 on April 01, 2026

    Very glad to have read the comments here before making these - I also cut the sugar back (to 200g), and they were still really, really, sweet. The white chocolate does that, I suppose. Nice enough, but I prefer something less sweet and a bit more complex in taste, so probably won't make again

  • anya_sf on January 28, 2021

    I'd call these blondies rather than brownies. Tried this recipe in hopes that I could use some seized white chocolate, which I liquified again by stirring in some fat. I had 180 g of chocolate, so made 3/4 recipe in a 9"x9" pan. Checked after 30 minutes and the brownies were a bit overdone, so I'll check sooner next time. Substituted toasted pecans (fewer of them) for macadamias. Of course these were quite sweet, but I thought they were delicious and also super chewy, despite overbaking. So glad I was able to use that seized white chocolate!

• Torta alla gianduia (Nutella cake)

  • Jane on August 28, 2012

    I can only report on the cooking of this cake, not the eating, as I made it for a bake sale. The raw batter was delicious so I'm sure the cake is too. I had a problem with the ganache topping as it didn't thicken but I think I should maybe have used an electric whisk rather than a hand whisk. As a result it was quite runny when I poured it on the cake. On the positive side, it sold as soon as I walked it into the bake sale. I'm definitely making it again for a special dinner as I want to eat it next time.

  • jacbai on May 07, 2013

    Amazing cake! I've made it several times now and it is always popular amongst friends, family & work colleagues. It does require a bit of time to make, but is worth the effort. Try to ignore how much Nutella goes into the recipe - its quite shocking! I agree with Jane that the ganache is quite runny. I just stored the cake in the fridge to keep the ganache firm until serving.

  • rstuart on February 07, 2014

    I make this cake every year for my birthday.. no matter what else I consider, it's still my favourite. really wonderful! I leave the hazelnuts off the top. The ganache can take a while to thicken, but I just stick the pan in the fridge for a while..

  • KIGirl on November 22, 2014

    Based on the notes below - I made this for my birthday this year. I didn't have any problems with the ganache setting. What I did notice was the change in texture and taste on refrigeration. Unremarkable Cake with little flavour (in the cake itself despite the amount of Nutella!) before refrigeration - dense mousse-like desert on refrigeration and it appeared to improve with age!

  • Jane on April 23, 2017

    This is a great cake for a special occasion, especially for a Nutella lover. It's fairly simple looking, just a chocolate cake with a ganache topping dotted with browned hazelnuts. But it tastes wonderful and has a great texture - very moist. I use Frangelico for the cake and ganache.

  • Melyinoz on August 25, 2020

    I’ve had this cake flagged to make for years and have finally gotten around to it during COVID lockdown. I'm not as much of a fan as others here. I agree with another contributor's comments that the cake tastes unremarkable. While the texture has improved with refrigeration, sadly, the cake has not. Without the ganache I would consider it a lost cause. I have had much success with other Nigella recipes, so I will put this down as being not to my taste and flip the page.

  • LouiseQuasiChef on August 28, 2018

    This is an AMAZING cake! Beautiful flavor for minimal effort. I toast the hazelnuts, and then whack with a marble rolling pin to split. The full halves I pull out to put on the top of the cake; the crumbs/smaller pieces get ground in the food processor for the interior of the cake. A winner!

  • digifish_books on May 02, 2015

    I find the quickest and easiest way to remove the hazelnut skins is to boil them in bicarb and water for a few minutes (see http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/how-to-peel-skin-hazelnuts/)

  • Pandan on September 16, 2024

    Turned out really good! The cake was easy to prepare and isn’t overly sweet as there is no additional sugar besides the Nutella and chocolate. Although I have a sweet tooth I couldn’t eat more than one piece. Definitely very rich! Would make again for someone who loves Nutella/hazelnuts.

• Molten chocolate babycakes

  • Hellyloves2cook on November 16, 2012

    I have made these many many times. They are easy to make and delicious, albeit incredibly rich. I like that they can be made in advance which has been useful on occasions.

  • Jane on March 27, 2016

    Very quick and easy to make. I make them in silicone molds and they slip right out so no need for the parchment lining that Nigella suggests. At 10 minutes the center is very gooey, as a molten chocolate cake should be.

• Pink-grapefruit marmalade

  • Hellyloves2cook on November 16, 2012

    Easy - very nice tasting marmalade.

• Processor puff-pastry

  • cassiemcgannon on March 02, 2013

    This is pretty straightforward for a pastry recipe, and works well. It tastes very, very buttery, so if you want a more neutral flavour maybe look elsewhere.

  • lilham on November 21, 2020

    I have never made puff pastry before. The recipe said to turn the butter and flour mixture into a bowl before adding water and lemon juice. I had a hard time getting the mixture to form a dough and added a lot more water as a result. Next time I will add the water and lemon juice in the food processor and blitz slightly so the dough forms a bit before turning out, (This is my usual method). The resulting puff pastry is very good and I’m very pleased with it.

• Chocolate-chestnut cake

  • lilham on October 13, 2013

    Very nice way to use up a can of chestnut purée. Dense and moist. We prefer serving it with cream or icecream instead of the icing sugar as suggested.

• Supper onion pie

  • Hellyloves2cook on October 14, 2013

    Have made this twice now- just wonderful served with a salad.

  • Ro_ on January 11, 2023

    A great idea because the scone base is so easy to make and cook on the oven. The only thing is that for me I'd have liked a heavier onion-to-crust ratio. I'd be curious to try this with other types of toppings, like maybe cheese-potato-leek?

  • Livmichelle on September 08, 2017

    I've made this so many times, no recipe needed now, even onion haters love this pie

  • anya_sf on November 07, 2021

    Easy and relatively quick to make. I used half red, half yellow onions as that's what I had. The wider onion pieces looked nice, but made the pie more difficult to cut and eat, so I'd consider slicing the onions thinner next time. The pie took 5 min extra to bake in my oven. My family really liked this pie.

• Blueberry muffins

  • MiChal.626 on October 14, 2013

    We make this ALOT, usually in a doughnut pan.

  • Sparkles75 on April 19, 2019

    Great blueberry muffin recipe.

• Banana muffins

  • sharifah on November 10, 2013

    As I was mixing it, I thought there was too little flour and too much of baking powder + bicarb soda, and strangely no eggs? And I thought there's no way this mix would make 12 muffins as the book states. Yep, I managed to only get 6 muffins, and they were very light but I've made better banana muffins, won't be using this recipe again.

  • lilham on January 19, 2015

    This has to be the worst muffins I have ever had. Mr lilham made them and told me the batter looked strange. He also commented on the lack of eggs. My preschooler refused to eat them and she loves all cakes normally. If I could give 0 star I would.

  • embk27 on May 07, 2016

    I've tried this recipe twice just to check it wasn't something I'd done wrong but both times the mix looked odd and the muffins came out incredibly dense and chewy in an unpleasant way. Wouldn't make again.

• Sour-cream chocolate cake with sour-cream icing

  • Elnara on December 09, 2013

    Cake was easy to make and turned out okay. It was a great success with the kids and those who like things extra sweet. A bit too sweet for my taste, but acceptable. Not sure if I'll make again. Perhaps for a kids party.

  • lilham on May 14, 2016

    A soft and moist chocolate cake. My kids and I loved this. Mr lilham find it too sweet. I added less sugar then specified (180g for the batter, but full amount for the icing). I needed only 2/3 of the icing on the cake.

  • Melyinoz on November 20, 2020

    I have made this for my niece's birthday as a second cake. Had to be gluten free, as I only have GF flours, and egg free for my niece. Used 140g brown rice flour and 60g of tapioca flour, plus two flax eggs. Inadvertently used the sugar I use as a pie weight. Like another reviewer, I only needed two thirds of the icing. Fingers crossed that it tastes ok. Update: my niece loved it! As did others.

  • Sparkles75 on April 19, 2019

    My kids love this chocolate cake

• Brownies

  • rstuart on February 07, 2014

    These have been my favourite brownie recipe since I first tried it over 10 years ago.. still haven't found anything to beat it. I omit the nuts due to personal taste..

  • duncan_jobq82 on March 23, 2026

    I added 5 minutes to the time came out perfect and squidgy

  • victoria_0duhqk on May 31, 2026

    Always a winner. I add different things to the mix occasionally. Favourite being sour cherries soaked in brandy.

  • Beth891 on June 11, 2024

    Skipped the nuts and made half quantities which was the perfect amount for a 20x20cm square pan. Followed the recipe otherwise and they were great, really tasty and fudge like in the middle. Would make again.

  • k.a.g on February 11, 2026

    No other brownie recipe compares. Excellent straight from the freezer, on a hot day!

  • Ro_ on April 24, 2020

    Probably the best brownie recipe I've found yet. I like the fact it uses only real chocolate and not cocoa powder. These came out super squidgy, which my partner said was perfect but I'd probably increase cooking time ever so slightly next time just to get them a bit firmer. I omitted the nuts and added some white chocolate chips instead.

• Peanut-butter squares

  • rstuart on February 07, 2014

    Another fantastic recipe.. very quick, and wonderful. It always goes quickly when I bring it to a party..

• Store-cupboard chocolate-orange cake

  • KIGirl on November 22, 2014

    I am not a big chocolate cake fan... But my work colleagues voted this 9/10

  • Jane on April 03, 2017

    This is a nice cake and as the title suggests, is one most cooks could do with ingredients they always have to hand. I used blood orange marmalade and it gave a good tang to the cake. I preferred it warm from the oven as a pudding cake than cold the next day.

  • lilham on September 13, 2015

    This is a lovely and rich chocolate orange cake. Mr lilham thinks it is too rich and prefers to eat it with yoghurt to cut the richness. Everyone else loves it as it is.

  • anya_sf on January 15, 2024

    I attempted 1/2 recipe in a 6" pan to use up orange marmalade. My self-rising flour was past the date and I thought it had lost its leavening power, so I added some baking powder, but think that was a mistake, as the cake sank severely in the middle. Also, the center's surface appeared shiny and underdone, so I ended up overbaking the cake (the full 50 min was too long) and it was dry. The flavor was good, though, so I'd try this again.

• Cheese, onion and potato pies

  • rodillagra on January 07, 2015

    Even lovely when served cold.

  • Ro_ on November 27, 2022

    I am not good at pastry, so had some issues when rolling out! Due to that and the fact I used individual flan tins, I ended up with 5-6 pies instead of 8, and as a result I found the pastry-to-filling ratio a bit off: it was too dry, which would maybe have been also helped with a bit more cream in the filling. The flavour was good but not exceptional for me.

• Night-and-day cupcakes

  • rodillagra on January 07, 2015

    Might have been delicious. I made them for the school cake sale but by the time I got to the table they had already been sold.

• Bagels

  • aliradloff on May 03, 2019

    This is a really simple, almost foolproof recipe for bagels. No long rises, no difficult to find ingredients and a great result. I often add cinnamon and raisins to make a sweet version. The dough is very dry, and you’ll feel like your mixer is going to break when it’s kneading it, but it all works out. One change I make is to form balls and poke out a hole rather than make into ropes and then bagel shapes. It’s a little neater. Cut any leftover bagels in half and freeze, you can then toast them straight from the freezer.

• Schnecken

  • rittingerv on December 06, 2025

    Fantastic and easy if you’re comfortable with yeasted doughs. In my opinion the dough needs 1/2c butter and 3/4c to 1c milk instead of the 1/3c and 1/2c given. Otherwise the dough would be too dense.

• Butter cut-out biscuits

  • Astrid5555 on December 13, 2014

    I think we finally found our favorite cutout cookies for Christmas. This recipe produces the perfect dough for baking with children AND they taste amazing (more than a week later they are still excellent!).

• Banana, cherry and white-chocolate cupcakes

  • lilham on February 29, 2016

    I would never expect a one pot cake mix can taste this good. I made them in my mini muffin trays and everyone kept coming back for seconds, and thirds, and fourths!

• Norwegian cinnamon buns

  • trudys_person on March 28, 2020

    Exactly what ElianeW said! These are delicious but I did add significantly more flour than the recipe called for ... Don't eat them all in one sitting!

  • ElianeW on December 19, 2017

    I love this recipe. It's our Christmas morning breakfast. BUT I always find the dough far too wet and add tons more flour to get a proper consistency. There is something wrong with the recipe. Don't panic. Add flour. Oh and don't eat them all in one sitting.

• Maple-pecan biscuits

  • melba on August 06, 2021

    I increased the maple extract. Really good short biscuit.

• Pizza rustica

  • melba on August 06, 2021

    I found the mortadella a little bit overpowering so I omitted it the second time and replaced with extra prosciutto and it was fab.

• Lemon-raspberry muffins

  • j_h on July 03, 2017

    Used frozen raspberries and didn't have any eggs so tried this - Whisk together 2 tablespoons of water, 1 teaspoon of oil (like corn or vegetable oil) and 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Use this in place of one egg.

  • Livmichelle on September 08, 2017

    Made these today with lime zest, didn't have a lemon, lemon extract and buttermilk super awesome! Lemon-lime buttermilk raspberry muffins.

• Irish blue biscuits

  • Ro_ on February 27, 2023

    I was surprised by the texture of these: less like biscuits and more like a kind of rough puff pastry affair. They were nice but I'm not sure I'd make them again compared to other similar recipes I've preferred.

• Strawberry shortcakes

  • joneshayley on June 03, 2018

    Very good recipe! Easy, delicious and impressive. I’ll make them for any afternoon tea

• Welshcakes

  • anya_sf on July 07, 2019

    Note that the online recipe is the US version (which is what I followed). Since the instructions say to chill the dough at least 20 minutes, I made it the night before. The dough was too dry, so I had to add a couple of tablespoons of milk for it to come together. My cutter was 3.5" across, so I only got 12 cakes. Nigella doesn't say what the griddle temperature should be; 325 F seemed about right. The welshcakes turned out tender, crumbly, and sweet. We enjoyed them very much for breakfast.

  • Soosie on March 01, 2026

    In Wales we make them with lard

• American breakfast pancakes

  • embk27 on May 07, 2016

    Brilliant recipe - can just whizz everything up in the food processor and the batter is ready to go. Perfect for hungry five-year-olds demanding pancakes at 6am!

  • Sparkles75 on April 19, 2019

    Delish

• Sausage and spinach pie

  • KateW on December 10, 2015

    Pastry is very good, an easy filling and freezes well. Would be good on a picnic

• Courgette and chick pea filo pie

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on March 28, 2021

    This dish looks beautiful, but I found the taste a bit bland.

  • Livmichelle on September 08, 2017

    This pie is my go to veggie dish, it looks beautiful and tastes great too

• Dense chocolate loaf cake

  • Ro_ on March 28, 2021

    Loved this! Made 3/4 of the recipe for my silicon loaf mould, it came out really well. Moist, chocolately but holding together. We ate with strawberries and ice cream as she suggested. Will make again.

  • Katastrofe on March 09, 2026

    This is delicious! Wondering if a spoonful of cocoa would up the chocolate flavour just a bit. Otherwise a lovely loaf, dense and moist and sure to please the crowd. My kids have asked to have this for their birthday which is high praise around here! Will go on my list of regular bakes.

  • sarah_22kzqy on April 23, 2026

    Always overflows cook in two tins

  • embk27 on April 07, 2018

    Lovely squidgy cake - best served warm. I used milk chocolate instead of dark and came out fine.

• Chocolate macaroons

  • etcjm on May 09, 2019

    First macaroons to not end up in the bin. I hate piping things but you know what I was a bit proud! Yummy. Will do again. Hated spending so much on these having given up because the family love them. Bring it on for the next ones!

• Cream-cheese brownies

  • ChelseaP on May 22, 2021

    Growing up my mum would make these all the time and now I make them too. That middle layer of cream cheese make these so decadent and creamy.

• Granny Boyd's biscuits

  • Melyinoz on November 29, 2020

    Made these GF by replacing flour with 8g baking powder, 92g tapioca flour, 100g red sorghum flour, 100g brown rice flour. The biscuits have come up very short and about 5-6 broke when transferring them to the rack to cool. They are cooling now and hopefully will firm up a bit, otherwise I may need to repurpose them as a crumb base for another dish.

  • k.a.g on February 11, 2026

    These are the ultimate chocolate (not choc chip) biscuit - made these for my wedding, to go with tea and coffee.

  • sophie_bsts85 on March 21, 2026

    Perfection

• Cornflake crispies

  • dawnelizabethtaylor on June 08, 2026

    Made as ‘traybake’ using up off brand cornflakes. Used quantities I would use: 200g chocolate, I used mix caramel milk and dark 100g unsalted butter @ 4 tbsp golden syrup 200g cornflakes

• Snickers and peanut-butter muffins

  • JJ2018 on November 17, 2019

    These were nice but quite a savoury taste and they just weren’t quite as amazing as i wanted them to be. The ‘snickers’ taste didn’t come through as strongly as I’d have liked I think

• Jam-doughnut muffins

  • joneshayley on August 19, 2018

    Ridiculously easy and delicious.

• Soot's flapjacks

  • Ro_ on March 26, 2020

    I was very grateful that I read the note on here that pointed out the printing error in the book (should be 150g golden syrup, not 50g) because otherwise I'd have blindly followed what was written. Thank you very much to that note-leaver. These flapjacks were nice, but not the best ever. Slightly too dry/biscuity, I'd have liked them to be a bit gooier and squidgier, and hold together slightly better. I drizzled some melted chocolate on top, just because I'm a chocaholic.

  • kshell on July 10, 2023

    I would sum this up as taste is good but texture is lacking. I am in the US cooking from the UK edition and despite using the correct amount of golden syrup (150g) these always turn out dry and crumble when I cut them. I eat it like dessert granola. Have tried rolled oats and quick-cooking. Didn't make a difference. I am chasing a memory of the one flapjack I ever ate while on vacation. Like Ro_ I too would like them to be gooier and squidgier. I'll keep looking.

• Swedish glögg

  • anya_sf on December 28, 2024

    I chose this recipe for its simplicity. Unfortunately, I didn't love it - the flavor was too harsh. Maybe it would have mellowed over time (I just waited overnight), but we didn't save the leftovers.

• The essential white loaf

  • Ro_ on April 01, 2020

    I made this with bread flour that was very out of date but smelled fine and was weevil-free (probably because it had been stored in an air-tight kilner jar). The loaf was quite close-textured, but apart from that very nice and easy to make.

• Finnish rye bread

  • anya_sf on May 28, 2020

    I made the recipe from the U.S. edition. Although Nigella describes this bread as dense and dark, it's actually rather light for rye bread (it's mixed with white bread flour), and it isn't sourdough like traditional Finnish ryes. I used medium rye flour and instant yeast. This bread was easy and fairly quick to make. Although it's not sourdough, it had a bit of tang from the rye. It made delicious avocado toast.

• Garlic and parsley hearthbreads

  • Ro_ on March 06, 2023

    My dough didn't rise that much and I think was wetter than it was supposed to be, but actually the texture of it turned out to be great. The problem was that all the parsley on the top burned and got quite bitter, and it wasn't particularly close to the top of the oven or anything. I guess next time I'd watch closely and cover with foil when it started to turn? Otherwise the flavours were nice.

• Schiacciata with Gorgonzola and pine nuts

  • Soosie on May 10, 2026

    Didn’t have pine nuts so used left over seeds and nuts from muesli. Used all 00 flour as that’s all I had and easy blend yeast. Looks great! Tastes even better. Top tip: While still warm, pour over more evoo. Had it for supper, stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella. Beyond delicious! Best and simplest schiacciata I’ve ever made!

• Tarte tatin

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on September 03, 2018

    Excellent recipe, very easy, especially since I used store bought puff pastry this time. Used a different pan for caramelizing the apples, but have a tarte tatin pan on my wish list now.

• Cranberry curd

  • Foodycat on December 22, 2023

    I went a bit off-piste with this one - subbed the juice of a clementine for some of the water, added the finely grated zest and reduced the sugar to 350g. My eggs were huge so I only used 5. I felt a bit nervous about just trusting my eye on when it thickened, so I checked some other places which agreed that it should go to 77C, so I used a thermometer and pulled it off then - it took a really long time to jump those last 10 degrees! Lovely flavour, lovely colour, lovely consistency. It makes lots so next time I will halve the recipe.

• Hands-free raspberry jam

  • catrijn on June 28, 2025

    Are there errata for this book? Makes >500ml. Sugar did not all dissolve. Had to stir and reheat.

• Greengage jam

  • Glinys on July 26, 2020

    Nigella actually states Jam sugar which is different from preserving sugar- at least it is in the UK. Good straightforward recipe and nice chunky jam with a good set.

• Spiced apple chutney

  • etcjm on September 23, 2018

    Cooked with 2 'normal' red chillies instead of birds eye. Quite hot enough thank you. Sure this will be enjoyed as Nigella quite rightly says with some pastry. Be interesting to see how it matures.

• Chocolate cupcakes

  • Ro_ on November 24, 2019

    Very nice chocolate cupcake recipe. I made a mistake and added two eggs instead of one (since it's a little annoying, you have to keep flipping between the method on the previous page and the quantities/ingredients on the next page, I got confused) but managed to save it. These were moist and chocolaty. I had ricotta cheese to use up so improvised a ricotta-cocoa buttercream icing, which was also nice. I'd definitely use this recipe again.