Notes about Recipes in this book

• Perfect granola

  • pomona on May 05, 2019

    Used peanut oil because that's all I had. Dates, figs, sour cherries, brazil nuts, cashew nuts and blanched almonds. Delicious. I like it better than the Darren Purchese recipe, which was great, and Annabel Crabbe recipe, which was okay.

• Perfect marmalade

  • Elizabeth.f on January 18, 2022

    Can make up to 2kg worth oranges in pan.

• Perfect cheese soufflé

  • pomona on August 01, 2019

    Took twice as long to cook as the recipe says. I used my small ramekins - the ones called one cup but if filled hold 300ml. I used a 200ml ladle to fill them and filled four with a generous 200ml. I made a small pancake with the bowl scrapings, so there was about 900ml of mix. This probably needed smaller ramekins and next time I'll use my 150ml ramekins and see if they cook in the time.

• Perfect ragù Bolognese

  • pomona on August 01, 2019

    This is fantastic, very rich. I used bacon instead of pancetta and chardonnay vinegar instead of white wine due to hey, that's what's in the fridge/pantry.

  • keenz on August 18, 2020

    this is my go to recipe. hadn't got chicken livers so added bought pork liver pate that was in fridge. seemed good to me.

• Perfect chilli con carne

  • catmummery on July 21, 2024

    I was uncertain about this recipe as no tomato, but was completely wrong! This is an absolutely banging chilli - really delicious, complex flavours from the different dried chillies and coffee - loved it. Is now our go-to recipe for future chillies.

  • FJT on May 11, 2026

    Really enjoyed this - lovely layers of heat. I used all the ingredients but went onto automatic pilot and put the dried chillies in the hot coffee and blended them together before reading the method. It's what I've done ever since I made Jamie Oliver's cowboy chilli and it works well.

• Perfect moussaka

  • Maxineanna on July 13, 2025

    Gorgeous recipe. The whole family loved it. I multiplied the quantity by 1.5 and it fed five adults and two small children. I will definitely make this again.

• Perfect Lancashire hotpot

  • Frenchfoodie on November 10, 2019

    Yum. Delicious. I’d add black pudding next time as its a must for me but it was still great without.

• Perfect Goan fish curry

  • Astrid5555 on August 07, 2020

    Really tasty. My spice-averse kids both liked this curry. Very aromatic and tangy, served over steamed basmati rice. Will definitely make again.

• Perfect smoked mackerel pâté

  • Frenchfoodie on March 10, 2019

    We loved this. Even without the horseradish it was better than any mackerel pate I’ve ever tasted which I put down to the creme fraiche. Really balanced with good consistency (though I didn’t process as I like a bit of texture to the fish).

• Perfect aubergine Parmigiana

  • FJT on May 11, 2026

    Very nice, but maybe not the best aubergine parmigiana I've made.

• Perfect cauliflower cheese

  • pomona on August 01, 2019

    I haven't cooked from this recipe, but, apart from the Lancashire cheese - I used cheddar and pecorino - this is my recipe for Cauliflower Cheese. It is more perfect if you break up the cauliflower, add some olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast it in a hot oven until a little brown on the edges rather than boil it.

• Perfect toad in the hole

  • Foodycat on February 12, 2020

    I didn't particularly like the flavour the beer brought to this, but they were very light.

• Perfect Victoria sandwich

  • Foodycat on December 18, 2021

    The cake is perfect. The buttercream is a bit sweet though - I'd prefer just whipped cream with the jam in the middle.

• Perfect lemon drizzle cake

  • pomona on August 01, 2019

    Tastes great, better on day 2. 200C/180C fan is too hot to bake this type of cake. I had to cover it with foil after the first 30 minutes as it was already too brown. I made my own ground almonds from blanched and of course, that is not as fine as bought. The wee obvious almond grounds were an added delicious. The crunchy lemon sugar top is really good.

  • Foodycat on May 21, 2020

    Fantastic flavour and texture. It was cooked through at 42 minutes though, so keep an eye on it. ETA I've also made it with Seville orange zest and juice, leaving out the almonds and just using 175g flour equally successfully.

  • shewolffe on April 23, 2023

    Delicious moist cake. I didn't have any demerara sugar in the cupboard, so used granulated for the scrunchy drizzle, which was fine, but I'm confident it would have been even better with demerara. Like others, I cooked it for slightly less time than was called for in the recipe and it was perfect.

• Perfect fudge

  • pomona on December 31, 2018

    This isn't smooth American style fudge but more like traditional crumbly fudge. I doubled the salt and sprinkled flakes on the top before it cooled. It's pretty sweet so could likely benefit from additions. I'm thinking macadamia nuts and bourbon. Maybe not at the same time. A guest loved it.

• Perfect New York cheesecake

  • pomona on August 11, 2019

    20 mins at 200C is too hot/long, base will burn. Ten minutes at 200 more sensible.