Cooking & Baking
Related: About this forum3 Desserts by *Nigella Lawson: MANGO SPLIT 🍹 BLACKBERRY CRISP 🍺 CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE 🌞

MANGO SPLIT
When when | was young, a banana split had begun
to lose its glory, but the notion ~ fruit combined
with ice cream and sauce is a good one. | take
advantage of what the Covent Garden traders used
to refer to as queer gear, and replace the worlds
favourite, because its the least fruity, fruit with cubed
mango. Rather lazily, | often buy the man- goes that
my greengrocer, and all supermarkets, chop for you.
Incidentally, this is one of my childrens favourite
puddings, though I leave out the rum and coconut for
them. For me, both resolutely stay in. I am of the More
is More school in this regard.
2x 15ml tablespoons shredded coconut
1x 15ml tablespoon butter
50g (1 3/4 oz) soft light brown sugar
1x 15ml tablespoon lime juice
1x 15ml tablespoon dark rum
1 ball candied stem ginger (optional)
1 ripe mango or 1 tub ready-cubed ripe mango
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
2 scoops mango sorbet
2 cigar cookies or fan wafers (optional)
1.Toast the coconut in a dry smallish frying pan until dark
golden and giving off a heady aroma. Transfer to a small
bowl to cool
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter, then combine with the sugar,
lime juice and rum, let it come to a boil and bubble for 2
minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the pan on the hob.
3. Finely chop the candied ginger (if using) and peel then dice
the mangoes (if not ready- cubed) into about 1cm cubes.
4. Place a scoop each of vanilla ice cream and mango sorbet
onto two dessert bowls or into two sundae glasses.
5. Tumble the mango cubes, then the sticky-chopped ginger
into each dish, and sprinkle the aromatically toasted coconut
on top.
6. Spoon the still warm syrup over the fruit; there isnt a huge
amount per dish but you don't want it swamped.
7. If the mood takes you, stick a cigar cookie or fan wafer into
each sundae.
Serves 2
From "Nigella Express"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/165371995-nigella-express
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Chocolate Guinness Cake
by Nigella. Featured in FEAST
Introduction
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 describing it is to say that it's like gingerbread without the spices.
There is enough sugar a certain understatement here to counter any potential bitterness of the Guinness, and although I've eaten versions of this made up like a chocolate sandwich cake, stuffed and slathered in a rich chocolate icing, I think that can take away from its dark majesty. Besides, I wanted to make a cream cheese frosting to echo the pale head that sits on top of a glass of stout. It's unconventional to add cream but it makes it frothier and lighter which I regard as aesthetically and gastronomically desirable. But it is perfectly acceptable to leave the cake un-iced: in fact, it tastes gorgeous plain.
Ingredients
Yields: about 12 slices
For the Cake
1 cup Guinness
2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups granulated sugar
⅔ cup sour cream
2 large eggs
2½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons baking soda
For the Topping
8 ounces cream cheese
1¼ cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ cup heavy cream (or whipping cream)
Method
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C/160°C Fan/350ºF, and butter
and line a 23cm / 9 inch springform tin.
Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter in
spoons or slices and heat until the butter's melted, at which time
you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar.
Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the
brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and bicarb.
Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45
minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling
rack, as it is quite a damp cake.
When the cake's cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on
with the icing. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over
the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch and then beat to combine.
If using heavy cream, add it and beat until you have a spreadable
consistency. If using whipping cream, whisk first to soft peaks, add
a couple of spoonfuls into the cream cheese mixture and once this is
Combined, fold in the rest.
Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the
famous pint.
Additional Information
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
The cake can be stored, without icing, in an airtight container in a cool
place for up to 5 days. Store the iced cake in an airtight container in the
fridge for 1-2 days. The un-iced cake can be frozen, wrapped in a double
layer of food wrap and a layer of foil, for up to 3 months. Unwrap and
thaw at room temperature for about 4 hours.
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/chocolate-guinness-cake
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BLACKBERRY CRISP
Another glorious nursery-reworking, and none the worse for that.
| feel, in the interests of fair trading, | should probably name this
Blackberry Soggy, since what is so more-ish about it is its butter-
fudgy topping. But since crisp is what these kinds of non-crumble
pies are known as, I'll stick to that. It's simplicity itself to make, and
the daughter of a friend of mine, who had never, ever made a pudding
or baked anything before, has had a runaway success with it, that
threatens to go, delightfully, to her head. A pudding this good quite
reasonably causes evangelical fervour. Its ease of assembly is a bonus.
To keep the costs down, you could substitute half the blackberries with
chopped pears, but, anyway, regard this as an open blueprint and use
any fruit you feel like or that is to hand
125g (4 1/2 oz) butter
60g (2 oz) jumbo porridge oats
40g (1 1/2 oz) flaked almonds
30g (1 oz) sunflower seeds
70g (2 1/2 oz) flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
75g (2 2/3 oz) soft light brown sugar
500g (4 punnets) (4 pints 17 1/2 oz) blackberries
2 teaspoons cornflour
50g (2 oz) vanilla sugar or caster sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. (400° F) Melt the butter
in a small saucepan (or in a bowl in the microwave) and put to
one side for a moment.
2. Combine the porridge oats, flaked almonds, sunflower seeds,
flour, ground cinnamon and brown sugar in a bowl.
3. Tip the blackberries into a wide, shallow baking dish (I used
one with a 750ml capacity). Sprinkle the cornflour and vanilla
sugar over the berries, and tumble them about to mix.
4 Stir the melted butter into the crisp topping thats the oat
mixture ~ and spoon on top of the blackberries to partially, but
not absolutely, cover them.
5. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes and serve with ice cream or
thick cream.
Serves 4-6
From "Nigella Express"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/165371995-nigella-express
Lip-smackingly good!


*Nigella Lawson
The success of How to Eat and subsequent books such as How to Be a Domestic Goddess (2000) and Nigella Bites (2001) was crucial in establishing Nigella as a food authority. Her writing style, which combines elegance, humor, and a deep understanding of food, resonated with readers worldwide. These books not only solidified her position in the culinary world but also laid the groundwork for her transition to television, a medium where her charisma and cooking skills could reach an even broader audience.
Rise to Television Fame
Nigellas entry into television was a natural progression from her success in writing. Her first cooking show, Nigella Bites, debuted in 1999 on Channel 4 in the UK and later on the Food Network in the US. The show was an instant hit, thanks to Nigellas sensual and indulgent approach to cooking, which captivated viewers and set her apart from other cooking shows. Her subsequent shows, including Nigellas Kitchen, The Taste, and Nigellissima, only added to her popularity, making her a staple of food television.https://theflexkitchen.com/how-did-nigella-lawson-became-famous/
*https://www.nigella.com/ For tonnes more!

BobTheSubgenius
(12,118 posts)Thank you for posting!
Your "More is More" comment reminds me of a conversation I had with my late sister. She once told me "Moderation in all things." I said I was more of the school of "If a little is good, more is better."
justaprogressive
(5,638 posts)...is for Monks!
BobTheSubgenius
(12,118 posts)Add a snappy and appropriate catchphrase and now...less so.
buzzycrumbhunger
(1,397 posts)However, I can vouch for a nice Guinness stout as an ingredient. My favourite Irish stew uses a bottle and the result is nothing short of faaaaabulous!
https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/vegan-irish-stew/
justaprogressive
(5,638 posts)I assure you that the Guinness Chocolate Cake is worth every one of its 9000 5-star reviews.
Personally the stuff (G.S.) kept me alive for FIVE DAYS when I was stuck at an airport!
buzzycrumbhunger
(1,397 posts)I believe it! I cant really stand beer but I can sure as hell do a Guinness stout. That stuff is definitely chewy enough to provide sustenance.