Nigellissima | Reidbury's Kitchen

March 17, 2013
by KatieR Leave a comment

Nigella’s Tiramisini

Tiramisini, Nigellissima

I’ve been wanting to try this recipe from Nigella’s new book Nigellissima for a while and yesterday was the day! I really liked this recipe – it took absolutely no time to make at all, and the portion size is just right for me. I do like Tiramisu but only in small doses as I find it can become pretty sickly. Nigella says that this recipe is easier to make for smaller numbers and it doesn’t need to sit overnight in the fridge – just 20 mins will do it. And I have to agree – it’d be a great dessert to whip up if you have a couple of friends over for dinner.

If you want to see Nigella make this herself, the video is here

KB rating 9/10. PR rating 8.75/10 (he’s becoming ridiculous with his ratings…)

Tiramisini (serves 4)

Ingredients

100ml espresso, or strong instant coffee
2 tbsp coffee liqueur
4 savoiardi biscuits (fine sponge fingers)
2 egg whites
250g mascarpone
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp Marsala
Approx 1 tsp good-quality cocoa powder
4 x small (approx 125ml) martini glasses

Method

Make your espresso and pour into a heatproof jug, adding the coffee liqueur. Leave it to cool.

Break each sponge finger into about 4 and drop the pieces into the martini glasses, then pour the cooled espresso mixture over them. Tamp down gently, making sure the biscuits are soaked all over.

Using an electric hand-held whisk for ease, beat the egg whites into soft peaks and set aside.

Scrape the mascarpone into another bowl, adding the honey. Beat with a whisk (no need to clean it out first) and, when smooth, beat in the Marsala.

Fold in the egg whites, a third at a time, then dollop this mixture over the soused sponge fingers in each glass, using a spoon to whirl it into a swirly peak.

Let them stand in the fridge for at least 20 mins and up to 24 hours, then dust with cocoa, pushing it through a fine-mesh strainer, just before serving.

Nom nom nom.

February 24, 2013
by KatieR 2 Comments

Nigella’s Yogurt Pot Cake

Nigella’s Yogurt Pot Cake, Nigellissima

I really enjoyed watching the latest Nigella series on TV – Nigellisma. Not just because I love the way she talks about food and that she always borders on the wholly-inappropriate-for-pre-watershed-telly, but because she ends up inspiring me to cook something that I would never have looked at twice from the book. Step up, Nigella’s Yogurt Pot Cake. The concept of this cake is that you take a regular-sized yogurt pot (150ml) and use it as an easy way to measure all the other ingredients. Unfortunately, trying to find a regular sized pot of yogurt in the East End of London proved too much – most of the yogurt pots were so large they had handles. Like paint pots. Seriously, how much yogurt does one family need? But anyway, Nigella thankfully preempted this potential problem and listed proper measurements too.

For the yogurt pot as a measurement version, check out the video on the BBC website here. And buy the book here

As I said, I would have flicked past this recipe had I not seen this being made during the series, and I’m so glad I tried it. Nigella suggests baking this in a 22cm savarin or ring mould, which I don’t have. But she also suggests a regular 22cm springform tin works fine, which is what I used. I’ve not had any experience of baking with yogurt and oil, so I’m not 100% sure if my cake came out ‘right’ or not, although I would say it was lovely. It didn’t rise to great heights, and wasn’t hugely crumbly, but it did taste wonderfully light with the lemon and vanilla working well together. It reminded me of a denser madeira cake. I’d like to think that’s what the cake is meant to turn out like, and not that I should have whipped the egg whites more before adding!

KB rating 7.5/10. PR rating 7/10

Yogurt Pot Cake (Cuts into about 16 slices)

Ingredients

150g plain yogurt
150ml flavourless vegetable oil (plus some for greasing)
3 eggs
250g caster sugar
2 capfuls (1.5 tsp) vanilla extract
Zest of half an unwaxed lemon
175g plain flour
75g cornflour
1 tsp icing sugar (to serve)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4, and grease your ring mould or springform tin using vegetable oil.

Separate the eggs and put the whites into one bowl and the yolks in another. Whisk the whites until they are firm peaks. Set aside.

Scrape the yogurt onto the egg yolks, and use the yogurt pot to measure the other ingredients (or use the measurements provided above). So add 2 pots (just) of sugar and whisk with the egg yolks and yogurt until airy and light.

Fill the yogurt pot up with vegetable oil and, beating the whole time, slowly add to the egg yolk mixture. Then beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Still beating, add in 2 pots of flour, followed by 1 pot of cornflour. Scrape down and fold in with a rubber spatula. Now with a large metal spoon, dollop in the egg whites and fold them in with the spatula.

Fill the mould/tin with the batter and bake in the oven for 30-35 mins. When cooked the sides will be coming away from the sides and a metal skewer or cake tester will come out clean.

Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and let the cake sit in the tin for 10 mins before turning it out.

Once cooled, put onto a serving point and sprinkle over icing sugar.

February 7, 2013
by KatieR Leave a comment

A Dessert For The Lazy

Iced Berries with Limoncello White Chocolate Sauce

It was only a matter of time before I referenced the Food Goddess herself – Nigella Lawson. Anyone who knows me, is fully aware of my somewhat obsessive love for this domestic goddess – I’m still convinced if she just met me, we’d be the best of friends. I mean, we like the same things – wearing black dresses, sticking our fingers into bowls of chocolate, fairy lights… But in all seriousness, there’s no other person who makes me want to get into the kitchen and cook something as much as Nigella. And inevitably, that ‘something’ is usually not that healthy. Bonus.

Over Christmas, my parents and I had finished dinner and were stuffed. Well, almost. Mum and I had a sneaky little yearning for something sweet. It wasn’t appropriate to start whipping up a Croquembouche after a few glasses of wine, so we dug out Nigella’s latest book Nigellissima and made what might be the finest, laziest, tastiest post-dinner treat I’ve had – Iced Berries with Limoncello White Chocolate Sauce. It is actually really similar to a dessert I had at the wonderful Boundary Restaurant in Shoreditch and is a perfect combination of sharp and sweet. And it’s pretty easy to whip up if you want to show off to your friends as the ingredients can sit happily in your fridge freezer until needed.

Once Mum and I started eating this, all of a sudden Dad arrived with a spoon hidden in his back pocket. So watch out for converts…

Ingredients

250ml/9fl oz double cream
4 tbsp limoncello
200g/7oz white chocolate, finely chopped
500g/1lb 2oz frozen mixed berries (unthawed) – I went with a combo of raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants and blueberries, but any will do

Method

Put the double cream and two tablespoons of the limoncello in a milk pan, and heat it until just about to come to the boil, but not actually boiling.

Take the pan off the heat and add the white chocolate, then swirl the pan about so that it is all submerged.

Take the berries out of the freezer and arrange them in a single layer in a dish or plate that has a small lip (so that the sauce doesn’t drip off later). Mum and I actually used a cake stand, which worked nicely and made us feel fancy. Sprinkle with the remaining two tablespoons of limoncello and leave for five minutes, during which time you can swirl your white chocolate pan about every now and again to help the chocolate melt into the lemony cream.

Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate-cream mixture, still off the heat, until it’s smooth, then pour it over the berries and serve immediately

Recipe & Image Credit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/iced_berries_with_63709