Nigella Express Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love these cookies, if I'm stressed or sad I can be completely distracted by baking these and eating them still warm, the chocolate chips melting in the middle, with a glass of milk (full fat, of course). They always go down really well with my friends also, so if you feel generous enough to share them you will be their favorite person for they day! The trick is the melted chocolate IN the batter...

You can find Nigella's recipe here,

You can also make this diabetic friendly by using 1tbsp of each of the sugars instead of the full amount and wholemeal flour, and they are still gorgeous.

Jammy Coconut Sponge

I made this for my Dad for father's day using this Jamie Oliver recipe :)

He's only had it for one day... :D

Chocolate Almond Loaf Cake

I got this from the back of a packet of Doves Farm Rye flour, and it is soooo good :) One slice is definitely not enough.

Ingredients

3 eggs
100g caster sugar
100g plain chocolate
75g butter
75g wholemeal rye flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
75g ground almonds

Pre-heat the oven to 180/Gas4
Beat the eggs and caster sugar together
Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water
Beat this into the eggs and caster sugar
Mix in the flour and the cinnamon
Stir in the ground almonds
Tip into a 1kg loaf tin and bake for 45-50 mins


If you want to ice the loaf, you could use a mixture of;

15g butter
15g cocoa powder
50g caster sugar
2tbsp cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Blanched almonds

Heat the butter, cocoa, sugar and cream in a pan until it has all melted and dissolved together
Boil for 8mins
Cool for 10mins
Beat it smooth and spread over the cake
Scatter the almonds on top

Black Forest Cupcakes

I made this for my friend Lauren's Coffee Morning for Race for Life (donate here). I had some frozen berries left over so I thought I would tweak a double chocolate muffins recipe from my Cupcakes book by Carol Pastor and make them into some gooey, chocolatey, fruity noms - all for a good cause!

Makes 16 large muffins

400g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

2tbsp cocoa powder

115g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

150mlplain yoghurt

150ml milk

60ml sunflower or vegetable oil

175g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees

Line a muffin tray with paper cases

Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder into a bowl

Stir in the sugar

Make a well in the centre

Separately, beat the eggs, yoghurt, milk and oil together

Add to the dry ingredients

Add the chocolate and berries

Fold in until just mixed

Spoon into the paper cases until almost to the top

Bake for 25-30 mins

Leave to stand and serve warm or cool on a wire rack and keep in an airtight container

   

Spicy Meat Gumbo

I found this recipe in Jamie Oliver's Jamie's America, and it is now one of my favourites! It does take a long time, but it is definitely worth it. I did it for 3, and changed some of the ingredients based on what we had in, so buy the book for the original!

Serves 3

3 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
olive oil
150g chorizo, thickly sliced
3 rashers of bacon, roughly chopped
1/2 a large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
1/2 yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 sticks of celery trimmed and finely chopped
1 1/2 heaped tbsps plain flour
3 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
500g potato, peeled and roughly chopped
1tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
750ml hot chicken stock
1tsp dried parsley

Season the chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper
Put a large pot on a high heat, add a little oil and fry the sausage, bacon and chicken for 15mins, until golden brown and crispy
Remove to a dish
Turn the heat down and add the onion, peppers and celery
Slowly stir and fry for 10mins until softened
Stir in the flour and cook for about 10mins, until it turns the colour of peanut butter
Add the garlic, potatoes, meats, thyme, parsley and bay leaves and stir and fry for 1min
Pour in the hot chicken stock
Bring everything to the boil
Turn down and simmer on a medium heat for 45mins
Cook some rice according to the packet instructions while it is simmering
Serve on a big plate and enjoy!

Home-made Gifts

This Christmas, I made lots of home-made foodie gifts that I really enjoyed making and were very well received! These don't have to just be Christmas presents though, they can be made at any time of year, so I thought I would share my favourites so far. They're great to put in a box with tissue paper as a hamper as a special gift.



Spiced Apple Chutney, from BBC Food



Mari Williams' Tomato and Chilli Jam, from BBC Food



Sophie Dahl's Peanut Butter Fudge, from BBC Food, The Delicious Miss Dahl



Mari Williams' Chilli Oil, from BBC Good Food

Metcalf's Mincemeat and Nigella's Star Topped Mince Pies

Me and my Mum love to make our own mincemeat at Christmas, it smells amazing, it makes a lovely gift and you can have mince pies for as long as it lasts! We save all our jars the rest of the year so we have plenty for this mincemeat and other jams and chutneys. My favourite mince pie recipe is from Nigella Christmas, which can be found on her website here, and her Cranberry Studded Mincemeat Recipe is in the cookbook and here



Nigella's Mince Pies, above

Metcalf's Mincemeat

Makes 2.5kg, 5 x 500g jars

175g suet
1.6kg mixed dried fruit
225g glace cherries
1 large eating apple, peeled cored and grated
100g chopped almonds
450g dark brown soft sugar
1tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 lemon zest and juice
300ml brandy, whisky or sherry

Sterilise your jars by washing them in hot soapy water, the putting them upside down on a tray into a 160 degree C oven for 30mins, or run through a hot dishwasher cycle.
Mix all the ingredients together (we use two large bowls)
Cover with a tea towel and leave for two days, stirring twice a day
Spoon into the jars and leave to mature for 1 week before using in your beautiful mince pies!