Devil's Food Cake

My sweet tooth continues to rage and having watched Nigella make this on tele the other night I decided to give it a go. It is delicious although I would advise cooking for 25 mins max (rather than the 30 she advises) so it's as gooey as possible. The top on mine was a bit hard and detracted someone from the vast amounts of icing on the rest of the cake! The recipe is in Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home (although I'm sure I was watching it on an older programme of hers). A little of this goes a long way as it's really rich - I think it would be extra nice with some double cream but for some that may be a step too far.

I've reorganised the way she does this so the icing comes first - I ended up having to put mine in the fridge as it was still too runny to spread on the cake after an hour and a half. 

Devil's Food Cake

For the cake:
50g best-quality cocoa powder, sifted
100g dark muscovado sugar
250ml boiling water
125g soft unsalted butter, plus some for greasing
150g caster sugar
225g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

For the frosting:
125ml water
30g dark muscovado sugar
175g unsalted butter, cubed
300g best-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line the bottom of two 20cm sandwich tins (not springform or loose bottomed - this batter is very liquid) with baking parchment and butter the sides.

1.  Make the icing by putting 30g muscovdo sugar and 175g butter in a pan over a low heat to melt. When the mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so that all the chocolate is hit with heat, then leave for a minute to melt before whisking till smooth and glossy.

2. Leave for at least an hour, whisking now and again when you are passing by the pan.

3. For the cake - put the cocoa and 100g dark muscovado sugar into a bowl with a bit of space to space, and pour in the boiling water. Whisk to mix, then set aside.

4. Cream the butter and caster sugar together, beating well until pale and fluffy. Nigella uses her freestanding kitchen aid mixer, I used my magimix, you can use either... or your arms!

4. While this is going on - or as soon as you stop if you are mixing by hand - stir the flour , baking powder and bicarb together in another bowl and set aside for a moment.

5. Dribble the vanilla extract into the creamed butter and sugar - mixing all the while - then drop in 1 egg, quickly followed by a scoopful of the flour mixture, then the second egg.

6. Keep mixing and incorporate the rest of the dried ingredients for the cake, then finally mix and fold in the cocoa mixture scraping the bowl well with a spatula.

7. Divide the batter between the two prepared tins and put in the oven for about 30 mins (I think 25 max) or until a skewer comes out clean when put through the middle of the cake.

8. Take the tins out and leave them on a wire rack for 5-10 mins, before turning the cakes out to cool.

9. Once the cakes are cool enough and the icing ready to spread, set one for the cooled cakes, with it's top side down, on a cake stand or plate (I use the lid of my cake tin so the tin itself can go over the top), spread with about a third of the icing, then top with the second cake, regular way up, and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides. The cake should keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container in a cool place.

To make ahead: The cake layers can be baked 1 day ahead and assembled before serving: wrap tightly with clingfilm and store in an airtight container.

Freezing: Un-iced cake layers can be frozen on the day of baking, each wrapped in a double layer of clingfilm and a layer of foil for up to 3 months. Defrost for 3-4 hours on a wire rack at room temperature.

Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup

Another one of Joe's choices for this weeks big shop. It was incredibly easy to make, soothing and tasty. I think next time I make it I may tweak it a little - I felt the broth was missing a little something that I can't put my finger on at the moment. Not that this should deter you from trying this recipe out and maybe you will let me know what you think if you do.

This comes from Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home - I still feel like I've only scratched the surface of what this book has to offer. What I love about this recipe is the use of pork fillet, which I have to confess to never using before. I'm not a huge pork fan but this was tasty and easy and really cheap compared to my usual beef. £4 something for nearly 500g so I cut it all into strips and put the remaining bits in freezer bag ready for the next batch of this. I think next time I will probably use straight-to-wok noodles and add them to the soup in the wok rather than cooking noodles separately.

Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup

Serves 4

275g pork fillet, cut into thin discs and then fine strips
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp fish sauce
250g ramen noodles
1 tbsp garlic oil
6 thin or 3 fat spring onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 litre chicken stock
300g beansprouts
175g baby pak choi, torn into pieces
2 tsps chopped red chili

All you need for this (apart from a chopping board and a sharp knife) is a saucepan to cook the noodles in and a wok or deep heavy-based frying pan. I'd advise doing all the chopping and weighing out of ingredients first then cooking the soup itself will be a matter of minutes.

1. Put the strips of pork fillet into a bowl and add the lime juice, soy sauce, paprika and fish sauce, but don't let this stand for more than 15 minutes.

2. Cook the noodles according to packet instructions and then refresh in cold water.

3. Heat a wok then add the garlic oil and fry the spring onions and ginger for a minute or so. Add the pork and its liquid to the wok, stirring as you go.

4. Cook the meat in the pan for another two minutes, then make up the chicken stock with boiling water, add the hot stock to the pan and bring to the boil.

5. Check the pork is cooked through, then add the beansprouts and baby pak choi. Add water if the soupy base has evaporated too much - about 125ml of freshly boiled water should do the trick, but you may not need it.

6. Arrange the drained noodles equally in warmed bowls, ladle over the pork and vegetables and finally the soupy stock. Scatter the chopped chili on top and serve.

Finished soup (without the red chilli)

Nigella's Spanish Chicken with Chorizo and Potatoes

As part of my Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home frenzy I cooked this the other night (actually to go with the Banoffee Cheesecake pudding) and it was yummy delicious in every way and highly recommended because it's incredibly easy, if slightly expensive which is fine really because it tastes amazing enough to be great for dinner parties but is just so simple to make that you can actually have a drink with your guests when they arrive rather than slaving in the kitchen (shock horror!). This makes a lot of food too so you get yummy leftovers for lunches the next day so really you are getting a couple of meals for your money.

What was so fantastic about making this with the cheesecake was that the pudding was made the night before and only had to be unleashed from its springform tin and drizzled with toffee sauce half an hour before we wanted it and the chicken and chorizo can be wedged in its tins covered with clingfilm and ready to go in the fridge so you only need to drizzle with olive and put in the pre-heated oven.

SPANISH CHICKEN WITH CHORIZO & POTATOES
Serves 6

2tbsp olive oil
12 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
750g chorizo sausages, ideally the baby cooking ones
1kg new potatoes, halved
2 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano
grated zest of 1 orange ( I do not include this - I'm sure it's yummy but no...)

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 7. You will need two shallow roasting trays.

1. Put the oil in the bottom of the two roasting tins, 1 tbsp in each. Rub the skin of the chicken in the oil, then turn them skin side up, 6 in each tin.

2. Divide the chorizo sausages and new potatoes between the two tins. Sprinkle the onion and oregano over and, if you are using it, grate over the orange zest. As I don't use the orange juice I just gave a little extra drizzle of olive oil over it before I put it in the o

OK so raw chicken is never going to look that appealing

3. Cook for 1 hour, swapping the trays round and basting after 30 minutes.

This is minimum input maximum output and the left overs are to die for - I followed Nigella's instructions and made quesadilla's which were just fantastic. Dice up the leftovers, add some grated cheese (I use cheddar), cover half a tortilla with the mixture, fold in half and then griddle or fry. This is fantastic for a hangover.

I meant to take a picture of it daintily cut in half - but I ate it too fast

Nigella's Apple and Mustard Sauce

I don't eat this and in fact I know a lot of people like their pork plain but for those who don't this is a very good apple sauce and it's really easy to make. You can make this up to two days before and store in the fridge in a non metallic bowl or you can freeze it for up to three months ahead.

NIGELLA LAWSON'S APPLE AND MUSTARD SAUCE

3 large Granny Smith apples, approx 500g
4 tsps, English mustard powder
4 x 15ml tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
juice 1/2 a lemon
1 spring onion, trimmed and left whole

1. Peel and core the apples, roughly chop them into pieces.

2. Put the apples into a saucepan with the mustard, maple syrup, salt, lemon juice and spring onion (left whole just to give flavour).

Is it me or does the mustard look a bit rude?

3. Put the lid on the pan and bring to a bubbling boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until the apples are soft, stirring once or twice.

4. Remove the onion and discard, then mash the sauce a little with the back of a spoon if necessary.

5. Taste the sauce and then add more mustard powder if you want although you may want to leave this until the sauce is cold.

6. Sever cold but not straight from the fridge.

Nigella's Strawberry crumble

I love the colour of strawberries so got a bit carried away with the photos

As you may have noticed I'm a bit of a Nigella fiend an when I was having seven people to dinner last Friday night and needed something easy to make for pudding I thought it would be a good time to try out something from her newest book Kitchen. My mum recommended the Strawberry Crumble so I felt confident that this wouldn't be a complete disaster (lets face it sometimes Nigella's things just don't work for whatever reason).

It turned out to be the perfect pud. I assembled it when I got home and then had it in the fridge ready to go into the oven at the right time but I could have done it the night before if I'd felt so inclined. My husband kept making comments about getting strawberries at this time of year and yes it is better to buy locally and get what's in season. I have no excuse. I wanted to make Strawberry crumble. So I did and here it is...

NIGELLA'S STRAWBERRY CRUMBLE
Serves 6

500g strawberries, hulled
50g caster sugar
25g ground almonds
4 tsps vanilla extract

For the topping:
110g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
75g cold butter, sliced
100g flaked almonds
75g demerara sugar

double cream to serve

You'll need an ovenproof pie dish that's approx 1.25lt in capacity. I never know what that means so I put the strawberries in a bowl that looked about big enough. I also only used a scattering of flaked almonds on the top rather than the full 100g mixed into the crumble but that's up to you. You will need the oven pre-heated to 200c/Gas Mark 6

Hulled strawberries

1. Put the hulled strawberries into your dish and sprinkle over the sugar, ground almonds and vanilla. Shake the strawberries about to distribute the sugar etc. They don't need to be perfectly flat but you don't want it too lumpy when you put the topping on.

Sugar and stuff on strawberries

2. Make the crumble topping by putting the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl and rubbing in the cold butter. It should resemble rough oatmeal when you've finished. Stir in the flaked almonds and sugar with a fork.

3. Tip the crumble over the strawberries covering them with an even layer and press down the edges a bit. If you are making this in advance (you can make it up to 1 day ahead, keep it in the fridge and then add 10 mins to the cooking time) then plonk it in the fridge now.

Crumbled and clingfilmed

4. If you are cooking straight away then put it on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until it's bubbling and crumble like.

Completed crumble

It was yummy...