Nigella’s Chocolate Cake with Guinness

250ml Guinness
250g unsalted butter
75g cocoa
400g castor sugar
140ml sour cream
2 eggs
1 tbs vanilla
275g flour
2 ½ tsp bicarb


Preheat oven to 180°C, butter and line 23cm tin (or 20cm if halving cake, recipe suggests springform).

Pour Guinness into a large saucepan, add coarsely chopped butter and heat until butter melted. Whisk in cocoa and sugar. Beat sour cream with egg and vanilla, mix with Guinness batter and finally whisk in flour and bicarb.

Pour into tin and bake for 45-60 minutes. Cool in tin as is quite damp.

Ice with standard chocolate icing.

Nigella's Chocolate Cake with Condensed Milk

225g SR flour
30g cocoa
200g caster sugar
100g unsalted butter
200g condensed milk
100g best quality dark chocolate
2 eggs, beaten
100ml boiling water

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Put kettle on. Butter 2 sandwich tins and line the base of each. Or use 20cm springform tin.

Sieve flour, cocoa and a pinch of salt. Put the sugar, butter, condensed milk, 100ml just boiled water and the chocolate (broken into small pieces) in a saucepan, and heat until melted and smooth. Stir this into flour mixture, then add eggs.

Pour into tins and bake for 35-45 minutes or less if sandwich tins. When it is ready the top will feel firm. Will crack on the top and skewer won't come out clean.

Icing
1 cup pure icing sugar
1 tbs boiling water
1 tsp butter
1 tbs cocoa, sifted

Pear Gingerbread

1 cup flour
1 cup S R flour
1 tbs ground ginger
½ tsp bicarb
½ cup (165g) golden syrup
3oz butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
¼ pint (140ml) milk
5oz pear halves

Sift dry ingrediants. Combine butter, brown sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan, heating until dissolved. Add to dry ingrediants then add egg and milk.

Spread base of 9 inch square slab tin with 1 tbs golden syrup. Arrange pears, then pour mixture over.

Moderately slow oven 50-55 minutes

Orange Cranberry Cake

1 small orange
1 cup dried cranberries
2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
165g butter
1 ⅓ cup caster sugar
3 eggs
2 tbs Cointreau
1 tsp vanilla
⅓ cup milk

Place the orange in a saucepan, ½ filled with water and boil for 30 minutes. Cool, quarter and pulverize.

Butter and flour a 9 1/2” fluted tube (or ring tin).

Cream butter, add sugar, and slowly add eggs. Add vanilla and Cointreau. Gently stir in sifted dry ingredients with milk, orange and cranberries.

Pour into tin and bake 180°C for 60 minutes.

Suggested glaze: 1 cup icing sugar, 4 tsp boiling water, 1 tsp corn extract ½ tsp vanilla

Lazyman Cake

6oz self raising flour
4oz butter
4oz castor sugar
2 eggs
4 tbs milk
2oz castor sugar
¾ cup coconut

Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg yolks. Mix in sifted flour alternately with milk.

Turn into 6” x 9” greased pan, lined on the bottom with paper.

Whip egg whites stiffly, gradually adding last ½ cup of sugar. Stir in coconut, spread on top of cake.

Bake in moderate oven for 40-45 minutes.

Lemon Cake

4 oz butter
1 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

rind & juice of 1 lemon
extra 1/4 cup of sugar


Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour and milk alternately. Mix in finely chopped nuts and lemon rind.

Pour into greased, lined 9" by 5" loaf tin. Bake in moderate oven about 65 minutes.

Mix lemon juice with caster sugar over gentle heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.

When cake is cooked and still hot, pour lemon juice mixture over. Leave cake to cool in tin.

Blood Plum Cake

Cake:
150g butter, softened
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 1/3 cup flour
1 1/3 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1-2 tbs milk
1/2 cup of ground almonds
5-8 blood plums, halved and stoned

Streusel topping:
60g butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1-2 eggs

Preheat oven to 160C. Grease and line the square cake tin. Sprinkle the ground almonds over the base of the cake tin.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add flour. Add eggs and milk to make a soft batter. Carefully spoon the batter over the ground almonds. Arrange the plum halves over the cake, cut side up. Pour streusel topping over and around plums.


For Streusel Topping:
Melt butter, add remaining ingredients and stir. Allow to cool slightly. Whisk eggs and stir into butter mixture


Bake 1 1/2 hours.