Cake

Chocolate Meringue Truffle Cake

This is a favourite from a time, far in the distant past, when I went in for dinner parties! My late sister Thomasina brought it into my life about 40 years ago, and I still love it. Don't worry about…

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Apple and Almond Cake

It's astonishing how buttery this cake tastes, given that there is not a gram of butter in it. The flour is replaced with ground almonds — and cooked, cooled, pureed fruit provides moistness and flavo…

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Autumnal Birthday Cake

There is no reason on earth why this, adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, has to be a birthday cake, but since the first two times I made it were for my sister-in-law's and a friend's birthdays…

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Birthday Custard Sponge

This cake — simple and homespun, and not above using Bird's Custard Powder for its buttercream filling — has been an essential part of birthday celebrations in my house since my children were little.

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Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes

I use a sour cherry preserve (or conserve) for this, but if you're going for jam (which is sweeter), reduce the sugar in the cake a little. And if you have any Kirsch about the place, then add a splas…

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Chocolate Chestnut Refrigerator Cake

This is another of my maternal grandmother's recipes. I've changed it a bit, not least substituting dark rum for her juice and zest of an orange and a slug or two of Grand Marnier. It's not that I did…

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Chocolate Cloud Cake

On days when I want the warmth of the hearth rather than the hurly burly of the city streets I stay in and read cookery books, and this recipe comes from just the sort of book that gives most succour,…

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Chocolate Fruit Cake

This is the perfect cut-and-come again cake for any time of the year. It lasts for a fortnight, but has the squidgy fabulousness of something so much less serviceable-sounding. I know there are a lot…

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Chocolate Lime Cheesecake

My inspiration here was a sweet — those chocolate limes I ate in my childhood. The base is rich and dark and perfectly counters the light, tender cream-cheese custard above it, itself kept all the mor…

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Christmas-Spiced Chocolate Cake

I love a fallen chocolate cake, and have found most everyone else does too. The cakes are so called because they are compact and flourless and, when cooling out of the oven, their rich centres drop an…

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Coffee and Walnut Layer Cake

Neither of my grandmothers, nor indeed my mother, was a baker but this cake is nonetheless the cake of my childhood. When I was little, I used to make it for my younger sister's birthday every year, b…

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Devil's Food Cake

Forget the name, this cake is heavenly. The crumb is tender, the filling and frosting luscious. When I made it one Friday, I expected my children, resident food critics much in the mould of the Grim e…

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Easter Egg Nest Cake

This has been my Easter stalwart for years and years and I don't see that changing — ever. Make this just once, and you will be similarly convinced. Even if I wanted to stop making this, I wouldn't be…

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Easy Almond Cake

You just will not get the marzipan to ooze into the cake batter if it starts off fridge-cold. In dire straits, I have cubed it and given it a quick whirl in the microwave. And if you wanted to replace…

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Did exactly what it said on the "tin"...worked a treat with the raspberries, jug of custard was an added treat for my guests! Love it.

Flourless Chocolate Lime Cake With Margarita Cream

There is something about a flourless chocolate cake that makes it so divinely easy to eat. And, when you have friends round, it's good to know this will make everyone happy, gluten-free people include…

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Gorgeously Golden Fruit Cake

This is the fruity blonde sister to that brunette temptress, my chocolate fruit cake from Nigella Christmas. It delivers, as promised, a cake of apricot-pear-and-ginger goldenness and goodness, so squ…

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Honey Chocolate Cake

I was once in Dean & DeLuca in New York and saw a little chocolate cake decorated with sugar bees. Having gone through a Biedermeier period earlier on in my life, I have something of a weakness for be…

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Italian Christmas Pudding Cake

This recipe is my own but at the same time a conflation of a couple of Italian Christmas must-haves: the glorious, fruit-studded panettone and crema di mascarpone, which is best described as tiramisu…

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Lemon Meringue Cake

In all honesty, the origin of this cake is simply that I cannot make a go of a lemon meringue pie. I've tried, and I've tried, and it's not that I've utterly failed, but I haven't completely delighted…

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Love Buns

In another time I'd have been satisfied with calling these Valentine's Day Cupcakes but, as the saying goes, if you're going to get wet, you may as well go swimming. And please read the Additional Inf…

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Maple Buttercream Cupcakes With Bacon Sprinkles

As someone who has happily come up with a bacon brownie recipe, I was only too enthusiastic about the idea of bringing bacon to a maple-syrup cupcake. I use very thinly sliced rindless streaky bacon t…

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Marmalade Pudding Cake

Now, this is a beauty. I don't mean flash or fancy — rather the opposite; there is something austerely handsome about its appearance, and yet gorgeously warming about its taste. But then, this laid-ba…

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Loved it! Snuck back to kitchen at midnight to polish of the leftovers before anyone else could!

Marshmallow Crispy Squares

You'd think this was designed to keep the children happy, and while that's OK with me, it is the adults who seem to find this particuarly irresistible. If I can find a tub of edible disco glitter in o…

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My Mother-In-Law's Madeira Cake

I don't know if I ever ate Madeira cake as a child, but just the sight of this golden-yellow loaf with its long crack down the middle makes me feel satisfactorily nostalgic. This recipe, given to me b…

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Best Madeira cake I've ever made, love it...love the crispy top!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is a bit before my time, but I have vague nursery memories of a friend of my grandmother's making a version of this, which she would serve with a warm sauce made of pineapple juice thickened with…

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Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake

This cake is not named for the bypass you might feel you'd need after eating it, but in honour of the four choc-factors that comprise its glory: cocoa to make the cake; chocolate chips or morsels to f…

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Ricotta Hotcakes

These are breakfast pancakes summer-style, ridiculously light, and lemony somehow even without the addition of lemon. If you imagine the flavour of cheesecake combined with a texture that's best descr…

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These have become a firm family favourite! When I'm stuck for an after school meal idea I turn to these hot cakes. Not only does my 4 year old love these with cheese/ham/fruit/honey, he'll also gladly help with the measuring and whisking. Fab!

Rococoa Cake

Forgive the whimsy of its naming, but every time I've tried to rename this cake, I veer back to this. I used to refer to it as Venetian chocolate cake, because its inspiration comes from a cake of tha…

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Rosemary Remembrance Cake

The food we eat connects us so deeply to those we love and, perhaps, especially so when they are no longer with us. And this recipe is really in honour of my maternal grandmother, and not just because…

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Coconut Macaroons

These are a very English kind of macaroon, the sort you always used to see displayed in bakers' shops alongside the madelines (those sponge castles dipped in luminous strawberry jam and dredged in thr…

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Lunchbox Treats

It's a long time since I popped one of these crunchy, crisp, sweet and chewy treats into a lunchbox, but I have a great residual fondness for them, and not just because they taste compellingly like se…

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

The pumpkin component here may come out of a can, but I don’t see that’s anything to be apologetic about. By all means, make your own purée if you prefer (making absolutely sure it is as drained as dr…

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I made this for a dinner party recently, and it was an absolute hit! When I first read the recipe, I wondered if I should add spices to make it more like a traditional pumpkin pie. I decided to follow Nigella's recipe to the letter, and I am so glad I did! The balance of flavors is perfect. The pumpkin is subtle and shines just enough. It is so much better than a standard pie filling! Definitely adding this to the Thanksgiving table!!

Chocolate Salame

I’ve encountered quite a few versions of chocolate salame in Italy — coming to the conclusion that it’s really an Italian version of our chocolate refrigerator cake — and although I am not normally a…

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Cherry Cheesecake

This is not the trad baked cheesecake that requires patience and lots of spare time. No, this is fresh, quick, simple and — best of all — irresistibly scrumptious! Even in the spirit of retro-accuracy…

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Easy and so delicious!! Bravo Nigella.

Chocolate Guinness Cake

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 descr…

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London Cheesecake

This is one of the best sort of recipes — a family hand-me-down. My paternal grandmother instructed me in the art of adding the final layer of sour cream, sugar and vanilla towards the end of the cook…

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I made this for my family over the Easter break and it was pure heaven! I'd never had a cheesecake this good before, and even better, I'd made it myself!

Cupcakes

At about the time I started getting into top cupcake mode, ostensibly for children, I noticed that the people who really seemed to get excited by them were the children's parents. Instant Royal Icing…

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This recipe really makes the best cupcakes ever. A friend's mum who has been baking for years tried one and asked me for the recipe!

Meringue Gelato Cake With Chocolate Sauce

I found this recipe for one of the world's easiest but most delicious desserts in a rather fabulous book, by chef and "culinary philosopher" Gioacchino Scognamiglio, called Il Chichibio: ovvero poesia…

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

This is not for the faint-hearted. Unashamed indulgence, wallowingly so, is what this recipe is all about: think Reese's Peanut Butter cup in cheesecake form. For that reason, I don't bake this in a w…

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Chocolate Fudge Cake

This is the sort of cake you'd want to eat the whole of when you'd been chucked. But even the sight of it, proud and tall and thickly iced on its stand, comforts.

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I have made this cake several times, it is so easy. It always gets a wow. I use it to make chocolate birthday cakes.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake

This is, for me, the quintessential chocolate cake: melting, luscious and mood-enhancingly good. A food technologist would explain this in terms of "mouthfeel" but I don't know quite how that makes me…

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I've made this cake many times and never a crumb has been left ! Everyone I made it for has said how lovely it is and is become my go to cake for all occasions ! Thank you Nigella for all your lovely recipes x

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Although I first came up with this recipe because I had someone coming for supper who — genuinely — couldn't eat wheat or dairy, it is so meltingly good, I now make it all the time for those whose lif…

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Clementine Cake

This, an adaption of Claudia Roden's magnificent orange and almond cake, is a wonderfully damp, dense and aromatic flourless cake: it tastes like one of those sponges you drench, while cooling, with s…

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Nutella Cake

Not only is this one of the easiest cakes to make, it happens — joyously — to be one of the most delicious. My household is totally addicted! Please don't feel obliged to rush out and buy a bottle of…

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Red Velvet Cupcakes

Even though I do give instructions below as to how to make these into one big Red Velvet Cake, I like them so much more as cupcakes. Yes, they do use food colouring — and I advise the paste rather tha…

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Made this twice and believe me, this recipe makes the best red velvet cake/cupcakes ever. The cake was super moist, fluffy and sweetness was at perfection. Red velvet cake can not get any better than this. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Nigella. We loved it.

Chocolate Cheesecake

In the past, I've been apologetic about adulterating your basic cheescake, but I've moved on. This is exceptional: exactly the right balance between satiny sweetness and smooth tang. Regard the glaze…

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Molten Chocolate Babycakes

These are the acceptable face of culinary cute: their intensity guarantees the triumph of chic over prettiness. And, what's more, they're easy to make. You can make the mixture up a few hours in advan…

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Tropical Chocolate Cake

This is a wonderful cake: amusing but no joke; the velvety sponge is dark, moist and gently fragranced. Go easy on the essence/extract in the icing, though, or it will be just too Hawaiian Tropic. Sho…

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Chocolate Sheet Cake

I love an American sheet cake — it’s a great way to feed a lot of people and, in my book, the more people get to eat cake, the better. I’ve simplified what is an already simple approach, so that both…

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Lemon Polenta Cake

This cake is a sort of Anglo-Italian amalgam. The flat, plain disc is reminiscent of the confections that sit geometrically arranged in patisserie windows in Italy; the sharp, syrupy sogginess borrows…

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Christmas Morning Muffins

I have never quite understood how people can go in for vast, rich breakfasts on Christmas morning. I am hardly a modest eater by anyone's standards, but even I can't quite accommodate a platterful of…

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Easy-Action Christmas Cake

I just throw everything into a pan, let the heat from the stove send buttery rum and citrus juices permeating into the currants, sultanas and raisins, add flour and eggs, a can of chestnut purée to gi…

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Holiday Hot Cake With Eggnog Cream

A warming, welcoming pud full of seasonal spice that can be thrown together in a matter of minutes. Truly a pudding to give thanks for. As for the eggnog cream, by all means add a grating of nutmeg if…

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Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake

This is a sleight of hand, or a trick of equipment rather than an act of brilliance. True, the cake does look incredibly complicated and seasonally impressive as it comes to the table, but that is all…

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Yule Log

I know the recipe looks finicky, and I can’t promise it’s a doddle, but it works easily and you will soon find you are rolling chocolate logs without a care. In fact, if you have a lot of people comin…

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Ghoul-Graveyard Cake

OK, so this is my Meisterwerk. You can see how glorious it looks and you need to know now how easy it is to make. You just buy some Hallowe'en-themed lollies (I use the jellied kind) which are scarcel…

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Banana Bread

I haven't done a tremendous amount of fiddling with this, but I did once make it, for friends who are more chocolate-crazed than I am, by replacing 25g / 3 tablespoons of the flour with good cocoa pow…

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This is the best banana bread I have made and I’ve made very many. The recipe and cooking instructions are perfect as one has come to expect from Nigella. Wonderful!

Banana Butterscotch Muffins

White chocolate morsels can be used in place of the butterscotch ones and my children seem to love both with equal fervour, though I'm pretty fond of these with dark chocolate chips, too.

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Chocolate Banana Muffins

I tend to think of muffins as a grab-and-go refuelling treat or something you'd make for a weekend breakfast, but these look so darkly elegant, especially in their matching dark-brown, tulip-skirted p…

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This recipe is wonderful! The muffins rose so high that they looked like I'd bought them from a coffee shop. They tasted so delicious and stayed moist for days and days. After reading other comments I'm definitely inspired to try adding chocolate chips and other embellishments to see what magic can be made. Another absolute staple in my repertoire of baking recipes, thank you once again for a faultless recipe Nigella.

Chocolate-Topped Banana Cake

I can never throw away old, overripe bananas, and although I have many recipes for using them up, I enjoy coming up with new ways, and really wanted, here, a proper cake — delicious though any banana…

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Cheesecake Ice Cream

This started off as something of a culinary conceit: I wanted to recreate the flavour of cheesecake in ice-cream form. I don't claim it's an original idea — I'd once eaten cheesecake ice cream in a re…

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Ice Cream Cake

I don't think a cook's job should be to deceive, but there is something appealing about the fact that this looks and tastes as if it were incredibly hard work and yet involves no more than a bit of st…

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Strawberry Shortcakes

I've long been fascinated by this American confection, which isn't really a scone so much as a tender, buttery sponge with scone-like properties, split and crammed with strawberries. There is nothing,…

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Nutella Cheesecake

I don’t know if I should apologise for this or boast about it. Either way, I feel you will thank me for it. The thing is, it’s embarrassingly easy to make and unembarrassingly easy to eat. Don’t be te…

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The most delicious chocolate cheesecake ever and so easy.

Simnel Cake

Originally, this cake was made for Mothering Sunday, but it has for a long, long time been an essential Easter confection, the marzipan balls on top representing the apostles: eleven in total as, for…

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Honey Cake

This is the cake to make for Rosh Hashanah. Indeed, you couldn’t proceed without it. Many people give them as presents over the Jewish New Year and you are quite likely to end up with more than one of…

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