Jill Dupleix's recipe, ostensibly not from Lighten Up. It's a classic recipe from Old Food, and was recommended to me by a guy from my old work, who makes this as his specialty. I can't see how it's especially different from other sticky date pudding recipes, but it was definitely the best I've ever tried. Give it a go when you want some proper homespun comfort food.


Vanilla Apples with Sweetheart Croutes
This dessert, from the Storecupboard S.O.S. chapter of Nigella Express, is so simple; it shouldn't taste as good as it does. It is basically made up of thinly sliced apples, fried in butter and vanilla extract (I used a vanilla pod, wonderfully fresh and aromatic, bought cheaply at the market), and little hearts of Wonder White bread, also fried in the same butter until crisp. Absolutely delicious.


Night and Day Cupcakes

When I had to make a "welcome back" dessert for my friends who'd just returned from Japan a few weeks back, I wanted to make cute cupcakes with a not-to-sweet-yet-still-swirly-and-cute icing. I turned to Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess, and decided on her Night and Day cupcakes - a chocolate cupcake with a cream-cheese icing. I added a little piece of white chocolate to the centre of each cupcake...

... and added a cute little koala cookie to the top of each one!



London Cheesecake
I made this with a friend of mine for her to take to work for a "Multicultural day" at her work. Again, it is from How to be a Domestic Goddess. It is a rich, dense, creamy cheesecake, including 6 egg yolks, and covered with a layer of sour cream. Absolutely divine, but only in small slices.

Marble Cake
Sometimes you just want a little something sweet with your afternoon tea. Something plain, unfancy, and just a little bit naughty. The solution? Marble Cake, Donna Hay, Modern Classics 2. I know I keep saying I'm not a Donna fan, but I got Modern Classics 1 & 2 for my 21st birthday, and I have since realised that they're a great source for basic recipes. The only difference I made was to omit the pink swirl that Donna suggests, and increase the chocolate swirl.

Chocolate Cheesecake
I saw Nigella make this on Nigella Feasts, and just had to have it. Chocolate base, chocolate filling, chocolate glaze. Sounds beautiful! We made it as a trial run for that "Multicultural Day" thingo my friend was having at her work. When we tried it, however, we felt it was waaay too rich, even in teensy-weensy slices. So, we opted for the London cheesecake, and gave the remaining chocolate cheesecake to my dad to distribute to his (not-so-fussy) workmates, who all thoroughly enjoyed it.