Ma Niche : Nigella Lawson

23.8.13

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake (Nigella Lawson)

Yesterday evening I might have spent a good half an hour debating between Nigella's Everyday Brownie and Chocolate Olive Oil Cake... It finally boiled down to a battle between butter and olive oil.. and since health ranks above all in every homemakers' world, olive oil won... well in this case extra virgin olive oil won, because that is what i had in hand. The outcome was a sheer delight. though there wasn't any occasion to celebrate, with a cake like that in hand, yesterday felt special. husband was grinning-happy, baby asked for more... and i was glad that i chose to bake the chocolate olive oil cake..

just wanted to note a few things before i go onto the recipe... i mostly followed Nigella's recipe except that i used EVO instead of regular olive oil and granulated sugar instead of superfine sugar. also, because i did not have enough almonds, i used plain flour and sprinkled some roasted almonds on top for flavor... and as you can imagine it gave a nice crunch to the cake without making it very heavy.

another thing, if you can, control your urges of digging into the cake right away. for whatever reason... this cake gets better every hour. the soda smell which was obvious in the first hour magically vanished by the time we put our baby to sleep and cut ourselves nice big slices of the cake ... and the cake tasted awesome with ice-cream and cherries...

Chocolate Olive Oil CakeRecipe Source : Nigella Lawson Express
ingredients ⅔ cup regular olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil) 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder ½ cup boiling water 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or 1 ½ cups almond meal ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 pinch of salt 1 cup superfine sugar (I used granulated sugar) 3 large eggs chopped roasted almonds for garnish (optional) - the method Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch spring-form tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment or line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. (I used my cake pan.) Measure out the unsweetened cocoa into a bowl and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolate-y, runny paste. stir in the vanilla extract and set the mixture aside to cool a little. In another bowl, sift in the flour along with baking soda and a pinch of salt. Beat the sugar and olive oil (preferably with a hand-mixer) till the mixture looks smooth and creamy. then beating continuously add the eggs one by one. continue beating until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream, about 5 minutes. then turning the speed down, add the cocoa mixture. once that is well incorporated, slowly add the flour mixture and beat lightly till a smooth uniform batter is formed. now pour the batter into the prepared tin, sprinkle the chopped almonds on top, in case you are using them and bake the cake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until the sides are set and the center, on top, looks slightly damp. (my cake tester came out clean at 42 minutes. however Nigella says that the tester should mostly be clean but can have a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.) Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin. then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin.(since i had lined the cake pan with parchment paper I did not have to use metal spatula, it came off the pan easily.) Leave the cake to cool completely or eat while still warm with some ice cream, as a pudding. however as i noted above the cake gets better every hour so try and hold yourself back and you'll be fairly rewarded ;-)

Chocolate Olive Oil CakeRecipe Source : Nigella Lawson Express

ingredients

⅔ cup regular olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup boiling water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or 1 ½ cups almond meal
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch of salt
1 cup superfine sugar (I used granulated sugar)
3 large eggs
chopped roasted almonds for garnish (optional)

the method

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch spring-form tin with a little oil and line the base with baking parchment or line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. (I used my cake pan.)
Measure out the unsweetened cocoa into a bowl and whisk in the boiling water until you have a smooth, chocolate-y, runny paste. stir in the vanilla extract and set the mixture aside to cool a little.
In another bowl, sift in the flour along with baking soda and a pinch of salt.
Beat the sugar and olive oil (preferably with a hand-mixer) till the mixture looks smooth and creamy. then beating continuously add the eggs one by one. continue beating until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream, about 5 minutes.
then turning the speed down, add the cocoa mixture. once that is well incorporated, slowly add the flour mixture and beat lightly till a smooth uniform batter is formed.
now pour the batter into the prepared tin, sprinkle the chopped almonds on top, in case you are using them and bake the cake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until the sides are set and the center, on top, looks slightly damp. (my cake tester came out clean at 42 minutes. however Nigella says that the tester should mostly be clean but can have a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.)
Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin. then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin.(since i had lined the cake pan with parchment paper I did not have to use metal spatula, it came off the pan easily.)
Leave the cake to cool completely or eat while still warm with some ice cream, as a pudding. however as i noted above the cake gets better every hour so try and hold yourself back and you'll be fairly rewarded ;-)

Happy Baking and have a nice weekend !

I am linking this post to the event Cook like a Star, organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce from Kitchen Flavours and Anuja from Simple Baking.

You can read more about the event here.

Also sharing this with the following food events...

Monday Food : Made with Love Mondays, Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Inspiration MOnday Party, Sharing Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Maniac Monday Linky Party,Mix it up Monday, The Scoop

Tuesday Food: Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations, Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home, Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings, Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles, Tasty Tuesday, Hearth and Soul blog Hop

Wednesday Food : What's Cooking Wednesday @ Buns in my Oven, Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain , Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2

Thursday Food: Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Creative Thursday @ Michelle's Tasty Creations, Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity, Freedom Friday @ My Turn, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Friday Food: Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club, The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog Recipes, Friday Link Party @ The Pin Junkie, TGIF LinkParty@I WantCrazy

22.8.13

Nigella's Maple Chicken

Maple Chicken was the first Nigella Lawson recipe that i tried and immediately fell in love with. It was a breeze to pull off and it tasted restaurant-good. yes. it was that good. juicy, succulent and delicious ! I was more than delighted with it. however my husband did not share my enthusiasm. the thing is, true to his nature, ignoring all my warnings, he reheated his dish in the microwave just before digging in. and that spoilt it all. it dried off the chicken and him sad and grumpy... so in case you decide on this recipe (and you must)... be warned right now.. do not reheat it in the microwave. bake it, serve it and dig into it right away and relish the awesomeness of this chicken dish...

before i share the recipe let me mention the changes that i made. the original recipe from Nigella Lawson Express was Maple Chicken and Ribs. since i do not eat pork or beef so i left it out and halved the remaining ingredients. also i used boneless chicken since that is what i had in hand. also i sprinkled some sea salt over the chicken just before i put the skillet in the oven. i kind of liked the added salt but you can skip it if you like....

now the recipe...

Nigella's Maple Chicken Recipe Source: Nigella Lawson Express
ingredients 1/2 boneless chicken cut into 8 pieces 125 ml apple juice 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoons soy sauce 1 star anise 1 cinnamon stick (halved) 3 cloves garlic, grated sea salt to taste (optional) - the method Put the chicken pieces in a freezer bag or a dish. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl, crushing in the star anise and cinnamon sticks into it. then add this mixture to the freezer bag/dish, seal/cover it and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight or up to 2 days.(I left it for 2 days). when ready to cook, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, pour the contents of the freezer bag/dish into a large enough oven dish or an iron skillet (as i did), sprinkle some salt on it and bake the chicken in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. then reducing the oven temperature to 400 degrees F, bake for another 15 minutes, until the glossy and sticky. serve immediately and enjoy !

Nigella's Maple Chicken
Recipe Source: Nigella Lawson Express