Tuesday 5 October 2010

marmalade pudding cake

I'm sure all cooks far and wide will agree with me that making any dessert recipe by Nigella Lawson is likely to make you feel a tad guilty (if not really guilty). The guilt comes from several counts; guilty for how rich the recipes taste, guilty for using mostly full-fat ingredients (but honestly, why make a dessert from anything short of full fat?) and finally guilty from the highly addictive consumption of the dessert until there's no more of it. Well amongst our busy lives, I think the opportunity to feel guilty once in awhile is healthy for you and I think this Marmalade Pudding Cake is a good form of guilty!

This recipe was the first recipe I made out of Nigella's new cookbook, 'Kitchen' which came ever so promptly on Bookdepository after pre-ordering at a bargain of $20! It's an extra thick volume full of everyday recipes that I'm struggling to decide where to start but the marmalade pudding cake stood out amongst them all. The recipe below has been slightly abridged for the cooking time as it took a bit longer than the 40 minutes which the recipe suggest.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and butter an ovenproof dish. In small saucepan, combine 75g marmalade and juice of 1/2 orange and set aside to make the glaze later.

In a large bowl, cream together 250g softened unsalted butter, 75g caster sugar and 75g rich brown sugar. 

Beat in 150g marmalade, then sift in 225g plain flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda and 1 tsp baking powder. Stir to combine. Add in 4 eggs, zest and juice of 1/2 orange. Fold together.

Place mix in the greased ovenproof dish and cook for about 50-55 minutes. Test the mixture with a cake tester to ensure that it has cooked through. Remove from the oven and leave in the dish.

Warm the glaze mixture in the pan until melted together, then paint the top of the pudding.

Use a large spoon to serve.

In true Nigella fashion, this cake was gorgeously delicious and did make me feel a tad guilty as after finishing my first serve I was quickly digging into my second. The pudding cake keeps rather well in the fridge and can be enjoyed over the next couple of days; just ping in the microwave for about 20 seconds and to make it a real treat, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream otherwise Nigella does recommend it served with custard or cream (but I think vanilla ice cream is a bit more of a staple at home). 

3 comments:

Rita (mademoiselle délicieuse) said...

I love reading her recipes even if I don't plan on making them. She has the most wonderfully descriptive prose that conveys her love for whatever she is cooking. Nothing like passion as encouragement to get into the kitchen.

panda said...

i can sit there and comfortably entertain myself with a nigella lawson cookbook; i love the way she writes. to be quite honest, i've had a few hit and misses with some of her recipes but when they turn out well, they're brilliant!

Von said...

$20!!! =O

I've never looked at any of Nigella Lawson's cookbooks, or made any of her recipes =S But they sound really good- I'll have to get one of her books someday.....meanwhile I'll just continue drooling over blogs like yours =D This cake looks so good! Definitely worth the guilt =)