Customer Reviews
Comfort food at it's best - By: K. Pollecutt, 30 Nov 2008 
Just the most dreamy book, I just like to look through it sometimes as it cheers me up. The recipes are all yummy, easy to follow & love Nigellas approach. Would not be without this book, refer to time & again.
Baking Flavoured Genius!!! - By: Debbie, 29 Sep 2008 I absolutely love this book.
Mouth-watering recipes with honest & humerous additions & explanations to encourage you through them. Although some of the recipes look & sound a little advanced you never know until you try, & as the author explains some of the most wonderful recipes are created by mistake.
Admittedly i've mostly attempted sweet treats but the Cornish Pasty recipe was divine, I substituted the mince for butternut squash & made a vegetarian version. Thats another bonus of this book, many recipes have variations at the end, meaning once you've got your confidence you can experiment safein the knowlegde that it wont ruin it by changing bits.
My book is coveredin splashes of this & that & chocolate thumbprints as the recipes have been used over & over.
Theres a store cupboard chocolate orange cake, which again sounds scary when you discover the main ingredient is a jar of marmalade...but as my dad always said "try it before you screw your face upin disgust".
My favourite has to be the moist chocolate loaf which requires stirringin 250ml of boiling water!!! It did look very very watery & like a disaster waiting to happen.....but my god it was gorgeous!!! Have faith & attempt it more than once & you'll find you're constantly baking these favourites for everyone & their mother!!!
I've never managed to make a decent cheesecake & this book has a genius recipe for mini BAKED cheesecakes which turn out perfect every time - there's even advice on how to get the damn things out of the tins (which was as Nigella warned trickier if you're trying to eat them before they're cooled).
I love the little hints & tips - e.g. the butter cut out biscuits recipe makes absolutely tons of yummy biscuits (not a problemin our house) but as suggested you can put half the doughin the freezer & make a second batch later, it even explains how long to defrost it for! Also if she says use baking paper, dont think you know better! If it defies "non stick" for Nigella you & your supermarket brand bakeware wont stand a chance. But if you like eating your food straight from the baking tray or scraping it off into a messy heap...be my guest.
More like Domestic Failure... - By: Catfish, 01 Aug 2008 
Nigella Lawson goes out of her way to convince the reader that it is oh-so-easy to bake mouthwatering cakes & achieve a wonderful sense of satisfaction as a homey domestic goddess...unfortunately, after trying 70% of the recipesin her book & following them exactly, the only thing I feel like is a frustrated domestic failure. I don't know why everyone else raves about this book so much, but I suspect it might be just because it looks good on the shelf, & there's no doubt about it, the photos really do look wonderful. But I'm not convinced that all the positive reviewers have tried many of the recipes, & if they have I would love someone to let me know how I could modify them so that I too can feel like a domestic goddess?
I have tried the chocolate cake - made it for a special occasion & it was a disaster, the entire centre sinking from 5cm to a mere 1cm; the sour-cream chocolate cake was actually unpleasant; the almond cake with fruit was burnt to a crisp by the time I took it out the oven 30 minutes later than the cooking time specified; the polenta base for a fruit tart which was supposed to feed 6 came out so small that it barely fed me & my partner & I was left with a tin of cherries that would not fit on the base; the peanut butter biscuits which were said to be heavenly were ordinary & I got bored of having to eat them after 2 days; the banana muffins didn't rise at all; the lemon cake had to sitin the oven 35 minutes extra before it cooked inside while the outside was hard & brittle. All these failures convince me that most of the recipes have not been tested prior to being published. I use the Leith's baking bible regularly & everything always turns out fine, just as it should - nothing burns or needs to be baked for an extra half an hour or sinks after being taken out the oven.
Two stars only because of the lemon & rspberry muffins which were rather nice (although of course also flat & did not rise at all...and yes, I have checked the validity of my baking powder!) Overall, a book with wonderful potential & beautiful photos - if only someone tried the recipes & modified them so that they actually work.
Truly Comforting - By: IngestedKitten, 25 Nov 2007 This book reintroduced me to the kitchen after long avoiding it (it's amazing how long you can survive on cold spaghetti hoops & sandwiches). I admit I was entranced by the cover picture, & for about two weeks it sat wrapped up on the side with me wondering what on earth posessed me to buy it.
When I did finally pluck up the courage to read it I was so glad I did. It not only serves as the most wonderful food porn, but it's non-patronising & really easy to follow.
Not only do I love lusting over the sound of the confections, I really really enjoy baking them. I've had only one item go awry-the courgette cake-but even as a sunken mess it tasted fantastic.
I think anyone who loves cakes should have this on their shelf.
Wonderful, Simply Wonderful - By: Bookworm, 03 Aug 2007 I've had this book ever since it came out, but the only reason I'm writing this review now is because I feel the need to defend Nigella's recipes. Any person who says her recipes are 'guesstimates' either doesn't own this book or hasn't ever cooked from it.Of the 100+ cookbooks I own, this is the one I've used the most & have yet to come across a recipe that has failed. If you love to bake then you must have this book & if you love to cook, then it is imperative that you own all her books.
