To think that recipes like this should be banned

[wol1968]

...or at least come with a big fat warning triangle. It's Miranda Gore Brown's recipe for Hazelnut Tiramisu Cake, in this month's Essentials. It's basically a nutrition-wheel red-out, with chocolate, double cream, mascarpone, butter, sugar, sugar, booze, sugar, chocolate...you get the picture. Calorie content: 1074 cals a serving.

I'm not a food prude. I'm not a health nut. I like a slice of cake as much as the next woman. But really? Is it physically possible for anyone except endurance athletes, Arctic explorers and lanky teenagers to eat this without it affecting their health? This kind of recipe is more like drugs than food, TBH, and I think it's probably deeply irresponsible to be promoting it when so many people are worried about obesity. Yes, you can choose not to eat it, or have a smaller slice. But I'm not sure it should be glorified as delicious even though it probably is

AIB completely U to feel a bit disturbed?

Found a recipe here -
www.thelittleloaf.com/2012/04/03/hazelnut-tiramisu-cake/

Sounds amazing!

Jesus wept, I thought you were joking with your title.

Seemingly not.

Ooooo tasty linky link

Sounds amazing! As long as you don't eat it for breakfast every day I think it's fine as a treat ;)

YANBU I agree OP. There's no skill/magic in making something delicious that is that calorific, I always think the same when TV chefs drown everything in butter. My dogs chew toy would taste alright if it was subjected to a butter confit.

Yes we can all just opt not to make the recipe, but its the normalisation of food like this that is why we're all in the state we're in.

YABU. It's cake, not salad.

The given servings look massive, anyhow.

Yes we can all just opt not to make the recipe, but its the normalisation of food like this that is why we're all in the state we're in.

Thanks ViviPru for putting it way better than I did.

Wow. British people have gone mad. Banning recipes, not because they are with endangered species, or with drugs in them. Banning them because they make you fat... Do you really need to be micro-managed so badly, or are you so uneducated that you do not know mascarpone is full of calories?

What next? Seriously?

Or maybe you are Michelle Obama?

ViviPru - its the normalisation of food like this that is why we're all in the state we're in

Speak for yourself (are you in a state)?

OfaFrenchMind - hang on - don't label all of us Brits with the same tag. Mad? Uneducated? I don't think so! Just a few let us down. Thank you

EvansOvalPiesYumYum
Good! I could not believe people that bake such amazing toffee cake could say such blasphemy. :)

One piece of delicious, homemade pudding, full of real food ingredients or two Snickers? How many people eat 2 chocolate bars in a day without even thinking about it? At least the Tiramisu needs to be thought about, made and will be appreciated.

Homemade cake isn't "normal". That's the problem. If all treats were made at home, we'd appreciate them more and we wouldn't be an obese nation. It's the fact that grabbing a Latte & muffin on the way to work, a Twix and a bag of crisps at lunch and more chocolate to eat at the bus stop on the way home is normal that's the problem.

Ofa, is Michelle Obama banning recipes?

I have no idea what proportion that many calories is of a recommended daily intake.

well this escalated quickly...

possibly the most ridiculous post I have ever seen on here

Are you going to bam all crips, chocolate, cake, junk food, fast food and fun while your at it?

sperm has 20 calories per teaspoon... shall we ban it too?

Ha ha Neverletgojack, I thought we were talking about cake and other high calorie foods. Sperm? How did that come about?

Yes, let's replace self discipline with banning everything.

That way no-one will have to take responsibility for themselves or their children.

which

I just happened to recall sperms calorie value
full of useful info me

Yes we can all just opt not to make the recipe, but its the normalisation of food like this that is why we're all in the state we're in.

Which sounds all Guardian-y and shit, but what's your and the OP's plan? That prior to publication (if posting to a blog constitutes "publication" in any useful sense) all recipes should have to be submitted to the calorie police, and checked for compliance with nutritional standards? What would happen if I put a bit of extra whipped cream on? Would the police burst in, G36 assault rifles cocked, and demand I step away from the cake stand?

Actually there is a place for high calorie foods in recipe books as some people have medical conditions - for example those with Cystic Fibrosis - which means they don't absorb food/nutrients properly and can need a very high calorie diet to stay well.

Oh, I thought this one going to be one of those stupid American recipes that says 'take one packet of white cake mix, add some ready-made icing, ta dah!'. The Essentials one sounds nicer.

Food like that isn't becoming normalised. Look at the recipe. You can't make it in five minutes. It isn't being sold in every supermarket. It's a perfectly delicious looking special occasion recipe.

What's been normalised is massive portion sizes, crappy processed food with loads of added sugar, breakfast cereal that belongs in the confectionary aisle, and feeding children snacks every hour on the hour.

You do realise you can half or even quarter the slice...

1/8 of a 20cm, very rich cake, is a huge slice!

I think you should see the recipe for what it is-a treat.

Personally I don't think double cream, mascarpone or butter are unhealthy because I am an advocate of natural fats.
However I know this is not a mainstream view.

I think we have gone wrong, trying to make everything healthy. Fruit pastilles made with real fruit juice. Fat free marsh mallows. Diet coke. All come with the message that they are a little bit healthy and encourage a false sense of security. So it's "ok" to eat loads.

In the 70s/80s we may have had brilliant blue and tartrazine to drink and pink wafers, psychedelic smarties and fluorescent Orange Sparkles to eat but we KNEW these things were bad and only had them at parties or special occasions-not every day.