What have you made from the Domestic Goddess book that was good?

[PruniStuffing]

Had a flick through Nigella Lawson's DG last night and realised I've made a few things that didn't turn out quite right. Am I just crap at baking or is it a not-very-good book? The pictures are dreamy, of course, but everything ends up a bit...bland - I have to double or treble the amount of spice, for instance. What am I doing wrong?

Banana bread the best thing. Courgette cake made me feel ill (but is good for non-dairy people).

How reassuring this question is. I thought it was just me and my lack of domestic goddessness. I made her chocolate cake with chocolate ganache icing for DD's birthday. The cake was dry and the ganache had an odd texture. I would never make it again. The madeira cake didn't cook through properly in the middle. I find Mary Berry's recipes far more reliable.

Forgot to include the molten chocolate babycakes in my list too - they're also fab! All this thinking about cake is making me want some now though!

the red onion supper tart thing is fantastic, excpet that I think it says it feeds 4-6 and dh and I would say 2-3!

the damp lemon and almond cake is gorgeous and I like the storecupboard choc orange cake.

agree that you have to try things first, one of the loaf recipes makes way too much for a loaf tin

I was rather disappointed with the damp lemon and almond cake actually, although I cant now remember why... maybe it was neither almondy not lemony enough for me.

If we are talking Feast, try the old fashioned chocolate cake, drool, drool.

I've made the chocolate brownies with cream cheese in the middle, which are fab, but need to be eaten within about 24 hours (not really a problem ). Think they were from there.

the fairy/cup cake recipe is a huge basic recipe in our house, added all sorts of things to vary them, the birthday cake with leaves round....(.maple flavour is it? cant remember without getting up....)is fabulous, the biscuits nearly al work out great, esp the dark 'plain' looking choc ones which are very moreish. the butter cut out biscuits are fab for cookie cutters, tho dont bake them very long or they are VERY hard... the flapjack never really works, never sticks together enough, but otherwise, i quite like the 'bung some of that in' approach, its very how i cook anyway...

Gooey chocolate stack (or something like that) is sooo yummy

as are her kids biscuits!

Damp lemon and almond cake fab with whizzed up raspberries or other summer fruit, banana bread, and the hazlenut one with frangelico.

LOL, I can never get the flapjacks to work either, she seems to have more butter and less sugar than other flapjack recipes, I find the more sugar, less butter ones seem to stick together better, although they usually weld to the tin, no happy medium!

I have made the lemon syrup loaf cake several times and it always goes overdone on top and stays gooey in the middle; might be my oven though. It helped not to use all the mix.

Brownies are the best I've even tasted, or made.

Fairy cakes are great and I think they actually taste better made with marge!

Made the buttermilk sponge with chocolate frosting for ds's birthday and was v disappointed, not chocolately enough at all.

Chocolate cake with madeira is not the tastiest for bowl-licking, as she said!

Learned how to make bread from that book and do it every week now.

Peanut butter squares are gorgeous. I also make riciarelli regularly but mine are round since I have no idea how to make believable diamond shapes.

Did everything for xmas 2004 out of 'Feast' and it was amazing; bread sauce, sweet potato mash with marshmallows, heavenly.

I made the "non-conformist christmas pudding" from Feast this year although, obviously, I have no idea what it tastes like yet. It's huuuuuuuuuuuuge though!

Banana loaf always turns out well.

I've also made some of the savoury pies in the springform tin she bangs on about and these were good too.

I do tend to find my Mary Berry baking book better for cakes etc.

I did the whole Christmas feast from that book too and it was really wonderful. I even bought the turkey from Kelly Farms on her recommendation and it was the nicest turkey we had all had, really good quality. We are getting one from there this year too.

I have also made the birthday cake but wasn't too sure about it although it looked lovely and just like the picture.

Flapjack in Domestic Goddess were a disaster, as were the brownies with cream cheese in the middle and I soooooo thought they'd be gorgeous. They were just completely gooey, impossible to get out of tin. I really liked the onion pie thing but bf didn't. I love her baked plums in How To eat and am itching to make the chocolate guiness cake in Feast, but would like somebody else to tell me that it works 1st!

Tried most of the receipes without gluten in DG, very rich but yummy, pistacho macaroons are good but never bother with the icing. Quadruple choc cake in Feast is fab.

Oh good, it's not just me then.
I made the certosino cake (or similar italian word) one christmas and it was so bad we threw it away. Seriously, it needed five times the amount of spice she suggested. I can only imagine her spices are hand picked and ground by the heavenly host or something, because ours were fresh and lovely and it still tasted of nothing.
Made Boston cream cake or something with lots of gorgeous icing, oh god it was a dream.
But the marzipan fruit cake was odd.
The cheese and onion pie was delish.
Peanut butter chocolate squares (forget original name) were a disaster.
Lemon drizzle cake buys me sexual favours in this household. And who knows, maybe in others.

The jams and chutneys are great - spiced apple etc, also I think I make her mincemeat, oh and the black cake. Christmas muffins are good too. I LOVE THIS BOOK

pruni at misuse of lemon drizzle cake!

the french biscuit/butter cake thing was lovely with stewed apples, the brownies are gorgeous and I think the kids biscuits are fab!

Steak and kidney pudding - fantastic
Carrot and walnut muffins
cappuccino cupcakes
choc cherry cupcakes
fairy cakes - v simple
didn't think much of the jam doughnut muffins
banana,white choc chip and cherry muffins - bit of a dissapointment

I pie made with filo pastry, with rice in it - very good
Some little individual choc puddings - needed far more cooking time than she says - they would have been raw on her timing.

I want to know what a cornichon is please.

oliveoil isn't it a posh word for a gherkin?
Notice that lots of people say that choc orange cake. Agree that the flapjacks fell to pieces.
Actually I would like a reliable flapjack recipe that doesn't fall to bit (or stick to the tin).

Line your flapjack tin with greaseproof paper.