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).

aah yes, but that doesn't get round the "not sticking together" bit. What do I do wrong?

a lot of her recipes are rtoo indulgents for me

t o sweet too eggy

Darn and blast you lot! I've been making Millionaire's Shortbread today thanks to this thread reminding me about it!

Hopes MN Mamas is starting again in January

LOL Soupy, you've obviously never had the flapjacks stick to the greaseproof paper, that happens in our house!

Blimey, not only can you not download a ringtone, you can't make flapjacks either

scones and cupcackes are my basic recipes but her muffins aren't as good as Delias. I use Delias recipe and use Nigella for inspiration. The baklava muffins were fab done like this.

Pain au choc bread and butter pudding is gorgeous as is the ginger cake.

Found her brownies worked better if I added some baking powder otherwise they were too wet in the middle and burnt on the outside.

Agree that the marzipan fruit cake was a disappointment.

Cheeky!

I really struggle with flapjacks . Nigella's ones fall apart and any other recipe they weld to the tin or the greaseproof paper (which in many ways is worse). Suzywong recommending putting some cream in the mixture but I haven't tried that yet. Not going on MN whilst they are cooking and leaving them in the oven too long would be a good start!

Have made mince pies and millionaire's shortcake today which are both fab. I forgot to mention earlier that the millionaire's shortcake, the toffee bit, needs far more cooking than NL recommends too.

IMO best muffins to be found in Muffins Fast and Fabulous (or something like that) book from Lakeland.

The supper onion tart is gorgeous, but bears a striking resemblance to one Delia published about 5 years earlier .

The fairycakes are lush - especially the burnt butter ones (not sure if they're from the DG book or one of her others). The Snickers muffins are gorgeous, but a lot of the other muffins aren't that hot (inc the cranberry xmas morning ones, which leave a distinct aftertaste of bicarb of soda).

The storecupboard (marmalade) choc cake is loverly, as is the pain au chocolat bread and butter pudding (as long as you have the oven 10 degrees hotter than the recipe). Yum!

has anyone made the love buns for valentines day? they are FABULOUS and you could eat about 20 in one go.

I make the easy almond cake all the time - really quick and easy. Also like the Xmas muffins and the number biscuits for b'day parties. The choc cake with marmalade in it is very good too, but I find it needs cooking for much longer than she says - might be my oven. I like the courgette cake, good for using up a glut, but it's quite bland without the icing and filling. Found the buttermilk b'day cake a bit dry, and I have a better banana cake recipe than hers (ner ner ner ner ner ) which is a family secret.

passionflower - ditto re brownies, def need some flour or something to stabilise.

wilbur, do you not find the xmas muffins lacking in spice and generally a bit boring? I made them earlier this week and was rather disappointed. Might put some mixed spice in them next time I think.

I find all recipes deficient in the amount of spice they call for and always add at least double

It's just the way she bigs up all her recipes makes me feel strangely reluctant to admit she might have feet of clay .

I lent mine to a friend who now denies all knowledge of ever having had it. It is a sore point, as I don't want to buy a new one, but I sort of feel I have to and this thread is making my fingers itch towards Amazon....

do it, you know it makes sense and you get loads off!

Carolina - yes, I know what you mean re muffins, but then I always add a ton of nutmeg to anything Xmassy as I love it, so that's prob why I like them, but also, I like the tart cranberries as often I find other muffins cloyingly sweet. NL's lemon rasp muffins are good too, but I add lemon oil to them which really up the lemonyness. I think all cake recipes are made to be played with.

oh god those jam doughnut muffins are lethally good