Product Description

The trouble with much modern cooking is that the mood it induces in the cook is one of skin-of-the-teeth efficiency, all briskness and little pleasure. Sometimes that's the best we can manage, but at other times we don't want to feel stressed and overstretched, but like a domestic goddess, trailing nutmeggy fumes of baking pie in our languorous wake.... --from How to Be a Domestic Goddess

How to Be a Domestic Goddess is not about being a goddess, but about feeling like one. What this deliciously mouthwatering cookbook demonstrates is that it's not actually hard to bake a pan of muffins or a sponge layer cake, but the appreciation and satisfaction they bring are disproportionately high. Filled with over 220 gorgeously illustrated recipes, this book understands our anxieties, feeds our fantasies, and puts cakes, pies, pastries, preserves, puddings, breads, and cookies back in our own kitchens. The domestic goddess has to maintain her (or his) cool when faced with pastry, of course -- but with Nigella Lawson's guidance, even puff pastry can be pain-free.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16124 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-14
• Released on: 2001-11-14
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Amazon.com's Best of 2001
While the title How to Be a Domestic Goddess may at first make a modern woman bristle, the book itself is just as likely to inspire the woman who brings home the bacon to start baking cakes. And what's wrong with that? "This isn't a dream," writes British cookery deity Nigella Lawson in her preface. "What's more, it isn't even a nightmare." Lawson--the author of How to Eat, food editor of British Vogue, and star of her own TV cooking show, Nigella Bites--has been suspected of upholding the woman-laboring-in-the-kitchen paradigm, but there are lots of hard-working women out there who derive great satisfaction from cooking, even after a long day at the office. For those women, Lawson, who looks more Elizabeth Hurley than Martha Stewart, is the perfect guide to the wondrous world of baking.

"You know, I'm not a cook-to-impress kind of girl," Lawson says midway through the book, but she must admit there are few things more rewarding than putting a warm homemade pie or fragrant cake on the table--especially after preparing a home-cooked meal. How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking makes just such a reward possible, in fact positively enticing, with its delicious selection of easy-to-make cakes, pies, cookies, breads, even jams, presented in Lawson's chatty, pleasantly glib manner. Turns out, you don't have be a Pierre Hermé to make to-die-for chocolate confections; nor do you have to spend hours "faffing around" with hot pans and jars to have jam at teatime. You just need to try baking once, then again, and next thing you know, you'll be turning out cookies and desserts every chance you get. Many of the recipes are hand-me-downs or adaptations from other sources, be it a favorite cookbook or a restaurant in some far-off region, but all are imbued with Lawson's wit and distinctive touch. Profiteroles, My Way are "monumentally impressively better" than the original, thanks to burnt-sugar custard and toffee sauce. Her Coffee and Walnut Splodge Cookies are "American-style cookies; in other words just dropped onto the baking sheet free-form," and so on.

A sophisticated female alter ego of British mop-top Jamie Oliver, and considerably more sly and comedic than most American gourmets, Nigella is sure to convince more than a few up-and-coming hostesses that baking is indeed women's work. --Rebecca Wright

From Publishers Weekly
Called "England's it girl" by Gourmet magazine, Lawson (How to Eat) brings to America her second cookbook, highly popular in England. Lawson, the food editor for British Vogue, suggests ways to feel like a domestic goddess (rather than undergo the necessary lifestyle changes to become one), taking cooks back to an era of less stress and more simple pleasures. The recipes, written in Lawson's characteristic lively, witty manner, encourage this theme. The Store-Cupboard Chocolate-Orange Cake will please the nose with its rich, intense aroma and indulge the taste buds with its full chocolate and orange flavor. The Coconut Macaroons seem soft and chewy with a concentrated coconut essence (though they may need to bake for slightly longer than the suggested 20 minutes). The chapters cover categories from cakes to pies and from chocolate to Christmas. One chapter includes recipes for kid foods as well as recipes that children can follow. The book is designed to instill confidence and capability, positing that if Nigella can make these delights with ease and in a relaxed manner, so can anyone else, "trailing nutmeggy fumes." The beautiful color photos set the mouth to watering. (Nov.)Forecast: Timed to launch with her television series Nigella Bites on the E! channel and Style networks this fall, this book will bask in the warm, fuzzy and competent glow of Lawson's renown. She'll be a hit in the U.S.; her book will get ample promo and fly off the shelves.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Gourmet
"England's it girl...She cooks, she writes, she looks like a movie star...Nigella Lawson has the whole country talking."

Customer Reviews

Cakes, cookies, and mince-pies...oh my!
There's no way I could resist buying this cookbook when I saw that it had a giant cupcake on the front cover! I am pleased to say that it delivers on all accounts. I bought the paperback version and am quite happy with the construction. The binding is thick but does not pose difficulty in keeping the book open (and I've had no problem with the binding breaking or cracking).

The recipes are divided into 9 chapters including cakes, cookies/scones/muffins, pies, desserts, chocolate, children, xmas, bread & yeast and the domestic goddess's pantry.

The font Nigella chose is clear and easy on the eyes and the ingredient list for each recipe is in bold so I have no problem finding the ingredient list on the page when going back and forth from the list to what I am doing.

The pictures are absolutely beautiful. They are glossy, colorful and very well presented and each chapter is divided with sparkling gold pages.

The recipes themselves are nicely chosen and are evocative of both the English country-side and the glamor of London (and beyond). Examples include:

Chocolate cherry cupcakes
Pain-au-chocolate pudding
London cheesecake
Gateau Breton
Fairy Cakes
Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Peach Cream Pie
Espresso Cupcakes
Granny Boyd's Cookies
Snickers & Peanut Butter Muffins
Jam-Doughnut Muffins
Fresh Gingerbread with Lemon Icing

Finally, the best aspect of the cookbook is the fact that Nigella includes a little paragraph with each recipe. If you've ever seen her cooking show, you will know that she is quite sensual, a quality that is also very evident in the recipes and the accompanying, mouth-watering descriptions she provides.

For anyone who loves to bake, I'd recommend that you add this to your library of cookbooks!

Love it!
I absolutely love Nigella and her recipes are so delicious. This book is wonderful, I have cooked my way through it and made almost all of the recipes, everything is very delicious. I love the savory recipes! And the cakes are superb. Highly recommend, if you like simple, delicious food, this is a great book for you!

really fabulous
it is really a fabulous book. i have the uk version and i love it, use it for all the desserts i make and have it by my bed because i love reading her cookbooks. she is really good with interesting recipes and even better at writing about them...best brownie recipe here and the wonderful banana bread too...and try the reeses peanut butter cup-like thing...it's amazing and much much more healthy than the original. oh and pain au chocolate pudding is divine.