Cottage pie with gnocchi

It's baking (outside as well as in)

Okay, so it’s thirty degrees out and I’m inside baking. There’s something wrong with that picture. Granted the ‘gently folding in’ of the egg whites is just the kind of languorous activity for a day like this, however the washing up nearly killed me.
Anyway the cake is in the oven now and I feel very satisfied. I also feel gross and kind of sticky, but that’s another matter.
Yesterday I caught a rerun of Sophie Dahl’s programme on the 'celebratory mood' in which she made a flourless chocolate cake, which apart from looking very appetising, looked extremely simple to make. So you know how I said I probably wouldn't be making any of her recipes? So much for that theory.
Where, upon the first viewing I pretty much just ogled Miss Dahl, this time around I actually paid attention and I was struck by the extremely clever use of a cup of boiling water. The batter is made in a food processor and the chocolate, instead of being given the au-bain-marie treatment (much fuss), is just broken in. Blitz the chocolate with the sugar, add egg yokes, butter, vanilla, some ground coffee and the aforementioned cup of boiling water and blitz again. Done. Extremely clever in it’s simplicity (and therefore instantly gratifying). Just tip this mixture in a bowl and gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites, which is manageable, like I said, even on a day like this. After that, if you have a dishwasher it’s the proverbial ‘blue skies’. No, I don’t have one.

I want...

A fantastically beautiful book on pasta & the new Nigella, to be released september 2nd.