How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking by Nigella Lawson

How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking Reviews

• 
  Yvette

  Oh. My. Gosh. This is the definitive book for me. Nigella is not a "chef"--she is a home cook, just like me, like most of us out there. But she is brilliant--funny, mildly goofy (though not over-the-top the way gals like Rachael Ray can be), and extremely intelligent. Her writing is breathtakingly beautiful--these cookbooks read as deliciously as the recipes they serve up.
  
  And as for the title... I've had all sorts of reactions, mostly from women, which astound me. I find that some kinds of women are even offended by the concept of a "domestic goddess"--although Nigella herself clarifies that this isn't some kind of Stepford wife fantasy world, but a real-world concept, of woman as provider and nurturer (or at least, the image of a woman as provider and nurturer)--baking simple things and climbing as gracefully as possible onto that pedestal where we all love to be, that place where we are worshipped as the goddesses we are. :)
• 
  Samantha

  I have cooked out of almost all of Nigella's books (not Nigella Express though) but this is always my favourite and the first one I give as a gift! I bought the book years ago in Scotland because I just loved the title. I made the banana bread and have never looked back since. The recipes are consistently good and sometimes fantastic, her writing is delightful and she makes cooking feel like something you share with her. It's the sort of cookbook you cook from, read in bed and refer to constantly! I do use the word cookbook loosely though as this book is mostly about baking. Her other books are more of a mix. She has a useful website as well,
  www.nigella.com, and you can e-mail,with questions or concerns which is a nice resource. They also have a section that details any errors in past editions and how to correct them.
• 
  Kristi

  Lawson is a real woman. She eats...bad things and good things. She makes cakes for her children that look like a real cake. She invents things, avoids prepackaged foods and best of all she has hips.
  
  Her recipes are British which is very obvious, but they are not too weird to try once. Her cakes are delicious. The Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake is our favorite...its been made for gifts..for cravings and for the hell of it. Pair this with some really good raspberry jam and its is divine.
  
  I especially enjoy her wit, humor and realism. Rachel Ray fans may be disappointed that she doesn't smile the whole time. But she makes cooking and eating sexy...and a part of real life.
  
  ps the title is ironic.
• 
  Dawn

  I've actually read this book twice, with a five year gap between. Five years ago, I thought, "Wow, this stuff looks incredible--and there's absolutely no way I'll ever be able to cook like this." This time around, I threw together three recipes before the book was due back at the library. All three turned out fantastic, and they were pretty easy.
  
  As you might surmise, I don't recommend this book for those just starting out in the world of cooking. It's not that the recipes are particularly hard. It's just that a beginner might be overwhelmed by some of the vocabulary, and that many of Nigella's recipes lack a strict structure. She intends them to be frameworks for you to explore, not tech orders that deliver the same result every time. That said, this has some amazing stuff in it, and I'm looking forward to trying more recipes from her chocolate section.
• 
  Rebecca

  Five stars for the burnt butter cupcakes.
  Burning butter is a flammable escapade.
  The pyro in me is pleased.
  
  *gorges gleefully*
  
• 
  Cindy

  First of all, I have to say this - this woman is nuts! She may be a great cook and a very nice person, I don't know, but honestly, she is nuts.
  
  This book, in case you couldn't tell right away, is about baking. She sets it up in several categories: cakes, cookies, bread, pies, Christmas, etc. The pictures are wonderful. But the writing? Wow. It's hard to tell you just how bad it is. So here's an example.
  
  "Coconut Macaroons. These are a very English kind of macaroon, the sort you always used to see displayed in bakers' shops alongside the madeleines (those sponge castles dipped in luminous strawberry jam and dredged in throat-catching grated coconut, and so very different from those that inflamed the memory of Marcel Proust). The difference with coconut macaroons is that you need neither to be ironic or self-consciously retro-cool to enjoy them."
  
  What?
  
  I have SO many problems with this paragraph. First of all, I am reading a cookbook. I do not need references to Marcel Proust. Second, don't just assume I am English. I'm not. I have no idea what you are talking about. Third, I have never in my life worried about being ironic when I ate a cookie. (My daughter wondered if perhaps she referred to the IRON CONTENT of the cookie. But no.) And finally, I don't have any idea what 'self-consciously retro-cool' means.
  
  So the writing is bad. Horrible. But if the recipes were good, you could just skip the writing and get straight to the recipes. Well, the recipes aren't bad exactly, but every recipe assumes that you already know what she's talking about. She doesn't explain things for a beginner.
  
  Then there are some rather weird recipes. I don't plan on ever making persimmon or passionfruit curd. And I definitely will not touch a gin and tonic gelatin mold. Several of the recipes, most, in fact, call for ingredients that I would have a hard time tracking down. Like rosewater and some specialty jams. She also uses special equipment, but doesn't give you a picture of it or really describe well how to use it. I know most English cooks know what a pudding basin is. I don't.
  
  And then I am never, ever going to make lavender milk. (You know, get a bowl of milk, put 5-6 lavender sprigs in it, boil, then strain. Yeah.) She skipped an important step there - make sure the lavender in question is pesticide free and has been washed thoroughly. But really, where am I going to find lavender sprigs?
  
  This was without question the most self-important, preciously droll cookbook I have ever read. Wait, is that too close to self-consciously retro-cool? Maybe I should have said vain and complacent. Either way, I would not recommend reading it at all. I've never seen the author's show or read any of her other cookbooks, but after reading this, I heard from a relative that she is just the same on her show. Maybe that appeals to someone. Maybe it's meant to be funny and I just don't get it. But it was just awful.
• 
  Libby

  Mmmmm NIgella you are almost as scrumptious as your recipes! A delicious, sensual celebration of food without worrying about skimping on the fat or sugar or other such delicious naughtiness. Comfort cooking is one of my mamma specialities and nothing makes me feel more like a goddess than seeing the smiling chocolate crumb covered faces of my family around my dining room table.
• 
  Isadora Torres

  this is not a cookbook, it's more like an invitation to your own kitchen.
  as a food lover, it became sort of a bible when I need inspiration.
  nigella loves food and she wants you to love too.
  amazing.
• 
  Megan

  If any of you know me well, you know that I worship Nigella Lawson. I adore her way of writing and how her cookbooks are also a good book you can fall into as she describes why and how she does all she does. I love her style of writing and her love of food without any apologies. If I could meet one person, it would be her. Her cookbooks are awesome, though I really feel like I would only attempt to make maybe half (or less) of the stuff in it. While I say that, every time I look through them (which is often) I find something else I want to try to make that I overlooked the time before.
  
  If you try this particular cookbook, try the pizza (with your own toppings) in the bread section. I can't remember what it's officially called, but my pizza loving family deemed it better than restaurant pizza.
• 
  Jess

  It's not that practical. The recipes call for too many hard to find, can't get in west Texas, expensive ingredients. I would have liked a photo of every recipe. The photos in the book are full page and glossy, which is nice if you plan to leave it on your coffee table, but how about a half page photo and get all of them. The food in this book would be nice for a birthday or other special occasion, but do you want to spend $20+ for that? I was lucky I borrowed it from a friend.
• 
  Katrina

  I checked this book out from the library, and I may be checking it out again and again. The recipes look fabulous (I must try more of them...), but I had a good time just looking at the mouthwatering pictures and reading Nigella's directions. I like how this is not a snobbish, fussy baking book. It leaves room for error and experimentation.
• 
  Rebecca

  A good baking book with a wide range of recipes, including chapters for children and christmas. The only problem is that the baking times are almost always off - for people other than me too, it's not just my cooker! - so keep an eye on the oven the first time you try out things...
• 
  Shaylene

  As someone who loathes cooking with a passion, this book makes me feel warm and cozy and with a longing to fill the nostrils of my children with beautiful baking aromas that will forever remind them of home...
  
• 
  Laura

  Love her !!!
• 
  Kris

  "Lovely to look at/A pleasure to hold..."
  
  I love to look at this book, but that's about all I've done with it. I might have tried a recipe or two after I first bought it. In fact, I'm sure I did. It's been so long, though, I don't really remember what I thought. All I know is I was seduced by its rich bronze pages and lovely photo styling and when I saw it in the store I had to take it home with me. But now it's the kind of cookbook that mostly sits on my shelf and collects dust. The problem with some of the recipes is that they call for something that I wouldn't normally have on hand, such as elderflower cordial, and combine it with something I'm pretty sure I could never find locally, like gooseberries. I won't give up on it yet, though, but you can bet I'll make a list before I go shopping. I wouldn't want to forget the pomegranate molasses.
• 
  Terri

  I have to admit I bought this book for the title, I thought it was clever and I wanted it on my cook book shelf. I have been wonderfully surprised about the content, it is great.
  
  The most important things for me in a cook book are: tempting photographs, well laid out ingredient list, and thorough instructions. This book has all those and a bit of personal information to go with each recipe, like who gave Nigella the recipe, or on what occasion she might make that recipe; just a little personal tid bit.
  
  Our family has loved and made over and over again the Onion Pie, and Pizza Rustica for dinner. Our favorite dessert has been the Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars- absolutely killer!
  
  A real sleeper in the cook book is the dense chocolate cake; it looks like any old chocolate cake but it always gets noticed when I serve it.
  
• 
  Tom Stallard

  This is a lovely book. Lawson has such a clear and unpretentious tone to her writing, bringing you into her world within the short space of the recipe descriptions. This book covers a wealth of hearty and heart warming recipes that are fantastic to have at hand if you have family or friends coming over. The recipes are well laid out into common sense sections (something that other Lawson books have not achieved as well). One thing I particularly like about Lawson's writing is that she openly declares where she has taken recipes from, dispelling the black arts of the recipe book and at the same time providing the reader with new sources to investigate books.
• 
  Hazel

  I made a couple of recipes out of this book:
  the ricotta cheesecake, and the two types of brownies. The cheesecake was good, though the recipe was drawn out. regular brownies were way too fudge like. Good, but not what I think of brownies. Her attempt of wanting this to appeal to American readers is charming, because she explains things to American readers that we don't often think about, as well as includes some traditional English dishes like steak and kidney pie. Wish I had tried some more recipes. The writing was great, wasn't overly impressed with the recipes I did try.
• 
  Karen

  This is the book that started my girl-crush on Nigella Lawson. Nigella may have made her name as a telegenic / sexy TV chef, but her background as a writer shines through in her erudite writing. Her intros and asides add an extra level of interest to a collection of very delicious-looking (and delicious-eating) recipes.
• 
  Claire

  My favorite and most-used cookbook. Her chocolate loaf is amazing. And I like that it focuses on all kinds of baking - sweet and savory. Plus she uses words like "squidgy".
• 
  Naida

  A Wonderful cookbook. Not too fussy, not too complicated. I have not found a bad recipe in the lot.
  I usually make something from this when I need tasty food that will impress
• 
  Liz

  Maybe I am being bias.. but her recipe for snickerdoodles in here is terrible. I have to pass on the rest of the recipes since she couldn't come up with a good recipe for my favorite simple cookie.
• 
  Stephanie

  I just love Nigella Lawson. I love her descriptions of food and the little stories she gives to introduce the recipes. This is one of those cookbooks that I MUST own.
• 
  Pablo Vazquez Camargo

  Today is cupcake and her bake the oven and her eating and was good and her go to bed 🛏
• 
  jeanmarie

  I love Nigella—her approach to food and her writing style. The concept behind this book is awesome but somehow her pancake recipe is hands down the worst pancakes I’ve ever made, per me and my husband. The kids however loved them (??!). The pancakes were dense and bland and under salted.
  
  I’m going to keep trying things but I’m much less excited now. Her measurements are in cups (not weight) and her macarons don’t have feet which is the one thing I know they’re supposed to have.
  
  I hope I’m being premature because I loved Nigella express but Im less motivated to keep going now. Perhaps it’s too much to expect from a Brit?
• 
  Cindy

  My kitchen staple when I need comfort food. Nigella is the queen of my kitchen
• 
  Dayna

  I love watching Nigella Lawson's cooking show(s). I like her personality and the way she talks about what she's making. I like her word choices and the cadence of her speech. And her passion for good food (whether it's actually good for you or not) is contagious. I always end up smiling as I watch her. That said, I don't think her personality and speech translate well in print. While reading How to Be a Domestic Goddess I took the time to thumb through (quite thoroughly) a few of Lawson's other cookbooks, and I think I could preface a review of any one of them with this statement: I would rather buy a DVD set of one of her cooking series than pay for one of her cookbooks. But I am very glad that the library has all of them, because even though I don't want to buy them I do want to try some of her recipes, specifically from Express and Feast. Why take notes while watching one of those shows if you can get the written recipe from the book? (I had to learn that lesson the hard way.) As for HtBaDG, it wasn't quite what I expected. For some reason I thought it would be a sort of social commentary on modern domesticity with tips and instructions for reclaiming some of "the art of comfort cooking" with recipes interspersed. Don't ask what gave me that very specific impression. It's nothing like that. Lawson even states in the preface that it's "not about being a domestic goddess exactly, but feeling like one." This is simply a collection of baking recipes - mostly traditional, some of them very English. It's also not "a manual or a comprehensive guide" to baking. If you're looking for thorough technical instructions you won't find them here ... all of the recipes are written in a loose, chatty way typical of Nigella's speech. I happen to like her style. As for how well the recipes do, I haven't made any of them. Most of them do sound delicious, but cakes and cookies aren't really my thing. For a special occasion I might like a simple spice cake, a fruit pie, or some kind of tea bread (and there are such recipes in here) but I'm not into really rich desserts. If I do want decadence I already have my go-to recipe (Key Lime Cupcakes from Bon Appetit). That isn't to say this book is full of over-the-top desserts. There's a chapter on plain cakes, and one on everyday bread. But I read this more for pleasure than with the intent of actually making anything from it. I read cookbooks like novels. I read most of these recipes straight through and, with the exception of a few, I didn't notice any overly complicated or difficult-to-find ingredients. And you don't have to have expensive equipment. I would say this is a practical collection of recipes for baking. And I would recommend it to fans of Nigella Lawson, those that really want to bake for fun.
• 
  Ashley

  I've had this cookbook for a long time, but recently reccommended it for my bookclub, and it was really fun to discuss. I love the writing: that sometimes in the kitchen "we don't want to feel like a postmodern, postfeminist, overstretched woman but, rather, a domestic goddess, trailing nutmeggy fumes of baking pie in our langorous wake." Or that our first pie is like a first kiss and suffuses us "with heady satisfaction." Or that a woman who bakes her own bread "can see herself in an almost biblical light . . . whose children shall rise up and call her blessed. " Or on baking at Christmas time: "one of the best things about being an adult is that you can decide which rituals and ceremonies you want to adopt to give shape to your life and which you want to lose because they just constrain you." (Meaning you don't have to bake six different Christmas cookie recipes just because your mom or grandma did!)
  
  The actual recipes provided for a good conversation on food presentation and flavor--especially American versus British preferences and style. I don't think every recipe works, or even looks that appealing, but I really do love the Norwegian cinnamon buns. And this time around I made the chocolate macaroons--or macarons, if you will :), and they were pretty good.