July's Forever Nigella Round Up: Party Party!

Boy would I like to go to the party where all these lovely dishes were served! Again, the hot weather has kept a lot of us busy, but these five dishes are all delicious and perfect for any party situation you may find yourself in this summer.

Grilled or Barbecued Halloumi with Chilli

Caroline from Caroline Makes must have been the guest of honour when she arrived at a family BBQ with this tasty dish of halloumi marinaded in lemon and chilli. Simple and yet very effective.

Rhubarb and Rose Polenta Cake

Next up is a serious centrepiece for any party, this Rhubarb and Rose Polenta Cake from Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog, which contains the addition of yummy white chocolate, and her homemade rose syrup.

Mini Cheesecakes

Inspired by Nigella's No Bake Cherry Cheesecake, It's A Fine Life created these beautiful fruit topped Mini Cheesecakes for a charity bake sale. I think you'll agree that they would be perfect on any party table too.

Chocolate and Pistachio Macarons

Katharine from Leeks and Limoni created a sensational recipe mash-up with these Chocolate and Pistachio Macarons, using two Nigella recipes for the Chocolate shells and Pistachio filling.

Irish Cream Tiramisu

Last up was my entry of Irish Cream Tiramisu. The full recipe for this dish would make a substantial party dessert, I halved the quantities and still had enough to last us 3 nights! 

Forever Nigella is run by Sarah at Maison Cupcake, head over to her site to find the theme and host for August. 

Nigella's Irish Cream Tiramisu

I spent a long time trying to decide which yummy Nigella recipe I would choose for my Party Party entry, but when I came across this recipe for Irish Cream Tiramisu, I just knew I'd found my recipe soulmate! 

I made just two amendments to the recipe, firstly, I halved the ingredients from the original, as it only needed to feed me and Gary. (This still made enough for 6 portions, so the original quantities would make a serious party dessert!) Secondly, when I came to measure out the Baileys, I had nowhere near enough left (I wonder where that could have all gone...?) so I made up the quantity by adding Tia Maria and some double cream. It worked a treat! 

You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients

5 teaspoons espresso powder, dissolved in 175ml hot water then cooled

125 ml Baileys

200 grams savoiardi biscuits (lady fingers)

1 egg, separated

37 grams golden caster sugar

250 grams mascarpone cheese

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method

Mix the cooled espresso with the half of the Baileys. Take half the savoiardi biscuits, and dip them one at a time in the espresso mixture, allowing them soak in enough liquid without getting soggy. Layer the soaked biscuits in the bottom of a 8''x4'' dish. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and the sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the remaining Baileys and the mascarpone, and whip together until well combined and smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white until white and frothy. Add to the mascarpone mixture and fold in well. 

Add half of the mascarpone mixture to the dish and spread evenly over the first layer of biscuits. Soak the remaining biscuits and create a second layer. Add the remaining mascarpone mixture and spread over the top. 

Finally, sprinkle cocoa powder over the top of the dish, and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

This is my entry for this month's Forever Nigella, run by Maison Cupcake, and hosted by myself this month.

July's Forever Nigella Challenge

I. Love. Nigella. In fact, I try and kid myself that we're not all that dissimilar, both unapologetic food addicts with long brunette hair and an ample bosom... in truth, I hope that I have but an ounce of her talent, charm and appeal, but hey a girl can dream. I can be quite an arm chair critic when it comes to cookery shows, although goodness knows I would be terrible myself in front of a camera, however I always loved Nigella's, I think because she always said what I was thinking.

From being a young girl, I remember watching her throw together amazing looking dinner parties and gatherings of friends, that were all about the food and the atmosphere, just great friends in cosy settings, and I hoped that I would be able to recreate this when I had my own home. And whilst I realise now that much of that may have been for the camera (ok I'm slow on the uptake) I still try to make sure there is always good food and drink to hand whenever guest come a-calling.

As July is my birthday month, (not that I ever make a fuss about it at all!!), and in deference to my favourite hostess with the mostest, I'm setting this month's Forever Nigella theme as Party Party Party! I'm throwing this wide open, be it refined dinner party, summer bbq food, big bold beautiful birthday cakes, or nibbles and canapes, anything at all that has a sense of celebration and people coming together is fine by me!

The Rules:

• The challenge is open until the 28th July, with entries via the linky below, or by emailing the post URL to kickatthepantrydoor@gmail.com
• You can enter as many posts as you like, the more the merrier!
• I will endeavour to have the round up live on the 1st August.
• Linked posts must contain this month's Forever Nigella badge, and contain link backs to this post, and to Forever Nigella creator Sarah at Maison Cupcake.
• Remember Copyright Please do NOT reproduce Nigells'a recipe verbatim. Say which book it was and/or link to it online. If you have adapted the recipe, i.e. changed at least two of the ingredients or amended the method then it's ok to publish your version of the recipe, but still include the credit back to the original source. Always use your own words. 
• For a list of Nigella resources for inspiration, check the Forever Nigella page.
• If you are on twitter, you can tweet a link to myself @ThePantryDoor1 and Sarah @maisoncupcake using #forevernigella, and we will RT all that we see.