Au revoir Nigella!

Oh the sadness! This is the final challenge for the I Heart Cooking Clubs Nigella-Fest! Although I have not participated in every one (twice a week challenges for six months was a bit daunting), I have so enjoyed baking with the Goddess, perusing her cookbooks in the library, and bookmarking tons of recipes on her site for later. I find it fittingly Brit that the last challenge is to make a dish suitable for tea time.

I have been drooling over some of the more decadent recipes for Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes, Chocolate Pear Pudding, and Chocolate Guinness Cake (notice a trend?), but honestly, I'm the only one eating this stuff. E is still not willing to take sweets to work (as the new guy I guess that won't enter him into the Cool Kids Club) and he's "watching his weight" which means he can stop drinking beer for 3 days and drop 10 pounds. So I ended up, on this particularly gray and sluggish day, with the Lazy Loaf. Not one of Nigella's most creatively titled recipes, but certainly one of the simplest and best for afternoon tea. As this recipe is printed with lovely Brit measurements, I've converted everything for you here, for true lazy baking appeal.

Lazy Loaf
adapted from Nigella Lawson

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. honey oat granola (or whatever granola you have)
1 cup raisins
1 packet yeast
2 tsp. salt
1 cup plus 2 tsp. low fat milk
1 Tbls. honey
1 cup plus 2 tsp. water, slightly warmer than room temperature
2 Tbls. Honey Crunch Wheat Germ (optional)

Preparation:
Add yeast to 1/4 cup of the water and let stand for 5 minutes. Mix flour, salt, and granola in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture, remaining water, honey, and milk and stir until just combined. Stir in raisins. Pour into a greased loaf pan (and as usual, I make a parchment paper sling to make it easier to remove after baking). Top with wheat germ. Place pan into a cold oven, then turn heat to 225 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes, then turn heat to 350 degrees and bake one hour. Remove and cool before slicing. Smear with butter, jam, cream cheese, or anything else your little heart desires.

Don't forget to check out the Tea Time post to see what everyone else brought to tea. And please, please vote for the next chef in the sidebar, as long as you aren't voting for Bobby Flay! I'm cool with Mark Bittman or Jaime Oliver, but Bobby? Please no! I can only grill so much, which means I'll be making margaritas for six months and turning into a drunk.

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