Real Fast Puddings

by Nigel Slater

This is an inspiring collection of quick and delicious puddings made with simple and fresh ingredients from Nigel Slater, the master of the easily prepared dish. In four sections - Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring - he offers ideas for a wide range of mouth-watering and irresistible desserts all of which can be prepared in under half an hour.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Reference, Nonfiction, Food and Drink

Paperback

First published March 11, 1993

About the author

Nigel Slater is a British food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for The Observer Magazine for seventeen years and is the principal writer for the Observer Food Monthly supplement. Prior to this, Slater was food writer for Marie Claire for five years. He also serves as art director for his books.

Although best known for uncomplicated, comfort food recipes presented in early bestselling books such as The 30-Minute Cook and Real Cooking, as well as his engaging, memoir-like columns for The Observer, Slater became known to a wider audience with the publication of Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger, a moving and award-winning autobiography focused on his love of food, his childhood, his family relationships (his mother died of asthma when he was nine), and his burgeoning sexuality.

Slater has called it "the most intimate memoir that any food person has ever written". Toast was published in Britain in October 2004 and became a bestseller after it was featured on the Richard and Judy Book Club.

"I think the really interesting bits of my story was growing up with this terribly dominating dad and a mum who I loved to bits but obviously I lost very early on; and then having to fight with the woman who replaced her ... I kind of think that in a way that that was partly what attracted me to working in the food service industry, was that I finally had a family." As he told The Observer, "The last bit of the book is very foody. But that is how it was. Towards the end I finally get rid of these two people in my life I did not like [his father and stepmother, who had been the family's cleaning lady] - and to be honest I was really very jubilant - and thereafter all I wanted to do was cook."

In 1998 Slater hosted the Channel 4 series Nigel Slater's Real Food Show. He returned to TV in 2006 hosting the chat/food show A Taste of My Life for BBC One.

Slater has two elder brothers, Adrian and John. John was the child of a neighbour, and was adopted by Slater's parents before the writer was born.

He lives in the Highbury area of North London, where he maintains a kitchen garden which often features in his column.

Reviews

[Opal E]

Not my favorite from Nigel. This really read like something for people who don't know about fruit.
When I think of pudding I think of something beyond my usual quick fruit salads... but this is mainly what you will find in here, what cream and biscuit, or alcohol, or cheese to pair your fruit with.
I didn't find anything new or very interesting for me here, but I guess in England people don't eat as wide a variety of fruit?

[Sophie Crane]

Great ideas packed cover to cover. So easy to follow, easy to make and so nicely written. I have never been into making puddings as I don't have a hugely sweet tooth and found they generally take an age to prepare. An example from this book is lemon pots - dollop creme fraiche, dollop Greek yoghurt, dollop lemon curd, mix it up grate on some lemon zest - done! Doesn't get much quicker than that. Good for cheese lovers too - everything suggested is seasonal and is handily set out as such.

[Anna]

what a joy

[Tim]

Organised by seasons, then by key ingredient, usually a fruit. Figs with ciabatta requires "munching" figs and bits of ciabatta concurrently. Seems a congenial approach to recipes for me.

[Rebecca]

I didn't like this as much as Real Fast Food. Nigel said he wrote it because he'd got letters saying they felt he'd temped them back to the kitchen but deserted them when it came to desserts (pun intended)... Well I don't really feel much better after reading this! It felt to me like there was a lot of filling, mostly variations on (1) fruit with cream, (2) fruit with cheese, (3) fruit with alcohol and (4) fruit salad. Dotted within this are occasional useful basic recipes like fool, crumble, brûlée, custard and rice pudding -that said the proportions of flour to butter in the crumble recipe I followed were wrong... His writing is still inspiring but it not the best Nigel, I recommend the original book Real Fast Food that I linked above, or The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater.

[Bittersweet]

fabulous for quick ideas; i love his lists of food combinations and simple dishes to throw together. Nothing complicated, all good.

I use the pancake recipe (with 2 eggs, not 3) for breakfast every weekend.

[Sophie James]

This is my favourite pudding book of all. He goes by the seasons but not in a dour or precious way. He writes really beautifully and in my version there are lovely pencil drawings. Because I think really all puddings should be lazy and unworked, this is the book for me.

[Colleen]

Once I read Real Fast Food I had to read the companion book. It focuses on fruits in season and makes you want to run out and try everything. A great approachable cookbook.

[Clare]

I was disappointed in this book because it's mostly about fruit (I don't like fruit). I don't use it as much as I thought I would.

[Kathrine]

Lots of good ideas and useful fruit info

[Lili]

Some good quick recipes mouth wateringly good, especially great to rustle up in a few minutes. The author also tempts us with some unusual combinations.

[Joanne]

Lots of good things I would call snacks, very few real desserts.