HOT OFF THE PASS | This week in food news: September 3 2020

I knew it had to be a very special wedding cake. Nothing over the top, nor with too much icing or decoration, one that oozed with flavour not fuss — it had to be representative of my son, Matthew Biller, and his partner Stephanie Pardoe.

My husband and I were very sad that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we couldn’t attend the couple’s simple garden wedding in New York last Saturday. As a way to still take part in the celebrations, I organised their wedding cake from afar, conjuring up ideas with US pastry chef Rory MacDonald over many e-mails.

Ever so patient and creative, MacDonald not only baked the confection — layers of vanilla cake drizzled with a fresh thyme and lemon syrup, interlaced with a crumble of meringue with lemon curd and finished off with a tumble of fresh berries and flowers — he hand-delivered it too.

Simple and stylish, it was perfect and seeing the pictures of the newlyweds cutting it left me with the feeling that there was a little bit of me there on their big day.

Here’s what else has been making news in the world of food and wine:

COOK, SNAP AND WIN

I enjoyed a damn fine malva pudding at Die Platteland restaurant in Colesberg on a recent road trip through the Karoo. It arrived on a platter - a rather generous helping, sticky and moist with the texture of a gooey marshmallow. It oozed sweetness from a good soaking of syrup that permeated the sponge.

It reminded me just how good South African dishes can be - so good, in fact, that they’re the focus of our Sunday Times Lifestyle Foodie Photo competition, where you could win fabulous prizes. Click here for details.

NEW FROM NIGELLA

When Nigella Lawson drops her long-running food column in a famous English newspaper to concentrate on a new project, you know she’s got something brilliant up her sleeve.

The world-famous cook announced her new recipe book on Instagram, saying that it “focuses on the rhythms and rituals of the kitchen, most particularly my kitchen, and intertwines recipes with narrative essays about food and stories from a cooking life”.

To celebrate the launch of the book, which will be out next month, Lawson be hosting A Night In with Nigella online on October 29. For more info and tickets, click here.