THE WRAP-UP

Nigella’s new cookbook, Prince George’s school blues, Oprah’s interview secrets

If you’ve ever baked a tray of cookies, you’ll know how blimmin’ difficult it is to get them all to look the same – but fret no more, says celebrity cook Nigella Lawson.

The alluring beauty, whose new cookbook At My Table is released next week, has slammed cooking shows such as The Great British Bake Off for skewing reality when it comes to the final product.

“We live in a world where there is so much, so glossily done,” she says. “If I am given a cake, I like to see that it has been made by someone and that it’s not even.

“That is what cooking is. Things can’t look like they’ve come from a factory. You know on Bake Off where they say you have to make 18 biscuits and they have to be identical? I have never had two biscuits that look identical!”

Nigella (57), who is currently displaying a hard-won size 12 figure thanks to yoga three times a week, has been on the defensive in the lead-up to her book release, with many critics labelling her 11th cookbook “boring” and “simple”, with recipes such as a ham and cheese toasted sandwich, feta on toast and mashed potatoes.

However, the domestic goddess has lashed out at those who have criticised the book and says she doesn’t care what others think.

“It’s not always about the recipe,” she said on a British radio show.

“I think it’s more of an enthusiasm. I didn’t even give particular amounts of what to use. If you can get pleasure in life, why turn away from it? As long as I’m the person who is allowed to eat the sandwiches, I don’t care what they feel.”

Bring on the sarnies then, Nigella!