Blueberry Muffins

A very good friend of mine always asks me for more muffin recipes. I get this. Unlike cakes, my personal preference if I were to choose (I don’t think so), muffins are charming little things. Even though I may have a muffin with my coffee when out running errands, I prefer homemade ones. Somehow shop-bought ones seem too big, too out there if you know what I mean.

Sometime ago I was invited to a YSL event at a local store. In one corner the ladies prepared a spread of pretty little cupcakes, which seem to be all the rage nowadays. To me they looked more inviting than all the expensive stuff in the shop. They were good, a bit on the small side, but good nonetheless. One would argue that you cannot look sophisticated while devouring a large chunk of cake! I went home and I wanted to bake something in between.

Homebaked muffins will be smaller than the huge things you might get at the store but don’t let that deter you. You can make the mixture in five minutes flat and they are so convenient when you have people round for afternoon tea. All you need is coffee! Blueberries are great here, but you can use whatever you want…strawberries, raspberries, or perhaps a mixture of both. Makes 12.

• 250g plain flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 120g unsalted butter, softened almost melted
• 120g golden caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 100ml milk, preferably full-fat
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 180g blueberries

Line a 12-hole muffin tray with muffin cases and preheat the oven to 190ºC.

In a large bowl, sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.

In another bowl, beat the butter together with the sugar, eggs, milk, lemon zest and juice till everything is just combined.

Fold in the flour mixture gently into the wet ingredients preferably with a spatula. Tip in the blueberries, and don’t overmix. A lumpy batter is exactly what you want here!

Using an ice-cream scoop, distribute the mixture evenly in the tray and bake for approximately 15 to 18 minutes. They should be ready by then but always check by inserting a skewer in the middle of one muffin just to be sure.

Place them on a cookie rack to cool, and eat them when they are slightly warm on the same day. They should keep in an airtight container until the next day – good excuse to invite a good friend for tea. Enjoy!

Rob x

(Adapted from River Cottage Handbook No. 8: Cakes, Pam Corbin, Bloomsbury, 2011.)

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Jarlsberg and fennel muffins

I was thrilled to see Signe Johansen on What’s Cooking last week. Signe, who is one of my very favourite food writers, grew up in Norway. I only got hold of her first book Secrets of Scandinavian Cooking…Scandilicious a month ago I’m ashamed to say, but I’m glad I have it now. I really love this book – I wouldn’t even mention it here if I didn’t – it is a great introduction to some ingredients which are not so familiar to me. Scandi cooking is very homely, very familial. It’s cozy, something I always look for. So this is an easy recipe from Signe’s repertoire, just to get you and me started. I have been baking lots of savoury cakes lately and this fits the bill quite well. There’s spelt flour and Jarlsberg here which of course, is typically Norwegian. If you can’t get hold of spelt flour (it’s easily found in supermarkets these days though) go ahead and use all-purpose flour mixed with wholemeal wheat flour.

•  300g wholewheat spelt flour
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
• 1 loaded tablespoon Marmite, melted with two tablespoons of boiling water
• 150g milk
• 1 large egg
• 40 g butter, melted
• 100g Jarlsberg, coarsely grated, plus extra for sprinkling on top

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C for fan or 190 degrees C for non-convection, and line a 12-muffin tray with baking paper or muffin cups.

Measure the flour, fennel seeds, mustard powder, cayenne pepper, baking powder and bicarb of soda, and sift them into a large bowl, to make sure everything is distributed as evenly as possible.

Use a measuring jug for the milk, and add the melted Marmite to the jug. Add this mixture with the dry ingredients and stir for a few times before adding the grated cheese.

Distribute the muffin batter in each muffin cup, but don’t fill them to the brim. I use a small ice-cream scoop for this.

Bake for around 25-30 minutes, in the upper/upper-middle shelf of the oven.

When they are done, they should be golden brown on the top. Place them on a wire rack to cool and sprinkle more grated cheese on top.

They are good on their own but they are great with a proper brunch. One of my favourite recipes.

Thanks Signe!

Rob x

(Adapted from Secrets of Scandinavian Cooking…Scandilicious by Signe Johansen, Saltyard Books, 2011.)

Chocolate and Banana Muffins

Making muffins (when I get the hang of it) is one of the most enjoyable things. You see, I find that they give me more excuses to bake…well, not that I *need* many of those. When they’re done well (and I’m not necessarily referring to myself here) they are little parcels of joy, perfect for an afternoon treat for you and for friends. I also have a thing for muffin cases. (Ask J about it – he’ll go on forever!)

Some time ago I received a lovely message from one of my readers asking me for this recipe when I posted a picture of these baked goodies on my Facebook page. I made these chocolate and banana muffins, (adapted from Nigella’s Kitchen) a bunch of times and they always turn out great…and the more I make them, the more I love them. Perhaps it’s because they are so simple and take minutes to prepare, with no fancy gadgetry; bowl, fork, whisk, spoon and muffin tin and you’re set. You can prepare the batter while chatting to your friends or listening to music – that’s how I do it anyway, and it’s a perfect way to spend an afternoon. You will need:

• 2 very ripe bananas
• 125ml vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 100g light brown sugar
• 225g plain flour
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• one 12 muffin tin, lined with muffin cases or parchment paper cut in squares

1. Preheat the oven to 175ºC and prep the muffin tin.
2. Mash the bananas in a medium-sized bowl with a fork or even with your clean hands. Take a whisk and beat the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract and sugar with the bananas. Now take a wooden spoon (to avoid over-beating) and slowly add and mix the flour, sifted cocoa powder and baking powder. Your mixture should be lumpy.
3. Tip each muffin case with some of the batter, dividing it into 12, and bake for around 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them to avoid burning. (I always take extra care when making muffins, I use to burn muffins a little bit more than I liked! But I’m getting there!) They should be done when their surface bounces back to the touch but insert a skewer in one of them to be sure.
4. When the muffins have cooled for a little while in the tin, just take them out onto a rack, ready to cover in buttercream if you like.

Enjoy and as always Happy Baking!

Rob x

Christmas muffins

This year, Christmas has completely drained me. My energy is almost all gone. So please forgive me for today’s easy recipe. I must admit that I only own one Christmas recipe book, and frankly I don’t aim to buy any more. (Again, Christmas books I mean…just in case you’re wondering…) You really don’t need to, especially if you’re all for the traditional lunch. Christmas food tends to be repetitive and for lack of a better word, somewhat boring. At least to me it is. I’m not a big fan of turkey, even though that’s what we ate this time round. Brussels sprouts, well, are what they are, chestnuts or no chestnuts. For me, the highlight of the meal are the roast potatoes, made the American way seasoned with salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic, no faffing about with the fluffing in a colander and the roasting in goose fat. The simpler the prep the better.

While I don’t enjoy the savoury stuff, I do look forward to the sweet treats, and I get to indulge a little bit, as we all do. Nigella’s Christmas Morning Muffins recipe from Nigella Christmas has been a lifesaver during these hectic times. I made 2 batches, many of which I gave out to friends, and they have been a hit. The cinnamon covered dried cranberries I bought have added some extra flavour, but they can also be made with raisins or sultanas (or indeed a mixture of both). Though methinks they taste best with the dried cranberries. There’s no butter in this recipe. The oil and milk make them nice and moist. Any milk will do. Here’s the recipe.

• 250g plain flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 clementines, zested and juiced
• around 125ml semi-skimmed milk
• 75ml vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 175g cinnamon dusted dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas mark 6, and line a muffin tin with paper muffin cases.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and the clementine zests. Lightly mix.

In a measuring jug, just to make things easier for you, squeeze the juice from the clementines and pour in the milk until you reach the 200ml mark. Pour in the oil and beat lightly.

Pour the contents of the jug onto the dry ingredients and stir until you have a few lumps in the mixture. Remember, when making muffins, a lumpy mixture is what you want. Fold in the dried cranberries.

Pour the liquid into the muffin cases, and bake for around 20 minutes. Leave them to cool and cover them with some icing.

Enjoy and a Happy New Year to all!

Rob x

(Recipe adapted from Nigella Christmas, Chatto & Windus, 2008.)

It’s Chocolate Week…

…so I baked my favourite chocolate brownies to date and Nigella’s chocolate and banana muffins from Kitchen, which I adapted to some degree. Only because my oven has a mind of its own. I will write about these again very soon. As for the photos, I took some with my mini camera, but they turned out to be really grainy, so here are some updated ones. You will find both recipes on this blog (links are above). It’s Chocolate Week here in the UK so do yourself a favour and bake some of you favourite treats. We only live once!

Rob x