Posts tagged muffin

Apple Pie ‘Duffins’ and a 2nd Birthday

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Apple Pie ‘Duffins’ and a 2nd Birthday

 

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This weekend called for a belated blog birthday celebration and naturally a cake! Celebrating not only the last day of August which was blissfully sunny and spent wakeboarding on a glass-like lake in Wiltshire with some friends, but also the 2nd birthday of ‘forage in the pantry’ or FITP as its been recently named. Since my first ever blogged recipe and still one of my absolute favourites (see here) it has been two years of new experiments, flavours, combinations, styles, and ingredients which have flown by deliciously. A LOT has happened and changed in these past 2 years but the blog has been ticking over loyally and creatively in the background. Maintaining my sanity and satiety.

It pains me to say it but as Autumn approaches on the horizon in the form of darker nights and colder mornings, the apples are abundant and I felt it only natural to choose them as the star in my birthday cake. Taking inspiration from the controversial Starbucks ‘Duffin’ (muffin filled with jam) I have concocted a cinnamon cake filled wickedly with a slow roasted spiced apple puree and a tangy ginger lemon frosting. I refrained from rolling in sugar. Delicious served fresh on the day bitten into with no prior warning of the jammy filling.

Apple Puree – see here

Apple Crisps

  • 1 apple
  • 65g caster sugar
  • 35ml water
  • cinnamon
  1. Preheat the oven to 130° C and line a baking tray with parchment.
  2. Slice the apple on the horizontal using a mandolin to very fine slithers.
  3. Heat the water and sugar in a pan until the sugar dissolves and it bubbles into a lovely clear syrup.
  4. Lay the slices on the tray and brush with the glaze. Dust with a little cinnamon and sugar if you like and bake in a low oven for about 30 minutes until dry and crisp. Leave to cool.

Cinnamon Muffins – I actually found these too big and dense. I think they’d work much better as cupcake with a lighted spongy texture so I have included a recipe below but feel free to make them GIANT and muffin like as titled.

  • 115g unsalted butter
  • 115g caster sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 115g flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 35g chopped hazelnuts (optional)
  • 2-3 tbsp milk
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  1. Preheat the oven to 180° C and line a cupcake tin with cases.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together very well until pale a fluffy.
  3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla a bit at a time.
  4. Now sieve in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and fold in gently until just incorporated.
  5. Fold in the nuts and loosen with a dash of milk if needed.
  6. Fill your cupcake cases and bake for about 15 minutes until golden and set in the middle. Leave to cool.

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Ginger Lemon Buttercream

  • 125g softened unsalted butter
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp ginger syrup (from a jar of stem ginger. You can also add some chopped stem ginger if you like)
  • 1 lemon, zest only
  1. Combine all (in a food processor) until well mixed. Fill a piping bag and use to decorate the duffins.

Assembling….

  • Take your cooled cupcake/muffin and slice the top off (usually easier if they have risen with a dome!)
  • Cut out the middle to create a small whole keeping the removed cake.
  • Fill with about 2tsp of apple puree.
  • Top with a little bit of the filling to hide the puree, eat the excess.
  • Pipe the buttercream over the top in any pattern you like
  • Top with a wafer
  • The best bit….serve to a greedy worthy friend.

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Blackcurrant Bran Breakfast Muffin

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Blackcurrant Bran Breakfast Muffin

 

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I hate the way recipes for these types of muffins seem to stress them as being ‘healthy’ breakfast muffins- they’re not healthy (note the sugar and oil content) but they are great for breakfast once in a while! They’re fantastic devoured warm, fresh from the oven if you’re organised or satisfying a spontaneous lazy craving on a Sunday morning. Alternatively, leave to cool and then toast/grill and slather with trowel-fulls of creamy salted butter. Have I got your attention yet?

NOTE: The recipe was lovely but quite oily, next time I may reduce the oil content to about 200ml but if anyone does in the meantime, let me know how they taste!

Makes 18 man muffins

  • 100g bran
  • 300ml milk
  • 300g self raising flour
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3 eggs
  • 160g caster sugar
  • 85g muscovado sugar
  • 300ml sunflower oil
  • 200g blackcurrants (or blueberries)
  • 1-2 tbsp demerara sugar
  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a muffin tray.
  2. Pour the milk over the bran and leave in a bowl to soak (when I first wrote that step, I wrote ‘brain’…..don’t do that).
  3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl and then incorporate the oil until combined.
  4. Into this, sieve the flour, bicarb and baking powder and fold in gently but don’t overmix. Leaving the odd lump of flour is fine. Lightly fold in the bran (I just wrote ‘brain’ again…) and milk mixture and lastly add the blackcurrants and mix until just combined.
  5. Spoon generously into the muffin cases, sprinkle each with a little demerara sugar and bake for 25 minutes until golden and cooked. Once cooked, leave to cool on a wire rack to firm up a little before serving warm with an optional scoop of cooling vanilla bean ice cream or a spicy cinnamon infused mascarpone cream dolloped on the side. These are also dreamy cooled and then toasted for breakfast and smothered in salted butter.

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Giant Coconut Lime Muffins

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Giant Coconut Lime Muffins

 

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This batch was giant I tell you….maybe a little too giant? But non-iced they’d be amazing toasted for breakfast with nutella like a bounty bar! This is a pretty basic muffin mixture so feel free to add fruit or chocolate as you please….

Makes 8-9 large muffins (I recommend making them smaller)

  • 250g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp bicarb
  • 145g caster sugar
  • 1 handful dessicated coconut
  • 200ml coconut milk
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 85g butter, melted
  • 250g cream cheese
  • Zest of 1 lime and the juice of ½
  • 3 tbsp icing sugar
  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
  2. Mix the flour, bicarb, sugar and dessicated coconut in a large bowl
  3. Add the melted butter, coconut milk and the beaten eggs.
  4. Using minimal stirs to make sure the muffins are light in texture and not dense, stir until just combined (if there are a few flour lumps this is ok)
  5. Spoon generously into a muffin tin lined with cases and bake for 20-30 minutes until cooked.
  6. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, mix the creme cheese, lime zest and juice and sieve in the icing sugar.
  7. Mix well and transfer to a piping bag
  8. Only when the cakes are cool, pipe on the icing however you like and scatter with extra lime zest or coconut if you like.

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Banana Muffins with a Boozy Rum Icing

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Banana Muffins with a Boozy Rum Icing

 

In honour of ‘The Great British Bake Off’, my friends and I decided to bake a wholesome feast to devour during the entertainment that was John, James and…..Brendan? Suffocating in the smells of freshly baked goods in my Clifton garden flat, I knocked out a batch of these forever pleasing muffins and added a cheeky little extra topping. I used to make these every weekend when I ran my own breakfast menu at ’The Food Gallery’ (Marlborough) over the summer. They proudly topped my menu (minus the rum icing) served with creamy Greek yoghurt and some sweet, sticky local honey so I confirm, they certainly make a delicious start to the day too! However, tonight called for a little added sparkle so I decorated with some rum cream cheese frosting and walnut praline……

TIP: If you ever have too many bananas turning brown and sugary in your fruit bowl- don’t throw them away! I always peal mine and freeze them in a sandwich bag. Then they are ready to hand and at the perfect ripeness for when baking calls. Bring them out to defrost a little before you use them- they may go all slimy and unappetising looking but I assure you they will taste and bake perfectly!

Makes 10-12 rugby player sized muffins (adapted from Waitrose recipes)

  • 125g unsalted butter, softened
  • 225g light brown muscavado sugar
  • 4 very ripe bananas (300g)
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Large pinch cinnamon/mixed spice
  • 250g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 75ml buttermilk
  • 50g crumbled toasted walnuts or pecans

Rum Icing

  • 300g cream cheese
  • 150g icing sugar, sieved
  • A pinch of cinnamon/mixed spice
  • A splash of rum
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a muffin tin with cases.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl.
  3. Add the mashed bananas, vanilla and eggs and mix
  4. Fold in the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder.
  5. Now add the buttermilk and stir thoroughly. Add the walnuts and mix until they are evenly distributed.
  6. Generously fill the muffin cases and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, checking after about 20 to make sure they are not browning too much.
  7. Meanwhile, make the icing. Cream the cream cheese, spices and sieved icing sugar together. Add a splash of rum and mix. Chill in the fridge to harden until needed.
  8. When the muffins are ready, they will be soft and springy to the touch and a sharp knife inserted into the centre will come out clean. Leave to cool completely.
  9. Once cool, top with icing and decorate with a halved walnut and some walnut praline if you like. The praline I made by melting caster sugar in a dry frying pan until melted and beginning to turn golden. Once it is a pale light colour, remove from the heat and pour quickly and thinly over crumbled walnuts on some baking paper and leave to cool and crisp. Break into shards and top the muffins!

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