Monday, May 26, 2008

Zesty lemon and sultana muffins

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe on Planethalder, which is ludicrous really considering how much we cook at home and how much time I've had to post since I've been on maternity leave. To atone for my laziness, here is my recipe for 6 zesty lemon and sultana muffins, which I made this wet and windy Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. The basic muffin recipe has been honed (for example, I used to use 100g of ground almonds but found adding, instead, 50g of ground almonds and 50g of plain flour lightened the muffin considerably while still keeping it moist). And you can then add any variety of filling or flavouring to this. If you add frosting or icing you have a cupcake! So versatile.

Basic muffin mix:
150ml natural yoghurt
3 eggs, beaten
175g caster sugar
140g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
50g ground almonds
50g plain flour
175g unsalted butter, melted
Pinch salt
Half tsp vanilla essence

Filling:
Zest and juice of two lemons
Large handful of sultanas

1. Pre-heat oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5
2. Line 6-hole muffin tin with paper cases or use silicone muffin tin
3. Mix together yoghurt, eggs, vanilla, melted butter, lemon zest and juice
4. In big bowl, mix together all dry ingredients, including sultanas, and make a well in the middle
5. Pour in wet ingredients into the well and quickly but gently fold with a metal spoon or spatula taking care not to overwork it
6. Spoon into the muffin tin (each hole will be quite full) and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden, risen and springy to the touch
7. Take out of the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes. They are lovely eaten warm but they can be cooled completely and frozen or eaten within 3 days if left in the fridge

4 comments:

RD said...

Some day! Some antidote! BB

Olivia said...

I love what adding ground almonds does to a cake batter! Mmmm.

Poppins said...

You're 39 weeks pregnant and you baked? *Gasp* Good going girl!

Anonymous said...

Poppins, maybe it's the nesting instinct that hits pre-birth?! ;-)

Yes, O, it really makes the batter moist, doesn't it? But too much and I find that it dominates the flavour too much so I reduced it's proportions.

Hope you had a good Bank Holiday, BB. I wish you were blogging again but I understand your reasons for taking a break. Perhaps you could start over with a new blog and not tell your real-life family and friends about it - that way you can avoid their judgements. But please tell your online friends :-)