A return to baking: raspberry and cinnamon crunch muffins made with Jordans Country Crisp

Raspberry and cinnamon crunch muffins


Lovely juicy, tart raspberries inside the muffin

Being a contrarian sort I tend to steer clear of predictions, resolutions and diets of any description in the new year. January is a month to hunker down indoors, savour these cold winter nights hiding under the duvet with a hot water bottle and a good book whilst nursing a whisky or three. And of course with this cold snap we're experiencing - the perfect excuse to eat carbs, glorious carbs...

Having been beset by a dastardly bout of swine flu over the Christmas holiday and only just surfacing for air last week after a slow recovery, I finally mustered the energy to bake these raspberry and cinnamon crunch muffins over the weekend. Being a baker at heart, it pained me not having the inclination to bake during the festive season, and while I was preparing a batch of raspberry muffin batter on Saturday morning inspiration struck: out of the corner of my eye a box of Jordans raspberry crunch cereal beckoned me to open it. After chomping on some of the crispy crunchy goodness and feeling ever so slightly guilty foregoing my daily porridge, I whisked and folded the raspberry muffin batter, adapting the recipe by sprinkling cereal on top of the muffin batter thus making 'streusel' raspberry muffins.

Eureka!

OK, so it was hardly a Eureka! moment, more like thank the gods - with apologies to the inimitable Johnny Nash - I can see clearly now this flu has gone.

And then it occurred to me this wasn't the first time I'd baked with crunchy cereal. One Saturday morning just before Christmas I pootled along to Leiths School of Food and Wine in deepest darkest West London for a morning of Jordans crunchy crisp appreciation, along with Ginger Gourmand, Kavey Eats, Food Urchin, Mathilde's Cuisine, Apple & Spice, the Mueslilover, amongst others. It was one of the more enjoyable food blogging events I'd been to, Jordans enticing us along with the promise we could create our own cereal and take it away in a bespoke Jordans cereal box with our names imprinted on the box for posterity, photos of which you can see on Jordans' Facebook page
When we arrived at Leiths Bill Jordan, who runs Jordans with his brother David, talked us through the story of Jordans and explained the importance of using conservation oats in the cereal and the extensive testing of recipes that takes place at the company:


But we weren't just there to make our own cereal, we were there to bake cake:


The cake was a delicious pear and chocolate crunch sponge, full of the good things in life - mainly butter and sugar - and a real hit with all those who attended.

As for the cereal - we tasted different varieties of Jordans, of which the strawberry is a firm favourite. It was my sweet treat from studying when I first arrived at university here in 1999, tasting sweet and crunchy and with a hint of acidity from those freeze-dried strawberries. I loved it then - and still do - with ice cold whole milk.

So when we were given the run of the Jordans crunchy crisp flavours table I ran erm, a little amok with the freeze-dried berries. And the coconut. And chocolate. I may have been a little over-zealous:


As a yuletide twist I tossed hazelnuts in a cinnamon and mixed spice mixture and roasted them at 180 C for 10 minutes to add to this decadent confection, I mean cereal, I had created...

But back to the raspberry and cinnamon crunch muffins. If you're curious, here's the recipe I drummed up on Saturday:

Recipe:

250g sharpham park refined spelt flour
50g porridge oats (small, not jumbo)
85g light muscovado sugar (I used billingtons)
85g golden caster sugar (waitrose)
150ml whole milk
50ml plain wholemilk yoghurt
100g melted butter
2 medium eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
170g frozen raspberries
100g Jordans raspberry crunchy crisp cereal for topping

Method:

The key to light, fluffy muffins is not to overmix the ingredients. An American friend once told me never to stir more than 12 times when combining dry and liquid ingredients and that trick has never failed.

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a 12x muffin tin with paper cups or parchement paper.

In a large bowl sieve all the dry ingredients together:


Make a well in the middle and add all the liquid ingredients:


Add the frozen raspberries and stir:


Finally, using an ice cream scoop or teaspoon, fill each muffin case 3/4 full and top with raspberry crunchy crisp (a tip though, leave out the freeze-dried raspberries as they incinerate when baked!) if you wish, dust a little extra cinnamon on top of the crunchy crisp



Bake on the upper middle shelf of the oven for 20 minutes, insert a skewer and if it comes out dry the muffins are done.

Many thanks to Jordans and Wild Card for organising an executing a thoroughly enjoyable morning for us all. It won't be the last time I bake with crunchy crisp cereal.

Have you been baking during this cold spell? If so, what have you been making?

Roses are red...

Actually, in this case they're yellow and orange. Much better.

In a fit of anti-Valentine-romance-is over-rated-not-to-mention-over-commercialised-pique I toyed with the idea of ignoring Feb 14th altogether and staying in to watch old Marilyn Monroe movies. Having decreed to my other half that we are not going out for dinner, nor anything remotely schmaltzy, we decided to spend a day together doing the following:

• roller-skiing in Hyde Park
• buying a wheelie bin at Homebase (it's on sale, or so I'm told by Casanova, otherwise known as the boyf)
• raiding the pastries at Ottolenghi (as retribution for said wheelie bin purchase)
• going to an exhibition at the V&A 
• cooking spaghetti alle vongole

Aside from no.2 the rest of our activities are perfect. No schmaltz in sight.

Seriously though, why do we make such a fuss about Valentine's Day? Having grumbled at length about it to anyone within earshot (and pity them listening) I relented and baked a few Valentine's-themed muffins today: almond and vanilla flavoured with chunks of white chocolate, then soused in a tart passionfruit and lime syrup, topped off with a generous sprinkling of tropical coconut (see my earlier post about coconut. I love coconut, I put it in my porridge, and even added some to a prawn and coriander noodle dish I made the other night)

I also have a penchant for passionfruit, but that's another story.

Anyway, here's the recipe. Happy Valentine's!

Ingredients

• 100g butter, softened
• 100g light brown sugar
• 110g self-raising flour
• 40g ground almonds
• 75g white chocolate, chopped into chunks
• 2 medium eggs
• 2 tbsp plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• pinch salt

* if you want to make these plain without the passionfruit & lime syrup, try adding other flavours to the muffins, such as cardamom, cinnamon, orange zest, coffee, cocoa...all go well with white chocolate

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C, line a 12x muffin-hole tray with paper cases.

In a medium bowl sift the almonds, flour, salt and bicarb and stir through to distribute the raising agents. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar til light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time to the butter mixture, beating each time to incorporate the egg. Then add the vanilla and yogurt, followed by the dry ingredients. Fold through with a large spoon til the mixture is even and no major lumps remain. 

Scoop the mixture into each muffin case is 3/4 full (if you don't want them to rise above the case then just fill halfway) and place on an upper-middle shelf of the oven. Bake 15-20 minutes til they're golden brown and feel firm to the touch.

For the syrup:

Take the pulp of 1 passionfruit and stir through some lime zest, along with a bit of lime juice, then add a couple of sieved tablespoon-fuls of icing sugar and stir through. If you have the time and inclination, make a sugar syrup by heating equal parts sugar and water and then boiling until it's a syrup consistency, I just went for a sloppy syrup this time...

Dark chocolate muffins with a coconut mocha glaze

When I was growing up in Norway childrens' birthdays were marked with chocolate cake -hardly unique I grant you - but the Norwegian version of chocolate cake was improved significantly with a sprinkling of desiccated coconut. These muffins are the adult version of birthday cakes from bygone years - not only do they look pretty but they're simple to make. Actually, they're not adult at all, kids would love these as much as you or I do. 

Anyway, here's the recipe and it's pretty standard. Plus there's an easy glaze and pretty coconut sprinkles to top it all off. What more could a girl ask for on a Sunday afternoon? As we say in Norwegian, deilig!

• 125g dark chocolate
• 125g butter
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 200g self-raising flour
• 150g light brown soft sugar
• 100g plain yogurt
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 medium egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• pinch salt

Preheat oven to 190 C. Line a 12x muffin tin with paper cases.

Place the chocolate, butter, coffee granules and cocoa powder in a heatproof bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water. Allow the mixture to melt (should take about 5 mins) and then take off the heat to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, sugar, salt and bicarb. Stir together and then add the egg, yogurt, vanilla and give everything a quick stir. Then add the melted chocolate mixture. If it's very thick, add a couple of tablespoons of milk or water to the mixture - you don't want it dense, more like a light mousse consistency.

Stir the mixture together and scoop into the muffin cases, bake 20-25 mins on the upper-middle shelf of the oven and allow to cool while you make the glaze:

• 100g butter
• 50g dark chocolate
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 1-2 tsp coffee granules
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3-4 tbsp icing sugar (depends how sweet you like the glaze...I like it quite bitter)
• shredded coconut

As you did with the chocolate mixture for the cake, place the butter, chocolate, cocoa and coffee in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Allow to melt, then add the vanilla and icing sugar - making sure to sift the sugar beforehand as it gets lumpy. Mix this together and then glaze the muffins when they've cooled. Sprinkle with coconut and devour immediately!

It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that zing!

Perhaps Scandilicious should be re-named the 'Passionfruit' blog, as this dark, wrinkly fruit has been at the forefront of all my recent thoughts on baking. Which means all my thoughts generally. Not terribly exciting ones admittedly, but thoughts which nonetheless result in playing around with my favourite fruit on a bank holiday Monday evening. Does this mean I need to get out more? Probably. I'd like to think it's yet another successful experiment baking with passionfruit - this time with the addition of orange, and my Mother is visiting tomorrow so I've taken care of afternoon tea - bonus! Not to mention midnight scoffing later this evening ;-) By the by, these muffins are dedicated to my most fabulous former flatmate Nina - currently rusticated to Beijing - ni hao Nina, aka fellow passionfruit fan...

Passionfruit Muffins with Orange and Oats (or what's left over in your cupboard/fridge with a bit of zing)

• 250g plain flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100g porridge oats (gives a good texture)
• 150g caster sugar
• 100g melted butter
• 180ml Quark (this was in my fridge, but use milk/yoghurt if you don't have any)
• 2 eggs
• 2 passionfruit
• 2 oranges - zest & juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Lightly oil 6 jumbo muffin tins, or 12 regular ones

In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients and stir through to distribute the raising agents. Add the orange zest then add all the liquid ingredients, stirring through with a large metal spoon, careful not to overfold or the muffins will be tough. Scoop mixture into muffin tray

Bake on centre shelf of the oven for 25 mins (regular size) 35-40 mins for the larger ones. These muffins come out light and fluffy, and predictably taste rather good with a cup of good olde English tea - see, I'm becoming more Anglo-Saxon by the day....

Recession-busting Raspberry & Almond Muffins

High summer has just passed its peak, and we're being buffeted by autumnal gusts of wind, the occasional drizzle - or indeed downpour as I write - of rain. Not to mention gloomy economic news. The evenings are cooler, but I love the fact that fresh air is breezing through my window at night, as opposed to the humid, warm air of weeks gone by. Historically, I've always been a fan of summer - months spent in the sun, by the sea, and plenty of opportunity for grazing on berries and yummy fresh beans and peas and other seasonal gems. This year's buzz word for a trendy holiday? A "staycation" which is an abomination of the English language, but kinda sums up the mood of the nation - stay at home this August, and reap the benefits of, well, the rain. Instead of gloom and doom, I'm embracing the imminent arrival of autumn. It's less frenzied, everyone's returning to work or school, but the highlight for me has to be the colours - soft and warm and pleasing to the eye. There's nothing like a walk through one of London's parks in September and October - and I can't wait for plums, in all their shades from yellow to purple, to be fully in season. Not to mention indigo blueberries, tart apples and sweet juicy pears. Bring on autumn I say!

So this recipe is a swansong for summer's princess of red berries: a muffin speckled with the last of British raspberries, fragrant orange zest and lovely ground almonds - with a helping hand from some yogurt too. The method? Couldn't be easier, so no excuses, get baking!

Makes 6-8 jumbo muffins or 12-14 regular ones. These freeze like a charm...

• 200g ground almonds
• 100g melted butter
• 125g plain flour
• 125g caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• juice and zest of two small oranges
• 75ml yoghurt - milk will do fine, just happened to have yogurt to hand...
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 150g raspberries - reckon chopped dried apricots would work too (a la the great birthday cake my flatmate made last week!)

Preheat oven 190ºC, and line the muffin tins with parchment paper or lightly oil each cup

Put all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, melted butter, yogurt, and stir through, then add the raspberries, scoop into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes (longer for larger muffins, add 10 mins extra)

Go Bananas

It must be the most common baking dilemma: what to do with ripe bananas when their advanced state of maturity renders them un-appetizing at breakfast time. You have lots of options, for example if you are an inveterate smoothie maker, then peel the bananas, freeze them in small zip lock bags and then take them out as needed. You can also mash the bananas and temper their sweetness by mixing the banana mash with lovely unsweetened plain yoghurt. Banana bread is of course a fabulous way to use up those funky, rapidly darkening bananas, but I confess to a certain antipathy to banana bread, perhaps because it is so ubiquitous. So I made these muffins instead, and as evinced by the photos, you'll see that I lacked certain preparation materials! Most importantly, a large enough mixing bowl to blend all the ingredients together (it was a very large batch of banana muffins), but as necessity is the mother of invention I got round this slight wrinkle by using a wok. Yes, a wok. Most bakers out there would be horrified by the prospect of contamination from the garlicky-gingery-scented wok, but it worked out just fine and there was no residual waft from the muffins of a recent Thai Green Curry, which is just as well, otherwise I wouldn't be posting this little feature ;-)

Makes 12 jumbo muffins, or 24 standard muffins

• 4 large, very ripe bananas - they should be blackened, squishy and rather unappealing
• 500g plain flour
  
• 150g butter, melted
• 250g caster sugar
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 125ml milk
• 125ml sour cream - yoghurt will also work, or just use milk, I'm just a sour cream fan...
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch salt - up to 1/2 tsp if using unsalted butter, the salt will enhance the flavour of the bananas
• 150g toasted walnuts (optional, of course)

Preheat the oven to 190ºC, and line 12 large muffin cups with baking parchment (as I did, roughly). Mash your bananas in a small bowl, set aside. Sift the dry ingredients in a large bowl (or wok!) and stir through to distribute the raising agents. Blend the eggs with the milk and sour cream, and create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, pouring all liquid ingredients in. Using a large spoon, fold through the wet ingredients to the dry, until the whole mix looks like a thick batter - usually between 12-15 folds will do it. Don't over-fold or the muffins will be tough. Add your walnuts if you're using them...bake for 30 minutes, they will double in size and look enormous so if you're not a greedy person, freeze some for future use

Lemon Curd and Blueberry Muffins

This is a super-duper recipe for finishing half-empty jars of lemon curd. If you have blueberries, chuck them in, if not, try grating some fresh ginger into the mixture for extra punchy flavour. These muffins are perfect for picnics, kids' lunchboxes and for scoffing in the afternoon - as I just did!

Makes 18 regular muffins or 8-9 jumbo muffins

Preheat oven to 180ºCelsius

Line muffin tins with paper muffin cups or cut out squares of greaseproof paper and scrunch them into the tins

• 225g plain flour
• 50g porridge oats
• 75g caster sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 180ml milk
• 75ml fresh lemon juice (ca.juice from 1- 1/2 lemons)
• zest of 2 lemons
• splash of vanilla
• 125g butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 100g lemon curd
• 150g fresh or frozen blueberries

Sift all dry ingredients into a large bowl, stir through to distribute raising agents and lemon zest

Beat the egg in a small cup. Pour the melted butter, lemon curd, lemon juice and vanilla into a measuring jug or bowl, stir through - the liquid will start to curdle due to the lemon juice clashing with the milk, don't worry this is normal!

Add the egg to the liquid mixture, make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the liquids. Fold through with a large metal spoon 4-5 times, then add your blueberries. Fold through another 4-5 times until the mixture looks even (a few pockets of flour are fine). The mixture should be fairly wet and dense - resist the temptation to over-fold the mixture at this stage, otherwise the muffins will be tough

Using an ice-cream scoop, distribute the mixture between the muffin tins and bake 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven 

Eat while warm or allow to cool. These muffins freeze well - provided you resist the temptation to scoff them as soon as they're out of the oven!