muffin Archives - Sugar et al

Lemon Rhubarb and Almond Muffins

16|10|2018

When I think of Spring I can’t go past Rhubarb. Those bright, juicy stalks bursting with so much flavor add a pop of freshness to any baked item. By themselves too, they are the perfect ingredient for a cordial or a chutney. The best thing though is the they’re equally great with both sweet and savory dishes. A few days ago I made a rhubarb chutney that was the talk of my neighborhood. Paired with brie cheese and some fresh greens in a sandwich, they make a killer combo. Try it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

Adding them in sweet recipes, is of course as simple as chopping them and throwing them into your cakes, muffins, slices or tarts. They cook down upon heating in the oven and create the most gorgeous pink hued topping. This recipe is super simple and I’ve made the lemon muffins by themselves many times. Spring is in the air and since I never ever get tired of pink, I included rhubarb and some sliced almonds to make them exciting. Sweet, tart, crunchy, mushy…these muffins are everything and a delight to the taste-buds.

Lemon Rhubarb and Almond Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

2 and 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 and 1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly whisked
90 g unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup chopped rhubarb (chopped into 1 cm cubes)
1/3 cup thinly sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan forced ovens). Line a 12- hole muffin tray with muffin/cupcake liners.

Place the flour, sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Make a well in the centre. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, butter and lemon juice. Pour the wet mixture into the well. Stir until just combined (do not over-mix). Fold in chopped rhubarb leaving aside a little for the tops (about 1/4 cup).

Spoon batter into muffin liners till 3/4th full. Sprinkle leftover rhubarb pieces and sliced almonds on to the tops. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Turn onto a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Lemon, Chocolate And Pistachio Muffins

7|03|2015

Delicious Pistachio Muffins with a lemon cake base, dipped in chocolate and topped with ground pistachios.

‘You can lift up the lids now’ the voice echoed across the large hall as anxious hands moved in unison. I said a quick prayer ‘Please let there be lemon…please..please!’ With bated breath I peered inside.
There was lemon! A whole lemon! Bright yellow, gleaming in the light. But..there was a problem! There was chocolate. As well. Now what! I was in a fix. Without a doubt Chocolate is my favorite ingredient but I wasn’t expecting it. It just seemed too unlikely to have such an easy and versatile ingredient to work with. I ran through all the chocolate recipes in my mind..cooking times, accompanying ingredients and such. I looked at the mammoth clock hanging on the wall. 50 minutes to go. How on earth was I going to make my famous chocolate ginger torte in such a limited time? Show skill..show technique..understanding of flavors..multitask…was all over my mind. Scaling down a recipe? How would I make it look pretty inside a ramekin..Oh no! Panic. I looked around. Gigantic saucepans….large baking pans. A single serve dessert was my only option but in monster baking gear..how? More panic.
’30 minutes to go’..the voice sent a chill down my spine. Nope. Sorry Chocolate! I decided to stick with Lemon. Lemon and Meringue…Yesss! Meringue spells technique. Add more elements. Lemon Curd…Lemon custard…Candied Lemon. I leaped forward and grabbed a zester.

Well, does this sound like the sets of a reality show? A cooking competition, maybe? For some of us who love cooking/baking and cooking shows, to be on one is like a dream. Except this was real. Except it was turning into a nightmare. Nothing quite I had pictured before. And every movement..every expression..helplessness being captured on what looks like a hundred professional cameras. This was many moons ago but truly the experience of a life time. Cooking in the comfort of your own kitchen is different from cooking for the first time in a commercial kitchen under the watchful eyes of professionals and celebrities. Anyway, I did put up a decent dessert that I saw the staff and crew photograph even on mobile phones. But maybe that was not enough.Maybe things would be different if I had some control on my nerves. Maybe I was always meant to be behind the lenses. The last one actually, I am sure of. I can see things through my camera that I may not notice otherwise.

Back to the present, I totally loved how these muffins tasted. They are lemon muffins with thier tops covered in dark chocolate ganache and ground pistachios.The citrus is not overpowering, neither is the chocolate. They are in complete harmony while the pistachios add life and texture to these muffins.To be honest, I wasn’t very happy with the muffin batter. While spooning them into the muffin cases I felt that they might turn out dry just as they did. If you have an alternate lemon muffin recipe..feel free to go with that. If you are using this recipe, take care not to over-bake. They taste amazing but are not as moist as some of the other muffins I have made before. I am a bit of a perfectionist so perhaps I could be a tad bit critical. My family loved them. The combination of lemon, chocolate and pistachio however, is sensational. Which is why I am sharing this recipe. I would probably add sour cream or yogurt next time instead of milk to test them out.

So, when life gives you lemons, make sure it doesn’t give you Chocolate!
If it does, well, you know now what to do:-)

Lemon, Chocolate And Pistachio Muffins (lemon muffin recipe adapted from here)
Makes 8 large muffins

2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
90 g butter, melted
chocolate ganache, to coat
ground pistachios, to coat

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan-forced). Lightly grease a 12-hole, 1/3-cup capacity non-stick muffin pan.

Sift flour into a large bowl. Add caster sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon rind and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre. Combine milk, egg and butter in a jug. Pour milk mixture into the well. Using a large metal spoon, stir until just combined (don’t over-mix).

Spoon mixture into muffin holes until three-quarters full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 1 minute. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Once cooled dip the tops into chocolate ganache and then onto a plate of ground pistachios. Leave aside for 15 minutes to set.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

110 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream

Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan. Before it reaches boiling point, remove from heat, add the chocolate. Leave aside for 10 minutes. Mix till chocolate is well blended and smooth. Alternately, you could place the cream and chocolate together in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for a few seconds.

Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins

11|02|2014

I think most of us have a favourite banana bread or muffin recipe. At a baker’s home, it’s not too difficult to predict the fate of ripened bananas. In my case, I can’t say that there have been too many instances that I have gone shopping for bananas for a particular recipe. Or maybe this is my first.

I’ve been meaning to make banana muffins with coconut in them for a while now. Actually I was looking for a desperate change from my usual banana plain or chocolate flavoured muffins. And I didn’t want a frosting this time, like the one I had posted earlier with Chocolate Malt Buttercream. So when I came across the recipe I knew I wanted to make it. It was by far the simplest banana muffin recipe that I tried out.

It turned out great. Moist with a bit of crunch from the desiccated coconut and sweet from the bananas. Chocolate chips almost always make their way into my muffins. There’s not much else to say about this recipe other than it is sure worth a try.

Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins (adapted with variation from Taste.com)
Makes 12 large muffins

125g unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup (165 g) castor sugar
2 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup (100g) dark chocolate chips
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper liners.

Place butter, sugar, banana, eggs and vanilla in a bowl and mix till well combined. Place flour, coconut and chocolate in a large bowl, then fold in banana mixture. Working in batches, place spoonfuls of mixture into the prepared pan (up to 2/3rd full). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.

Cool slightly in pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Serve dusted with icing sugar.