Apple and Cinnamon Muffins

I took a break from studying to go and watch a game of Twilight Imperium which, for those who don't know, is a very nerdy space wars game involving the taking over of planets, making peace accords and having space battles :D :D :D! I normally do play but I had waaaaaay too many readings to do for college :(

I decided I'd make something for the game and Ethan requested these muffins. Unfortunately, I've just moved apartments and while the new place is bigger, quieter and much better for studying the oven has NO markings whatsoever!!! So I made the batter and hightailed it over to a friends apartment only to find the same situation! It was a nightmare but I decided to go for it. They were a little overdone but I'm blaming the fact that the oven was probably a tad too high, they should turn out much better for you :)

Apple & Cinnamon Muffins

Makes 12

• 240g plain flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• 60g butter (melted)
• 110g white sugar
• 2 medium apples (I used Jonagold)
• 11/2tsp cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 110mls milk

Preheat oven to 200 C and grease/line a muffin pan

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl

In a separate bowl mix eggs, milk, and melted butter well

Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry mixing just enough to combine

Peel and grate the apples and fold gently into the batter mixture

Add 1.5 tbsp of batter to each hole in the muffin tray, dividing any remaining batter evenly between them

Bake for 20-25 mins

Cool in the tin for 5 mins then cool completely on a wire rack

Enjoy :D x

Icing with Sammi

So I spent the weekend in U.C.C. in Cork at the Student Psychology Conference which was FANTASTIC! We got a chance to present our research and meet other psychology undergrads and postgrads and people genuinely seemed interested in my research which was a huge boost to my confidence.

When I got back on Sunday I was wrecked so I went for a bit of a snooze and had a very lethargic afternoon. I didn't even train too hard in dance (which is highly unlike me). Anyway, I wandered up to visit a friend of mine who lives near the college and she had been baking wholewheat vanilla cupcakes and the smell hit you right from the time you stepped in the house. She had also made this wonderfully pale pink frosting which was sitting in a white bowl when I walked into the kitchen (the picture of girlie :P)

Wholewheat Vanilla cupcakes

(Makes 12)

• 110g unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 225g caster sugar
• 2 large eggs 
• 150g self raising flour, sifted
• 125g  wholemeal flour
• 120ml milk, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 160 C

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and smooth, 

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing for a few minutes after each

Combine the flours in a separate bowl and add 1/3 to the butter and sugar mixture. Beat well

Add the vanilla to the milk

Pour 1/3 into the other ingredients in the mixing bowl and beat again

Repeat until all of the flour and milk have been added

Transfer the mixture into the muffin cases

Bake for approximately 25-35 minutes, until golden

Cool in the tin for 10 mins then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely

* You can substitute the wholewheat flour for 125g of plain white flour

The texture of these muffins is a bit denser that regular muffins thanks to the wholewheat flour but they have a lot more bite as a result.

When her cupcakes (which smelled amazing) had cooled we set to work, her icing with a spatula, me with a trusty piping bag. Then armed with sprinkles we went to town (and a little bit overboard in some cases) and decorated them...and the floor...

T'was a lovely evening, just what I needed after the long drive and busy weekend :)


Incidentally, Sammi is a writer and has a blog of her own all about writing and general artistic stuff (it's very good) Wisdom Words and Whimsy

x

Valentines Day Muffins (with lemon-cinnamon cream cheese glaze)

Ok, so I'm not a huge fan of the whole Valentine's Day thing. I mean, this was to be the first year I ever celebrated it with anyone but from previous years I had decided it was a really fake holiday; the sentiment is lovely and I totally agree with the idea but it's way to commercialised and just seems like a money spinner to be honest. Luckily for me, Ethan feels pretty much the same so we decided to go simple and have home-cooked food and curl up with a movie. 


I spent the day baking, making truffles (recipe to follow at some stage) and being the campus Valentines Day Fairy (I basically went and handed out my home made truffles, except the ones I was saving for himself of course). was presented with a really lovely meal of maple and mustard glazed salmon with various trimmings, which was really yummy (I shall be stealing the idea for my own recipe collection!) and then we basically spent the evening chatting and totally forgot to watch any sort of movie until we realised it was 11:45 and way too late to start watching anything :P (We're really good time-keepers, I swear).


In keeping with the whole Valentines is too commercial I decided I'd give Ethan something home made. He had mentioned wanting to try apple and raspberry muffins when we first started going out (almost a year ago :D), so I decided I'd give them a bang (I also wanted to try out my new measuring spoons and red polka dot muffin cases). I used an Apple Muffin recipe from a book I picked up called 1001 Cupcakes, Cookies and Other Tempting Treats and tweaked it a bit (as I always do). A problem I've found with some apple muffins I've tried is that they don't taste apple-y enough (yes, it IS a word! :P). But apparently, althought the raspberries were the stronger flavour, the 
apple still came through :D! 
The whole time these muffins were baking my 
whole kitchen was perfumed with the summery, 
heady scent of raspberries! It was wonderful :D!


I just decided to make up the glaze last minute because about a month ago I have made an orange version for my Mum to go on the Carrot cake cup-cakes I baked for her. She hates the frosting but likes the sweetness so I figured a glaze would provide enough sweetness without being too overpowering. For these muffins, I knew ornage wouldn't work so I thought lemon might be a good substitute and as it turns out I made the right call...phew! :D




Apple and Raspberry Muffins


(Makes 15)

• 280g plain flour
• 1tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 100-115g light brown sugar (depends on the sweetness of your apples)
• 2 dessert apples (I used Pink Ladies)
• 2 eggs
• 200mls milk
• 100g butter (melted and cooled)
• 130g raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F

Line a muffin tray with paper cases

Sieve together flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl and stir in the sugar

Peel and grate the apples and add to the flour mixture

Beat the eggs lightly in another bowl and beat in the milk and butter

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined, don't overmix or the muffins won't rise properly

Fold in raspberries gently, being careful not to crush them

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases, 1 1/2-2tbsp in each

Bake for 25-30 mins, until well risen, golden brown and firm to the touch. When inverted and tapped they should make a hollow sound!

Cool in the tin for 5 mins then cool completely on a wire rack

Notes:

The raspberries make these muffins super moist so they may take longer than 30 mins; mine took pretty much exactly that amount of time. Just keep a watchful eye on them!

Because I used sweet dessert apples I only used 100g of sugar but if you're using a tart apple such as Granny Smith I recommend using the full amount.

Lemon-Cinnamon Cream Cheese Glaze

• 2 tbsp cream cheese
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 7-10 heaped tbsp icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and add more cheese/lemon juice/ sugar until your glaze reaches a consistency where it will drip slowly off the back of a metal spoon.

These muffins were a big hit (with and without the glaze), and I'll definitely be making them again :D I hope all of you had a fantastic day, full of love and affection :)

Kate xxx

World Nutella Day and a suitable recipe

After a long thesis related absense I'm back and from the abyss of late night statistics sessions and results analysing I bring a recipe featuring the world famous hazelnut-chocolate spread we all know and love (I hope)! Ok so a few of my friends are having birthdays this week so it's gonna be all go on the baking front for me (not that I'm complaining in the slightest :D :D :D

First off I decided to do muffins for Tara :) The only question is what type? After a good long think and a bit of a food porn session I found out that it was recently World Nutella Day. I decided I just HAD to make something and found several recipes for self frosting nutella cupcakes. Sometimes I think frosting detracts from the cupcake itself and I know many people who hate the stuff and end up scraping it off so these were perfect :D! I'm using a slightly modified version of my own fairy cake (yellow cake) recipe to which I added some of the chocolatey yumminess :)

I hope you enjoy these, Tara sure did :)

Self-Frosting Nutella Muffins

(Makes 12)

• 140g butter (at room temp)
• 110g white caster sugar/130g granulated white sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence (I omitted this for this recipe but feel free to add it)
• 2 eggs
• 50ml milk
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 12 tsps Nutella

Preheat oven to 160 C/325 F

Line/grease a 12 hole muffin tin

Cream butter and sugar until creamy and light

Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition

Stir in vanilla essence

Sift in flour and baking powder and mix until combined

Add milk until the mixture is the right consistency (It should stay on a spoon easily but slowly fall off when the spoon is turned over)

Put 1 tbsp of the mix into each hole in the tray, distributing any remaining mix into the 12 holes

Put 1 tsp of Nutella on top of the mixture and swirl in using a toothpick/fork (I found the fork better at first but it's messy no matter what you use)

Bake for 22mins, until well risen and a toothpick comes out clean (maybe with some Nutella on it, depending on where you stick the toothpick)

Cool on a wire rack (or not) and enjoy :)

Orange and Almond Muffins

This recipe was adapted from an orange muffin recipe I got from a friend. I had ground almonds in the press and my Mum LOVES the combination of orange and almonds so I set to work.

These muffins are light but filling and the ground almonds give them an extra, earthy sweetness.

Orange and Almond Muffins (Makes 12)

• 120g softened unsalted butter
• 160g caster sugar
• 160g + 1 handful self-raising flour
• 25g + 1 handful ground almonds
• 125mls orange juice
• 1tsp almond essence
• 2 eggs
• zest of 1 orange

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds and orange juice and beat until just combined

Add orange rind and almond essence and mix until smooth and pale

Divide into cases and bake for 20 mins, until golden. Cool completely on a wire rack (or dig in while warm). We did the latter and I don't think there was any left to cool :P