Golden Syrup Cupcakes

Oops ... No sugar? Ah, but I've got golden syrup in the cupboard.
So, here they are, I made golden syrup cupcakes.  As an experiment, I put everything in a bowl and mixed with an electric hand mixer. Easy does it. :)  The result was surprisingly great. The texture of the cupcakes was really fine. They have an almost velvety like texture and they are very light and moist. They also have the rich sugary flavour of golden syrup.
Ah, I have to mention that I put some chopped prunes which I happened to have in my cupboard.
So these are really "cupboard cupcakes."

Ingredients

• 6 oz low-fat spread (or butter if you prefer) 
• 6 oz golden syrup
• 6 oz SR flour (or Plain flour)
• 1 tsp baking powder (if you use the Plain flour, increase the BP to 2 tsp)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp  Milk

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven 160-180 °c      
2. Put all ingredients in the food processer and mix well. Or put all  ingredients in a bowl and mix with  electric hand mixer.
3. Add more milk if necessary until you achieve the dropping texture  
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared muffin cases in the muffin baking try.
5. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes
6. When the cupcakes are baked, let them stand for 5 minutes in the baking tray, then turn them out. 

Chocolate & orange muffins

Chocolate and orange is a good combination. 

These muffins have a quite pronounced flavour of orange, but they don't have any actual orange segments or even juice. Fresh orange zest really gives an aromatic flavour. 

I added chopped white chocolate to compliment the fresh orange flavour. You could add more white chocolate if you wish.

Ingredients 

• 200g plain flour
• 150g caster sugar 
• 25g cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 150ml milk
• 50ml vegetable oil  
• 1 egg
• 50g white chocolate chopped
• zest of 1 orange

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6 and add paper cases to a muffin tray.
2. Measure out dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3. Measure milk and oil in a large measuring jug. Add egg and whisk well.
4. Add the wet mixture (3) into the dry mixture (2).  Stir until just combined. The mixture will be lumpy. Do NOT over mix.     Then, gently fold in chopped white chocolate and zest of orange.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. 

Dairy free cranberry and chocolate muffins

No milk in the fridge .... fear not ... you can still make muffins without milk. 

If I say without milk, that doesn't mean you need substitute stuff like soya milk or oat milk.  

You can actually make muffins simply using water instead of milk.   

I recently discovered that I could bake cake without eggs and milk when I tried to make vegan cupcakes. When I found there was no milk in my fridge, I thought to myself I still could make muffins using water like I made vegan cupcakes the other day.  :)

I used an egg as I had some eggs in the fridge. So, these muffins are dairy free but not totally vegan. 

They have a lovely chocolaty flavour and very light.  

Ingredients 

• 200g plain flour (if you use self raising flour, no need to add baking powder) 
• 150g sugar
• 20g cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼  tsp Salt
• 100ml water 
• 60ml vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• Vanilla extract
• 120g fresh cranberries 

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6 and add paper cases to a muffin tray.

2. Measure out flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix the dried ingredients well.

3. Measure water and oil in a large measuring jug. Add egg and vanilla, then whisk well.

4.  Add the wet mixture (3) into the dry mixture (2).  Stir until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).        Do NOT over mix!

5. Gently fold in cranberries.

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Believe it or not, these are "vegan friendly" cupcakes. I was searching for a cake recipe for my vegan friend and found a recipe which is totally egg-free and dairy-free.   This recipe doesn't require any unusual ingredients. I call this "absolutely cupboard ingredients cake".   I wasn't sure how the cupcakes would turn out as the recipe seemed to be too simple.   However, I was pleasantly surprised by the result.
These cupcakes are really moist, soft, light and full of flavour.   You wouldn't believe these are totally egg and daily free. I made cupcakes, but this recipe would also work as a sponge base for any decorated cake. When you bake it in a cake tin, it just bakes for longer.  
I put crushed walnuts on top before baking them.  Lovely. :)


Ingredients

• 200g (7 oz) self-raising flour 
• 200g (7 oz) caster sugar
• 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 5 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 250ml (8 floz) water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C / gas 4. Lightly grease a 13x23cm loaf tin or a 20cm round cake tin.                 If you make cupcakes, prepare muffin cases.  
2. Sieve together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add oil, vanilla, lemon juice and water. Mix together until smooth.
3. Pour into prepared tin or muffin cases and bake for 40 minutes for cake tin or 20 minutes for cupcakes. Check it's cooked by inserting a skewer. If it's clean on withdrawl then it's cooked.
4. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Apple and cranberry tarte tatin

Yes, this is really red, isn't it?  I didn't use any food colouring at all.
This beautiful ruby red naturally came from cranberries. I stocked up lots of fresh cranberries in my freezer after post-Christmas shopping.   Cranberries did not only add this beautiful colour but also added a lovely tangy flavour to my usual apple tarte tatin.
You can imagine my excitement when I turned it upside down on the plate.   What a wonderful surprise. :) 
Anyway, having warm dessert is a treat on a snowy day like today.

I filled the gaps with frozen cranberries straight from the freezer. My rough-puff pastry looking promising.

It makes a lovely dessert with creme fraiche. 

Ingredients

For the pastry

· 100g/4oz plain flour

· 50g/2oz butter (in a block) salted butter would be better for sharpening the flavour

· 25g/1oz lard (in a block) 

For the caramel

· 175g/6oz granulated sugar 

For the topping

· 3-4 red dessert apples

· some fresh cranberries to fill the gap

To finish

         · 50g/2oz caster sugar and lemon juice

         

Preparation method

1.    First make the pastry. Freeze the butter and lard until very cold.

2.    Measure the flour into a bowl and grate the butter and lard into the flour. Use a knife to coat the butter and lard in the flour. Add 4-5 tbsp cold water and mix to a firm dough until it comes together.

3.    Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface to a rectangle. Fold one third down and then fold the bottom third up and over the top fold. Turn it 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and repeat the rolling and folding. Set aside, covered, in the fridge for 20 minutes. Repeat the rolling, folding and chilling twice more so you have a total of four folds and turns.

4.    Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

5.    For the caramel, place the granulated sugar and 6 tbsp water into a stainless steel pan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and there are no granules. Remove the spoon and increase the heat. Boil until a golden straw colour and immediately pour into a 23cm/9in fixed-base deep sponge sandwich tin. Don’t let it get too dark or it will be bitter – this is very important!  

6.    For the topping, core the apples, then cut into thick slices. Arrange a layer over the caramel in the tin in a circular pattern – start from the outside of the tin and work inwards. Fill the gaps with cranberries.

7.    Roll out the pastry to a round, slightly bigger than the tin. Cover the apples and tuck the edges of the pastry down around the apples. Make a small cross in the top of the pastry to let the steam out.

8.    Bake for about 40 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden-brown and the apples are soft.

9.    To finish, before turning the tarte out, tip the juices from the tin into a saucepan. Add the caster sugar and lemon juice and boil until syrupy.

10. Turn the tarte tatin out onto a plate and spoon the syrup over the apples. Serve with cream or crème fraîche.

       Do not wash-up the sauce pan which was used for making caramel. Use the sauce pan to make glaze!  Add sugar, lemon juice and some juices from the tarte tatin to the sauce pan which has leftover hardened caramel. 

Super Low-fat Chocolate Brownies

Here they are. Very chocolaty and really sticky but, believe it or not, "low-fat" chocolate brownies.
I posted this unbelievable mayonnaise chocolate brownies recipe before but here is a slightly amended version after trying it several times. These chocolate brownies can be made in a round tin and turned out as a cake.
It's also delicious with a drop of creme fraiche, for a dessert. :)

Ingredients

• 100g dark chocolate , 70% cocoa solids, chopped into small pieces
• 100g plain flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (or baking powder which I prefer)
• 120g golden caster sugar
• 60g light muscovado sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 ½  Tbsp milk and a little drop of lemon juice (approx. ¼ tsp)
• 1 egg
• 120g “reduced fat” mayonnaise

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Pour enough water into a small pan to one-third fill it. Bring to the boil, then remove the pan from the heat. Put the chopped chocolate into a large bowl that will fit snugly over the pan without touching the water. Sit the pan over the water (still off the heat) and leave the chocolate to melt slowly for a few mins, stirring occasionally until it has melted evenly. Remove the bowl from the pan, then let the chocolate cool slightly.
2. Meanwhile, lightly oil and base-line a 19cm square cake tin that is 5cm deep. Combine the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda (or baking powder which I prefer). Using a wooden spoon, stir both the sugars into the cooled chocolate with vanilla, milk and tiny drop of lemon juice. Stir in 1 tbsp warm water. Break and beat in the egg, then stir in the mayonnaise just until smooth and glossy. Sift over the flour and cocoa mix, then gently fold in with a spatula without overmixing.
3. Pour the mixture into the tin, then gently and evenly spread it into the corners. Bake for 30 mins. When a skewer is inserted into the middle, it should come out with just a few moist crumbs sticking to it. If cooked too long, the mix will dry out; not long enough and it can sink. Leave in the tin until completely cold, then loosen the sides with a round-bladed knife. Turn out onto a board, peel off the lining paper and cut into 12 squares.

very moist dessert cupcakes

These lovely cupcakes are really light, soft, moist and juicy. You can use different fruit like chopped apples, pears etc., but I found mixed berries are just so brilliant. :)  I love these cupcakes with creme fraiche for dessert.  Or decorating them with buttercream would be nice .... but a bit naughty, perhaps ...
I added the recipe for the buttercream in case you fancy it.

Ingredients (approx. 10 cupcakes)

• 6 oz plain flour  (or self raising flour) 
• 6 oz caster sugar
• 6 oz low-fat spread (or butter if you prefer)
• 2 tsp baking powder (if you use plain flour, but not if you use self raising flour)
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 120g frozen mixed berries (or fresh ones if you have them) 

Method

1. Put all ingredients (except the berries) in a bowl and whisk up with an electric whisk. The mixture should have a dropping consistency. Add a bit more milk to get the right consistency.
2. Fold the berries into the cake mixture very gently not to break the berries.
3. Pour the mixture into cupcake cases that are placed in the tin.
4. Bake for about 30 minutes in the preheated oven (180c). 
5. When the cupcakes are baked, leave then in the tin for a few minutes and then take them out to cool.
6. Cupcakes are ready to be decorated with butter cream, cream cheese or creme fraiche.  

Basic buttercream icing ingredients  

• 140g / 5 oz  butter softened 
• 280g / 10 oz icing sugar 
• 1-2 Tbsp milk
• a few drops of food colouring 

Method

1. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. 
2. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Add the remaining icing sugar and one tablespoon of the milk and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth. Beat in the milk, if necessary, to loosen the mixture.
3. Stir in the food colouring until well combined.

"seriously lemony" lemon Drizzle cupcakes

Lots of people are having nasty colds at this time of year. My very good friend had one and she said she would be off work and staying in bed. Poor thing. :(   Fortunately, I'm ok so far, so I decided to make little cupcakes to cheer her up.   These are "seriously lemony" cupcakes which contain lots of vitamin C which, I hope, helps her to fight the cold.  I posted "lemon drizzle muffins" in this blog before, but these are "lemon drizzle cupcakes" ... yes, different. I understand that muffins and cupcakes are different things. Muffins tend to use a liquid form of fat like vegetable oil whereas cupcakes likely require a solid form of fat like butter or margarine. 

So, here are my cupcakes filled with a lot of lemony moisture. Ahhhh, seriously good. 

Ingredients (8-9 cupcakes) 

• 6 oz plain flour  (or self raising flour)  
  
• 6 oz caster sugar
• 6 oz low-fat spread (or butter if you prefer)
• 2 tsp baking powder (if you use plain flour)
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 Tbsp milk
• zest of 1 lemon

      For the lemon syrup

• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 Tbsp sugar 

Method

1. Put all ingredients (except the lemon syrup) in a bowl and whisk up with an electric whisk. The mixture should have a dropping consistency. If not add a bit of milk.
2. Pour the mixture into cupcake cases that are placed in the tin.
3. Bake for about 30 minutes in the preheated oven (180c). 
4. When the cupcakes are baked, leave then in the tin for a few minutes and then take them out to cool.
5. When the cupcakes are still slightly warm, make a few holes in each cupcake and pour the lemon syrup over each one. (about 1-2 tsp each) 
6. Let them absorb the lemon syrup. 

Roasted vegetable quiche

Making a quiche is not a quick job. Especially if you are making pastry from scratch, it takes a bit of effort. However, I really fancied making home-made quiche as today was one of those wet miserable British days. Certainly, this colourful quiche will cheer anybody up. :) 

I used aubergine as there was a bit left in my fridge, but there were mixed reviews .... I quite enjoyed the soft texture and mellow  flavour of aubergine, but some said it didn't go with the egg mixture. 

So, I may say that aubergine could be replaced with another vegetable like carrots.  

Cherry tomatoes are a must have item for this quiche. They brighten up the dish.  They also have a very sweet and tangy flavour to give extra kick to the quiche. 

Ingredients (for 20cm round loose-bottomed tin) 

• 1 small onion sliced
• 120g courgette sliced
• 3 mushrooms sliced
• ½ red pepper sliced
• 120g aubergine sliced
• 8-10 chetrry tomatoes cut in half
• 3 cloves of garlic sliced
• 1 tsp mixed dried herbs

For the egg mixture

• 2 large eggs
• 150ml semi-skimmed milk
• salt and pepper 
• 1 tsp mixed dried herbs 

 For pastry:

• 200g plain flour
• 50g lard
• 50g butter (If you prefer 100% butter pastry, use 100g butter and ignore the lard)
• pinch of salt

Method

1.  First make the pastry. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp of ice-cold water and mix to form a dough, adding an extra 1 tbsp water, if necessary.

2.  Gather the dough into a ball, then roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a 28 cm circle, about 3 mm thick. Use the pastry to line a loose-bottomed 20cm fluted flan tin, about 3 cm deep. Prick the pastry case all over with a fork, then cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.

3.  Place vegetables on a baking tray and drizzle olive oil. Sprinkle salt, pepper and dried mixed herbs. Bake the vegetables in the preheated (200°C, 400°F, gas mark 6) oven until tender. Then leave them to cool.

4.  Line the chilled pastry case with a piece of greaseproof paper and cover with baking beans. Place on the hot baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans, and continue baking the pastry case for 5 minutes. Brush the bottom of the pastry case with a little of the beaten egg and bake for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the oven, leaving the baking tray inside. Reduce the oven to 190°C (375°F, gas mark 5).

5.  Beat the milk with the eggs. Add the herbs and seasoning to taste. Spread the vegetables in the pastry case. Put cherry tomatoes on top. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables.

6.  Place the quiche in the oven, on the hot baking tray, and bake for 30–40 minutes or until the filling is set. Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

  

Cranberry and apple upside-down cake

Yes, I still have some cranberries which I got when I shopped after Christmas. These bargain cranberries have a really great flavour and very fresh. I used these beauties for my good old upside-down caramel cake. 

The cake looks very cheering on a cold winter day. :) 

Ingredients  (for 19cm round cake tin)

• 5 oz plain flour or selfraising flour 
• 5 oz caster sugar
• 5 oz butter or low-fat spread 
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (no need if you use selfraising flour)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp milk 
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g cranberries
• 1 small apple
• for caramel: 3 oz granulated sugar + 3 tablespoon water

Method

To make the caramel sauce: 

• Place the granulated sugar and water into a stainless steel pan.
• Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and there are no granules.
• Remove the spoon and increase the heat.
• Boil until a golden straw colour and immediately pour into a tin. 

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C.  
2. Place cranberries and chopped apple in the cake tin when the caramel is cool and set.
3. Put all ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, eggs and milk) in a bowl.
4. Mix with electric whisk.  
5. Pour the mixture on top of the cranberries and chopped apple.
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 30-40 minutes. When the cake cools down turn the cake tin upside down.

Fresh Cranberry Muffins

I think it's very easy to get fresh cranberries at supermarkets at this time of the year because lots of people tried to get fresh cranberries to make cranberry sauce for their Christmas turkey dinner. 

Jars of cranberry sauce are popular, but more and more home cooks try to make home made sauce as it's actually easy to make and tastes great.  

Well ...., I didn't make cranberry sauce this year, as I was invited to a big family Christmas and the lovely cranberry sauce was made by one of the family members..... and tasted so good. 

After Christmas I found lots of packs of fresh cranberries at the supermarket with an amazingly reduced price. So, I thought to myself why not make cranberry muffins?  Here they are juicy and tangy. 

They have a very refreshing flavour and are just the right sort of thing to eat after a lot of rich Christmas food. 

Ingredients 

• 200g plain flour (if you use self raising flour, no need to add baking powder) 
• 150g sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼  tsp Salt
• 100ml milk 
• 60ml vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• Vanilla extract
• 100g fresh cranberries 

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6 and add paper cases to a muffin tray.

2. Measure out flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix the dried ingredients well.

3. Measure milk and oil in a large measuring jug. Add egg and vanilla, then whisk well.

4.  Add the wet mixture (3) into the dry mixture (2).  Stir until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).        Do NOT over mix!

5. Gently fold in cranberries.

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

I added some crushed chocolate chips, 60g ish, to the cranberry muffin mixture.

I didn't know cranberry and chocolate is such a fab combo. 

I'm loving them. :) 

Seriously dark chocolate and banana muffins

These are not ordinary chocolate muffins or banana muffins.  They are seriously dark. 

I used quite a lot of cocoa powder for this recipe as I didn't have a bar of chocolate ..... surprise? 

Anyway, bananas made the muffins sweet and moist.  They are lovely with creme fraiche.   

Ingredients

• 3 bananas (ripe or over ripe) 
• 100 ml vegetable oil or 100g lowfat margarine
• 50 ml milk
• 2 medium eggs
• 100 g soft light brown sugar
• 200 g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 

Method

1.  Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6 and line a muffin tin with papers.
2. Mash the bananas by hand or with a free-standing mixer. Add the oil (or margarine) followed by the eggs and sugar. Mix well.
3. Mix the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together and add this mixture, beating gently, to the banana mixture, then spoon it into the prepared papers.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes, by which time the muffins should be dark. Allow to cool slightly in their tin before removing to a wire rack.

My first Bagels

Here are my very first bagels. I love bagels and I've been wanting to make them. But the method sounded ever so complicated especially as they need to be boiled.  So, I've never be bothered making them.  

However, somehow, I really wanted to try them on this very cold frosty morning. In fact, the process wasn't as complicated as I imagined.  I researched various recipes from the internet and created my recipe as follows.  When I was making the bagel rings, I couldn't resist making rather larger ones than they really should be.  I guess I was quite hungry and couldn't wait to eat them.  Anyway, I baked my first 9 bagels.

..... well they should have been 10 bagels really.

..... very chewy ... quite different from the ones I normally buy in the shop, but these are so lovely. :)     

Ingredients 

• 450g Strong white flour (or 350g Strong white flour + 100g Wholemeal Strong flour)
• 7g (2 tsp)  =  1 sachet fast-action dried yeast
• 1 tsp Salt
• 300ml (up to 315ml) lukewarm water
• 1 Tbsp clear honey

Method 

1.       Make the dough by tipping the flour, yeast, salt and honey into a large bowl and making a well in the middle. Pour in most of the water and use your fingers or a wooden spoon to mix the flour and water together until combined to a slightly wet, pillowy, workable dough - add a splash more water if necessary. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. This can also be done in a tabletop mixer with a dough hook. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size. 

2.      On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 10 pieces. Shape each piece into a flattish ball, then take a wooden spoon and use the handle to make a hole in the middle of each ball. Slip the spoon into the hole, then twirl the bagel around the spoon to make a hole about 3cm wide. Cover the bagels and set aside for 35 minutes, to prove a second time.

3.      Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Slip the bagels into the boiling water - no more than four at a time. Poach for 1 to 1¼ minutes per side, turning over in the water until the bagels have puffed slightly and a skin has formed. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain away any excess water. Sprinkle over your choice of topping and place on a baking tray lined with parchment. Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until browned and crisp - the bases should sound hollow when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack, then serve with your favourite filling.

Apple and Walnut Muffins

Ideally, muffins should be eaten or frozen on the same day that they are baked. Otherwise they become a bit dry.  However, I found out that if I put grated apple in the batter, the muffins stay moist. When I added apple to ginger cupcakes the other day, they stayed moist for a couple of days. :)  So, I added 1 grated apple to these muffins. These muffins are extra moist but very fluffy. 

Ingredients 

• 200g plain flour
• 100g sugar (50g soft brown + 50g white caster) 
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 100ml milk
• 50ml vegetable oil  
• 1 egg
• 1 apple grated
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 50g walnut chopped 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6 and add paper cases to a muffin tray.
2. Measure out dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3. Measure milk and oil in a large measuring jug. Add egg and whisk well.
4. Add the wet mixture (3) into the dry mixture (2).  Stir until just combined. The mixture will be lumpy. Do NOT over mix.     Then, gently fold in grated apple and walnuts.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. 

8 strand plaited loaf

Yes, I did it. :)  8 strand plaited loaf, here it is.  
It was quite tricky, but I managed to carry on plaiting the dough. I'm proud of myself about the result. 
The bread recipe is the usual one. Please take a look at my basic loaf recipe. (click here) 

For the following braiding sequence, number the strands of dough from 1-8 from left to right. 
Every time you move any strand it will take the new number of its position in the row. 

Step 1: place 8 under 7 and over 1 

Step 2: place 2 under 3 and over 8 

Step 3: place 1 over 4 

Step 4: place 7 under 6 and over 1 

Step 5: place 8 over 5

Repeat steps 2-5, until all the dough is braided.

beautiful sequence on the bottom, too.

I found more good instructions in addition to the famous Paul Hollywood's video from the GBBO.

 

Spiced Fruit Muffins. Christmassy!

Feeling a bit Christmassy? These muffins have a hint of winter festive taste. Ginger, cinnamon and dried fruit are the main ingredients for Christmas cake. But these muffins are much quicker to make. When the dried fruit are soaked overnight and are plump and juicy, it's ready to bake. If you soak the dried fruit in brandy or sherry, the muffins would be even more Christmasy. I decorated the muffins with cinnamon icing sugar to spice them up.

Ingredients 

• 200g plain flour
• 100g sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 100ml milk
• 50ml vegetable oil  
• 1 egg
• 1 dash of lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 100g dried Fruit (20g mix peal + 80g mix dried fruit) soaked in 50ml of warm water (preferably overnight)
• zest of 1 orange   
• cinnamon icing (cinnamon, icing sugar and water mixture to decorate the muffins) 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6 and add paper cases to a muffin tray.
2. Measure out dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3. Measure milk and oil in a large measuring jug. Add egg and whisk well.
4. Add the wet mixture (3) into the dry mixture (2).  Stir until just combined. The mixture will be lumpy. Do NOT over mix!
5. Gently fold in soaked mixed fruit.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

5 and 6 strand plaited loaves

Plaited loaves are so pretty, aren't they? And so impressive. I'm ok with 3 plaits as I can plait my hair quite easily. But braiding bread dough with more than 4 strands is a challenge.

Here is my attempt to make five and six strand plaited loaves. I actually tried an 8 strand plaited loaf as well, but I couldn't make the shape which I expected. So, I'm not quite ready yet to post the 8 strand plaited loaf in this blog.  But, work is in progress. :) 

All the loaves of bread were made with my basic loaf recipe.

5 Strand Plaited Loaf

Let's start the with 5 plait loaf. I found very clear instructions for a 5 strand plaited loaf.
It wasn't as complicated as I thought. I think it was because I got very good instructions ..... without it, it could have been a mess. However, as you can see the shape changed when it was baked ... hmmmm....
... not quite perfect yet.



Next is the 6 stranded plaited loaf.

6 Strand Plaited Loaf

Ah, this looks so much better, doesn't it?  Thanks to the very good instruction video I found on youtube. (see below)  It tasted as good as it looks and was good fun to make. :)
Now, an 8 Strand plaited loaf is the next challenge.