Nigella Challenge: Blueberry Muffins

You can't go past a good muffin. But the thing is, a good muffin is hard to find. Those giant, mass-produced, fat and sugar laden cafe staples are always disappointing. And really, there is no excuse, because a muffin is the easiest thing to make and they're on the healthier end of the baked goods spectrum (lack of butter, half the sugar of biscuits, etc...). Basically, it is not hard to make a good muffin.

Be warned, these look nothing like the giant cafe ones (though you could invest in a Texan muffin tin and adjust your cooking times) but they taste far superior. These are best fresh out of the oven, but they keep reasonably well for a few days in an airtight container (a few seconds in the microwave will warm them again if you like).

I also suggest you use fresh blueberries when they're in season (indeed, any berry in season or a mixture, as this is a great base muffin recipe), but frozen would do just fine. This isn't too extravagant as they only use 1-2 punnets. If you use frozen, don't defrost them before adding to the batter or you'll end up with green-hued muffins. I have made a gluten free version of these with great success too, but depending on the flour you use you made need to add a little more or less, so tread carefully.

Lastly, the most important thing for a great muffin is not to over mix. The idea is to just combine the ingredients - there will be lumps! Over mixing is what makes a muffin tough.

• 75g butter, melted
• 1 1/3 cups plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 200ml buttermilk (OR 100g plain yoghurt and 100ml milk)
• 1 egg
• 200g blueberries

Preheat oven to 200C and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases or grease well.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. In a jug, combine the wet ingredients. Pour this into the dry ingredients and gently mix. Add the blueberries, mixing until just combined (remember - too much, and you'll have a tough muffin).

Divide mixture among muffin tin (an ice cream scoop is handy, other wise the old spoon and spatula combo). Bake for 20 minutes until risen and golden.

You could eat these lathered with butter and jam for breakfast or brunch (its delicious) or enjoy them as are, warm or cool. As for variations, I've made a blackberry and apple version, and the cafe classic raspberry and white chocolate. 

Nigella Challenge: Jam Doughnut Muffins

These go down a treat every time I make them. They're such unassuming little morsels.

I do prefer these in their mini form. This is a personal preference (who doesn't like cute, small food though?) and

From the 'Childrens' chapter in How to be a Domestic Goddess I bring you the ultimate sugary delight. Soft cake and sweet jam, rolled in buttery-sugar. And only 30 minutes making time (including baking!).

• 125ml milk
• 85ml vegetable oil (not olive - I used rice bran)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g self-raising flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 12 tsp strawberry jam (you could use another berry if you prefer, or try out Nutella or peanut butter)
• 100g unsalted butter 
• 150g caster sugar 
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 190C. Line a 24-hole mini muffin tin with patty cases or grease a 12-whole ordinary muffin tin. If you make mini muffins, you'll get about a tray and half total, so put your extra batter to the side while you do the first batch (to completion - rolling in sugar as well).

Place flour and caster sugar in a bowl. In another bowl/jug, whisk together milk, oil, egg, and vanilla using a fork. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and gently fold together. Don't over mix or you'll end up with a tough muffin.

Half fill each muffin hole with batter, then spoon in 1/2 a teaspoon of jam (use a full teaspoon for the bigger muffins). Top with more batter. There's no need to be exact with the jam here - you can add more or less if you really wanted too. You could even leave it out if its not your thing.

Bake for 15-20 minutes - depending on you oven, both sized muffins could take anywhere in this time frame. My experience has been about 15 for mini ones, and 20 for the big ones. Just keep an eye on it as they turn quickly.

While they're baking, get on with melting the butter. Pour it into a small bowl to make the next step easier. In another small bowl place your white sugar. I like pasta plates as they're quite shallow which makes them easy to get into.

When they muffins are done, and while they're still hot, take each and roll the top in the melted butter and then in the sugar. Place on a rack to cool. If you made the bigger version, cover the whole muffin in butter and then roll in the sugar.

These are best eaten hot, but that doesn't seem to deter anyone from hooking in once they've cooled. They actually travel quite well. I couldn't recommend them any further except to tell you that I ate about 1/4 of them before they even made it to the cooling rack!

Nigella Challenge: Baby Bundts

These are adorable. And luscious. These are perfect for any occasion. I'd love them as part of an afternoon tea spread, but they make an easy snack as well. They are just very pretty all laid out together.

If you don't have a mini Bundt tray and don't want to invest (and if you do, make it a very good non-stick one), you can make them in ordinary muffin tins. I did the first time I made them, and just needed to thicken the icing. On another note, these age very well. If anything, they get better! Rather than going dry and stale, they stay wonderfully moist.

As for variations, its citrus, so all can be used fairly interchangeably and a little blending is definitely possible.

These are nothing fancy, but you could easily convince people they are

• 125ml natural yoghurt
• 75g butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• zest of 1 lemon
• 150g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 125g caster sugar
• 200g icing sugar
• juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease your tray by with an oil spray or brush on melted butter with a pastry brush.

In a measuring jug, combine yoghurt, butter, eggs and lemon zest. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, caster sugar and bicarb. Mix in the wet ingredients.

Carefully spoon into your tray, trying not to spill any on the edges. Bake them for 20-30 minutes. The timing will depend on the size of your moulds - mine are 12-hole and only need 20-25 minutes, but Nigella used a 6-hole tray and suggests up to 30 minutes cooking time. Even if you over cook a little, they shouldn't dry out thanks to the yoghurt.

When done, cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. 

For the icing, combine the icing sugar and lemon juice in a jug. With the cakes on the wire rack or on a plate (depends if you want to see the hole in the middle or not - on the rack the icing will drip through), pour over the icing. Leave to set.

I stored in an airtight container for a few days out of the fridge as I didn't want the icing to set solid. It stays a soft-set this way.

 

Nigella Challenge: Lemon-Raspberry Muffins

These are a great muffin to have in your repertoire. So versatile. The first time I made them I made them as mini muffins and they were perfect. You can be a little creative with the flavours by mix-and-matching the citrus and berries. I'd like to try orange and blackberry or blueberry, and grapefruit and raspberry might be nice.

These are a rather elegant muffin, even more so when shrunken. They look quite delicate - all buttery cake crowned with bright red berry. So make them if you aren't the best baker but need to impress at some social gathering.

A note, fresh berries look the prettiest (especially if making mini muffins) but frozen ones taste just fine and are much less expensive and more convenient. I'd say I'd be able to whip up a version of these at a moments notice with ease.

• 60g butter
• 200g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• approx. 120ml milk
• 1 egg
• 150g raspberries (or enough to top each mini muffin)

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a muffin tray with paper cases or grease very well.

Melt butter in microwave and set aside to cool. 

Combine dry ingredients and lemon zest in a large bowl. In a measuring jug, add the lemon juice and enough milk to come to the 200ml mark. (This is a little odd I know, but its about how juicy your lemon is really) If it curdles, don't worry. Beat the egg and butter into the jug.

Pour wet into dry and stir briefly to combine. Remember, over mixing makes a tough muffin. The flour should be amalgamated but it should still appear lumpy. For full size muffins, add the raspberries now.

Spoon evenly into muffin tins. For mini muffins, pop a raspberry on top of each muffin.

Bake for 25 minutes, until golden and tops spring back when touched.

Leave to cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes if you'd like to eat them hot. Otherwise, cool on the wire rack completely and then store in an airtight container out of the fridge (I find muffins go a bit tough when refrigerated).

Nigella Challenge: Baklava Muffins

These are delicious. Not much else to say really. They manage to be stupidly simple and fancy at the same time.

As a flavour combination, you can't get much better than baklava. But it is a tricky thing to make, so why not try fool-proof muffins instead? They're best eaten warm so you can truly appreciate the crunchy, melting buttery-honey taste.

[filling]

• 100g walnuts, chopped
• 75g demerara sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 45g butter, melted

[muffins]

• 210g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda
• 75g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 45g butter, melted
• 250ml buttermilk (or 175g yoghurt & 75g milk)*

[topping]

• 125ml honey (warmed in microwave to make runny or using a squeeze bottle)

*I know it sounds really odd to weigh a liquid, but I'm just trusting Nigella on this one. FYI I used this method.

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a 12-whole muffin tray with paper cases (essential, as we'll be drizzling with honey later).

Combine the walnut filling ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Next, combine the dry ingredients for the muffins in a mixing bowl. In a jug, whisk together the egg, melted butter and buttermilk. Pour into the dry ingredients and lightly mix until just combined. Remember not to over mix - it should be a lumpy-ish mixture. Over mixing is the death of muffins. 

Fill each paper case one-third full and then add a tiny teaspoon of the walnut filling. Cover this with more batter, filling about two thirds full. If you have any filling leftover, just dot it on top of the muffins.

Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Put the muffins onto a rack and drizzle with honey while they're still hot. It could get messy so maybe throw down an old tea towel or bit of newspaper to save on cleaning up. 

Give the honey a minute to soak in before eating as the filling is HOT (I learnt the hard way...).

Blueberry Muffins

These blueberry muffins are everything a blueberry muffin should be. Takes me back to childhood when I made my first ever batch. They were a packet mix, the blueberries came in a tin and I may not have realised that you need to drain the liquid off. Needless to say, they turned out a little green and overly moist.

You won't make that mistake here as you use fresh or frozen berries.

These are also from my Aldi find, 'Muffins & Bakes' - from the .

• 225g plain flour (can use wholemeal)
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 1 tsp allspice OR 1/2 tsp nutmeg & 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 115g caster sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 3 tbsp low-fat margarine, melted
• 150ml natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 150g blueberries*
• 2 tbsp rolled oats

*I have also made these using 50g chopped strawberries and 1 apple, peeled and chopped.

Preheat oven to 190C (180C fan-forced). Line or grease a 12-whole muffin tin. 

Combine flour, bicarb, spices and sugar. Whisk egg whites until foamy and add to dry ingredients. Add margarine, yoghurt, vanilla and blueberries. Mix well. You may need to add a little milk if the mix is too dry. 

Spoon even amounts into muffin tin and sprinkle with rolled oats. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and oats crisp. Test with a skewer to ensure they're cooked through.

My old housemates used to devoured these in what seemed like minutes. Definitely ticks all snack criteria! 

Nigella Challenge: Scones

These are not my scones of choice. Too British; too many ingredients. I make a lemonade scone, but as these are part of the challenge, the must be made!

They are very good though, and relatively foolproof. Plenty of raising agent keeps them soft and fluffy. Don't let the solid exterior fool you.

Actually, they are very very good...

• 500g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp bicarb soda
• 4 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 50g cold butter, diced
• 25g vegetable shortening, diced (or just use butter)
• 300ml milk
• 1 egg, for glazing

Preheat oven to 220C. Grease or line a baking tray (I like to do mine straight on the tray for nice, golden bottoms).

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl (Nigella & I never sift, no need normally, but here it is essential). Rub in the butter and shortening until it resembles "damp sand". I have one of those fancy pastry cutter/mixer thingies, but fingers work just as well. Add the milk, mixing it in briefly wth your hands before turning out onto a floured surface and kneading lightly until it forms a dough. 

This isn't bread, so no need for any pounding - you're really just bringing it all together.

Roll out to 3cm thick and stamp out your scones with a 6-7cm cutter (I just used a glass, but you can buy crinkled edge cutters in kitchen shops). You'll end up with 10-12 scones, with a little re-rolling and shaping to use up all the dough.

Place them on the tray, and brush with an egg wash. Nigella directs you to put them close together so they all join together and then you pull them apart to serve. Some of mine joined, some didn't. Its not imperative. 

Bake for 10 minutes until golden and risen. They really are quite massive.

Serve as you like! I had mine with double cream and homemade blackberry jam. They're also yummy with cream and golden syrup or treacle.

For variations, Nigella suggests adding 75g sultanas (or other diced dried fruit) or adding 75g grated strong cheese (like a good cheddar or parmesan) for cheese scones. I've made these and they're amazing with lashings of butter.

The Weekly Digest #7

1. Matches Fashion's best dressed list. With the likes of Cara Delevingne, Alexa Chung, Joan Smalls and Diane Kruger, there's no reason to argue!
2. Co-ords. I need to get a head-to-toe look happening! Would make dressing in the morning wonderfully simple and obvious! 
3. Sale time! Myer & David Jones are in the midst of stocktake sales, and their are some amazing bargains to be had.
4. Stews and casseroles are the essence of winter as far as I'm concerned. I have a regular rotation of favourites, but I've also been tempted by these ones: chicken potato and spinach curry, lamb white bean and marjoram casserole, braised pork with cider and parsnips, and pesto chicken stew with dumplings. 
5. The other thing I like to do in winter is bake. I mean, I do it always, but it seems even more enjoyable in winter. There is nothing more wonderful the curling up with a good book, hot tea and one of these delicious goodies (which I plan on trying asap!): brown sugar and lemon mascarpone muffins, Portuguese tarts, sour cream doughnuts with lemon curd, or mars bar slice.  

Cara Delevingne & Alexa Chung.

Banana Raspberry & White Choc Muffins

These smell amazing when they're baking. The smell will creep into every corner of every room and linger temptingly. They're also at their best fresh and warm from the oven. These are an adaption of the Banana & Pecan Cupcakes in 'Muffins & Bakes' which I picked up in Aldi for $5 on the weekend. Its fantastic! I love finding great things in unexpected places. They are simple as to make - I whipped them up at 8:30 last night out of pure boredom and need of a snack. If you want to make the Banana/Pecan variety, just swap out the raspberries and white chocolate.

• 225g plain flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp bicard soda
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 4 tbsp butter/margarine, melted
• 115g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 tbsp sour cream/natural yoghurt*
• 1/2 cup raspberries (be smart use frozen, fresh cost $$$$$)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup shredded/desiccated coconut
• flaked almonds, to sprinkle

*You can use either/or here. You can also just use whatever yoghurt you have in the fridge - I just happen to have natural at the moment.

Preheat oven to 190C. Grease or line with patty cases a 2 x 12 hole muffin tins (or for bigger muffins just use one).

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add banana, vanilla, eggs, yoghurt and butter. MIx well. Add raspberries, choc chips and coconut. Mix to combine, and distribute flavourings.

Spoon even amounts into tins. Sprinkle a few flaked almonds over each. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through (test by gently touching in the centre of muffins - if it springs back they're done). Cool in tin 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

These are perfect with a cup of milky tea or coffee as a pick-me-up any time of the day. They're also a great on-the-go snack.