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What have the Welsh ever done for us? Well, apparently muffins originated in Wales sometime in the 11th century and are now just about everywhere having been popularised by the Americans in the 19th century. You needn't go to the high street, as you can make a beautiful light fluffy version for yourself. Try this.
Ingredients:
300g blueberries
250g sugar
240g plain flour
120ml milk
115g unsalted butter (room temp)
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
Brown sugar to sprinkle
Method:
Preheat oven to 175c. Line one 12 or two 6-hole muffin tins with liners.
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition, then add the vanilla.
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, add this in thirds alternating with the milk. Mix until all is just incorporated.
Split the blueberries, crush one half, leave the other half hole. Fold the crushed blueberries into the batter. Roll the remaining blueberries in flour and then fold these in, (this should stop them sinking to the bottom).
Split the batter between the 12 muffin cases, sprinkle the top of each with the brown sugar and then bake for appx 28-30 minutes. When ready a skewer inserted into the centre will come out clean and the muffins will be firm to touch and golden on top.
Take out the oven allow and leave the muffins to cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy
Gaby Van Clarke
None of us know what’s going to take us out. Life’s full of surprises. But we do know that the body starts to degenerate from about age 30 (more cells destroyed than created, barring excess weight gain) and also, crucially, that we can affect the speed of that ageing process.
Introduced by Portuguese merchants in the 16th century, and adapted over time to suit Japanese tastes, this light bouncy sponge is considered a traditional Japanese speciality. More delicate and airy than a regular sponge cake, castella ( カステラ, kasutera) is famous for a fine and moist crumb.
