Goosebumps aka Gooseberry muffins

Deliciously simple, the goosebumps come from the texture of halved plumptious berries breaking through the crust and the fear that they may be too tart or too sweet….

You will need:

150g self raising flour sifted

50g golden caster sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 x medium eggs beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract or paste

50g vegetable oil

2 tbsp milk

200g gooseberries: washed, topped and tailed and cut into two if large

12 muffin cases

How to:

Preheat your oven to 200C, 180C fan, gas mark 6

Add the ingredients one by one except the gooseberries in a large mixing bowl and lightly combine. Stir through the gooseberries to distribute and divide between the cases.

Place in the centre of the oven until golden on top, approx 25 minutes.

Optional

Add 2/3 tbsp elderflower cordial to the batter if you have it, for the ultimate gooseberry treat. The combination is stunning.

Drizzle the cakes once cooled with elderflower honey and serve with good ice cream.

Summer muffin’ had me a blast ….summer muffin’ happened so fast

Watching Grease with my cherubs on the first day of the summer holidays, I feel the urgent need to bake a treat to celebrate the cosy calm…

Dairy free banana mini muffins

Like Old Mother Hubbard my larder is practically bare of delicious treats so I use what I have – 5 small over ripe bananas that have been begging to be baked into a banana bread for days. I want something more portable than a loaf cake as the cherubs are nagging to go swimming, so spotting my new bottle of sunflower oil I choose fluffy light muffins over heavier banana bread and reason that it is more summery too. To pep up the flavour I grab vanilla extract (always Nielson Massey) and white couverture powder (Mortimer Chocolate Company) so this decadent muffin is dairy free.

Makes 12 muffins 18 + smaller buns

You’ll need: 3 large or 5 small over ripe bananas 125ml vegetable oil or light olive oil 2 large eggs 100g golden caster sugar or soft brown muscovado for maximum flavour – Billingtons is delicious in baking, it lends toffee/caramel notes to your favourite recipes with no extra effort! 60g Mortimer Chocolate Co White Couveture powder 1tsp vanilla extract/vanilla bean paste 1tsp bicarbonate of soda 225g self raising flour

How to: Preheat your oven to 200C/ 180C fan/ gas mark 6 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases. In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas by hand or with a hand mixer. Add the oil, vanilla, eggs then sugar, beating between each addition. Sieve in the flour, chocolate powder and bicarb then beat until thoroughly combined. Pour into cases up to 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 mins until risen, golden and a skewer when inserted comes away clean. Allow to cool for 5 mins before removing from tin and cooling on a wire rack.

Watch as happy faces devour your first batch in moments prompting to you to start the process again!

Alternatives: You can swap the chocolate couverture for cocoa or chocolate chips! For more muffin rise fill cases fully. I tried to make the mix go further but we ate the whole batch whilst still warm regardless!