Corn Muffins - Christmas 2011

Although I've made a sweet version of corn muffins before, I wanted this to complement the pork and chicken - kind of like a bread to go with the main meal. It sounded like a good plan and the pictures in my Le Cordon Bleu muffin cookbook looked really good too. I especially liked the fact that the recipe called for lots and lots of corn kernels. I could just imagine biting into soft muffins filled with corn.

Alas, this wasn't to be as I made one error. Not a terribly fatal error but an error nonetheless and an error that caused the muffins to be a little dry and not as delicious as it should have been. The error? Well the recipe called for Self Raising flour and since I didn't have any, I did my usual 'make your own' by adding baking powder to plain flour.

This is the recipe from Le Cordon Bleu Muffins. The original recipe also has a pinch of cayenne pepper but I left that out.

Ingredients
225g Self Raising Flour
150g Cornmeal (polenta)
60g Cheddar (grated)
240g frozen corn kernels
250ml milk
2 eggs
100g butter, melted

Method
Preheat oven 20 210C. Brush a 12 hole muffin pan with melted butter or oil.
Sift flour into a large bowl. Stir in Cornmeal, cheese and corn. Make a well in the centre.
Whisk milk and eggs together and then pour into the well in the dry ingredients together with the butter. Stir with a metal spoon till just combined. Do not overmix as the mixture should be lumpy
Fill muffin pans three quarters full and bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in centre of muffin
Leave muffins in tin for 5 minutes before lifting out to wire rack to cool

In the heat of the kitchen and the rush for time however, I miscalculated the measurements and added in half of what I should have. The result - not a well risen, rather dense and semi dry muffin. It still tasted good although it didn't have the correct texture. Still, it was passable and eatable and my son even asked for one the next morning for breakfast.

I just wonder how delicious the muffins would have been if I didn't screw up...

Self Therapy - Vanilla Walnut Choc Chip Muffins

Last Saturday morning was the weekend before the kids end of year school exams. It's not a very fun time for the kids as they are busy brushing up on their work. I on the other hand, had arranged some appointments for some home repairs. The Lovely Wife figured that the kids would be distracted by the repairs going on and hence wouldn't be able to concentrate on their school work. So, she decided she would take the kids out shopping while the work was being carried out. Not fair! I was going to be left all by my lonesome to stay at home to wait for the repairmen. They were only due to come late in the morning however and the day started off with my son yelling from downstairs:

"Dads! Can you make us some of your Chocolate Sauce? To eat with Mummy's waffles?"

I had to smile as there is something very satisfying about your kids asking you to make them something to eat - even more when it is Chocolate Sauce that in most households simply comes out of a store bought bottle. Anyway, I made up a batch of the chocolate sauce for them and they enjoyed it with their waffles. With breakfast out of the way, they left soon after and as expected, I was home left alone.

Alone, alone, all, all alone!

Truth be told, sometimes it's fun to be alone when you get to do your own things. However, being alone to monitor work being done isn't really a fun thing to do.

The repairs finished off sooner than expected and since I had a litle time to myself, I thought I would indulge in some therapy for myself. There's something very therapeutic about whipping up a quick cake and having your house smell wonderfully of freshly baked goodness. The smell of vanilla on your hands seems to linger throughout the day too and not matter how much you scrub it, your hands still smell great!


I had decided I wanted to make a cake but wasn't quite sure what cake to make. I considered making my usual chocolate cake or chocolate brownies - both of which are firm favourites. I decided though that I wanted to try something new. A few weeks earlier, The Lovely Wife had enjoyed a cake that had walnuts in it and so I thought that I'd use some walnuts. A peak into the fridge showed that there were indeed walnuts and also some chocolate chips. How about Vanilla Walnut Chop Chip Muffins? Seemed like a good idea to me!




I modified my usual Choc Chip Muffin recipe just a little and this is what I did:

Ingredients
250g Butter
220g Sugar
4 eggs
250g Flour
3 Tsp Baking Powder
100g Walnuts - chopped
100g Choc Chips
1 Tbsp Milk
1 Tbsp Honey
2 Tsp Vanilla
Method
Melt the butter until very soft but not completely liquid. Add in the sugar and beat well till light. Add beaten eggs a little at a time and continue beating
Fold in Sifted flour and baking powder.
Add in Honey, Milk and Vanilla. Mix Well
Fold in Chocolate Chips and nuts ensuring it is well mixed
Fill muffin cups ¾ full and bake for about 30 minutes or till done in 180°C oven

The muffins were halfway through baking when The Lovely Wife and kids got home and both my son and princess bounded into the kitchen to see what was causing the lovely smell. The muffins baked up and cooled while we were having lunch and then I decided that I would make a little icing with the Chocolate Sauce for some of the muffins.





I mixed the chocolate sauce with some icing sugar and more cocoa powder till it resembled a nice thick icing - almost like a ganache. I piped this over a couple of the muffins while I slathered it over another two.

AS expected, The Lovely Wife preferred the muffins 'naked' while the two kids loved it with the chocolate icing. We enjoyed the muffins later after dinner too and on Sunday as well. There was enough left over on Monday morning for them to take a muffin each to school for the first day of their exams.



The best therapy is not so much baking or even the smell of baked goods. The best therapy is the smiles and satisfied looks on the faces of the kids as they enjoy the food that your hands have created.

What's your best therapy??

Double Choc Chip Muffins

Sometime in mid January, the kids wanted something to munch on. They were also a little 'concerned' about what they could take to school for break time. The 'concern' came from the fact that school was into its second week and they were tired of their usual ration of cookies.

I asked them if they would like me to make them something. Their eyes lit up and they asked me what I was going to make. I first thought of making my usual Choc Chip Muffins but then I decided that I would try something different. I suggested Double Choc Chip Muffins and they both looked at me enquiringly.

My little princess asked if that meant that there were Double the amount of Choc Chips, so I explained that Double Choc Chip Muffins meant that the cake was chocolate AND there were Choc Chips in it. That's what the double meant. Both of them responded with a resounding "Yes Please!" This was quickly followed by "Can we help?"







And help they did! They helped to measure the flour, beat the mixture and of course their most favourite part was licking the bowl and utensils clean. This is what we did:

Ingredients
250 g butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup cocoa
1 cup cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
100 g Choc Chips

Method
Melt butter and cool. Beat melted butter and sugar till well combined. Add in eggs a little at a time. Beat till creamy
Sift flour together with baking powder and cocoa.Fold into cream mixture.
Add in vanilla and choc chips. Mix well. Divide equally into muffin cases. Makes about 12 large muffins
Bake in a preheated oven at 180oC for 35 minutes or till done.
Remove from oven and cool

The muffins were absolutely delicious. Very chocolatey, very moist and quite rich too. In retrospect, it would have been better to make them in smaller muffin cases as even eating just one was very filling.



The muffins were eaten for dessert that very night and they went great with ice cream. The next morning, both kids took a muffin each to school and the day after as well!

Sarah Makes Banana Choc Chip Muffins

This afternoon I made a batch of Banana Choc Chip Muffins. I've always wanted to combine banana with choc chips and so I thought I would modify my Choc Chip Muffin recipe to include bananas.

My son was spending the afternoon at a friend's house so I got my little princess to help me out with the muffins. This is really the FIRST time she has helped me bake a cake from start to finish and I must say that it was really enjoyable explaining every step and making the muffins with her. She was very keen to learn too!


Mashing the Bananas


Creaming the Butter and Sugar


Laying out the muffin cups


Filling the Muffin Cups. We actually used a weighing scale to make sure each cup was filled the same - 3.2ozs for each cup! On hindsight, maybe we could have filled the cups more and had fewer muffins.


Getting ready to bake the muffins


The act of putting the muffins into the oven...


Sarah was really excited and couldn't wait till the muffins were baked. I sent her to check on the muffins periodically and she was thrilled how they started to rise after being a liquid like mass.

Finally the muffins were ready and you can see how proud she was of her effort!



This is my recipe for Banana Choc Chip Muffins

Ingredients
3 bananas (200g)
250 g Butter
220 g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
250 g Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Honey
2 tsp Vanilla
200 g Chocolate Chips


Method
Peel Bananas and mash
Cream butter and Sugar till light and fluffy
Add beaten eggs a little at a time and continue beating
Fold in Sifted flour and baking powder
Add in Honey and Vanilla. Mix Well. Add in the Mashed banana and then Fold in Chocolate Chips ensuring it is well mixed
Fill muffin cups ¾ full and bake for about 25-30 minutes or till done in 190°C oven

The proof of the pudding is in the eating and Sarah couldnt wait to stuff her face with the muffins. She really enjoyed these and its no surprise as the muffin was very very moist with the addition of bananas and the choc chips complemented the slight banana flavour very well.





I enjoyed the muffins with a cup of tea but they were delicious all on their own! As I said the muffins were really tasty and really moist but perhaps if I bake them a little longer, they may hold their risen shape a bit more and not be so dense and moist. Dont care really as they were very yummy indeed!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Before the christmas spirit dies off, I'd like to share with you one of the favourites in this household - a favourite that is baked all year round that I can't believe I haven't posted about it before!

My son loves Chocolate Chip Muffins. In fact, anytime he is a little peckish, he will look at us pleadingly and ask if her can get a Choc Chip Muffin from the local Coffee Bean. I have to admit that the Coffee Bean Choc Chip Muffin IS really nice and so I had to make my own version.





These muffins are quick, easy and very delicious. It's no wonder that they get eaten up so quickly - maybe gobbled is a better word!

Sometimes, during christmas, I will bake up a batch and give some out to friends and neighbours. Other times, they just get finished up by the kids although we did invite some friends over to share these but only one was able to make it...

This is what I do.

Ingredients

250 g Butter
220 g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
4 tbsp Milk
1 Tbsp Honey
2 tsp Vanilla
250 g Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
200 g Chocolate Chips

Method
Cream butter and Sugar till light and fluffy
Add beaten eggs a little at a time and continue beating
Fold in Sifted flour and baking powder
Add in Honey, Milk and Vanilla. Mix Well
Fold in Chocolate Chips ensuring it is well mixed
Fill muffin cups ¾ full and bake for about 20 minutes or till done in 190°C oven

I usually make these to rise just enough to fill the cases but since my son likes the 'muffin caps' of the Coffee Bean muffins, I decided to put in a little extra batter and bake a few in a muffin pan to get those lovely, slightly crisp caps.


It's not only the kids that love these muffins as both The Lovely Wife and I can never stop at one either.


The kids couldn't wait to start eating these muffins but they were very good in letting me take my photos first and even agreed to pose with the muffins in front of the christmas tree!

This batch was polished off very, very quickly and the few that were left over were finished off the next morning for breakfast - by the kids!

Corn Muffins

My son has recently developed a love of corn. He loves Corn on the Cob, buttered corn kernels, basically anything with corn in it. With this in mind, I offered to make him some corn muffins. He wasn't sure whether he would like them but my little princess was game to try - and once she said she was game, my son willingly agreed.



I surfed the web for a recipe for corn muffins and I found a few but decided to try the one at Bakespace.com

The recipe is really quick and easy and produces tasty corn muffins.

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 Tbsp baking powder
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 lrg egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup corn oil
8 oz can cream style corn

Method
Combine dry ingredients. Combine all wet ingredients. Combine the two mixures and blend just to eliminate the dry spots. spoon into 12 buttered muffin cups. Bake in 220C degree oven. 15-20 min until they test done.

Serve hot with butter and honey

I had made a stew to serve together with the corn muffins but the kids preferred instead to just devour them - first plain and then with honey! My son really liked these muffins and has learnt that when Daddy offers to make something, never say no. Who knows, it may turn out to be a favourite!

Apple Cinnamon muffins

One of the things that I made for Michael's 8th Birthday was Apple Cinnamon Muffins. I've made these before but never posted about them. Both my children love muffins and cupcakes. To be honest, I dont really know what the difference is between Muffins and Cupcakes. I know that cupcakes usually have icing on them but then a cake without icing is still a cake!

I also know that muffins are generally 'heavier' than cupcakes but really, is there a difference?

Anyway, rather than worry about semantics, I made these muffins simply because they are delicious and the Children love them. A few of The Lovely Wife's friends enjoyed these too a few weeks ago when they came to visit.




This is how I make my Apple Cinnamon Muffins.

Ingredients
250 g Butter
230 g Brown Sugar
4 Eggs
4 tbsp Milk
1 Tbsp Honey
2 tsp Vanilla
250 g Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
3 Large Apples
1 tbsp Cinnamon
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Method
Pare the apples and cut into small squares
Mix Cinnamon, sugar and Apples together, coating well. Set Aside
Cream butter and Sugar till light and fluffy
Add eggs a little at a time and continue beating
Fold in Sifted flour and baking powder
Add in Honey, Milk and Vanilla. Mix Well
Fold in Apples ensuring it is well mixed
Fill muffin cups ¾ full and bake in 190°C oven for 20-25 minutes or till done

Very easy to make, very easy to eat and very delicious too - not to mention healthy! The kids had the leftover muffins for breakfast the next day while we also gave some away to some of our guests - who were really all family anyway!

When Mummy is away, Daddy will Play...Choc Orange Cupcakes

This is the final part of the fun I had with the kids - cooking up a storm - while Mummy was away. In the first part of this 'series', I posted about Chocolate Roasted Bananas that we had for dessert. In the second part I shared the main meal which was Scotch Eggs.
This is another dessert that we had after lunch as well as throughout the day. Yes, we certainly did have fun while Mummy was away!

The inspiration from this actually comes from one of the readers of this blog - Angela. She had shared her cupcake recipe with me where the cupcake moulds are half filled with batter, topped with coloured sprinkles and then covered up with more batter. I thought that was rather brilliant and so I decided to make my own version of cupcakes, using my tried and tested Butter Cake recipe but flavoured with some Orange Oil. Then, instead of sprinkles, I put in some delicious Belgioan Dark Chocolate Buttons!
This is what I did.

Ingredients:
230g (8oz) Flour
2 ½ tsp Baking Powder
230g (8oz) Castor Sugar
250g Butter
4 Eggs – lightly beaten
2 tsp Orange Oil
1 Tbsp Honey
4 Tbsp Milk

Method
Cream butter and sugar till light and ivory coloured
Add eggs a little at a time
Fold in flour (sifted twice with baking powder)
Add Milk, Honey and Orange Oil
Quarter fill cupcake moulds. Add in Chocolate Buttons (or any other filling you would like)
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 C for 25 mins till golden and done





The chocolate melted and stayed kind of soft and gooey even when the cake was cooled. It was really nice biting into the orange cupcake and finding the dark, luscious chocolate inside. The kids certainly loved it and The Lovely Wife was rather thrilled as well to find cupcakes when she returned home that evening.