Blueberry Crunch Muffins: Recipe

I'm in the process of emptying the freezer and have approximately three weeks to either eat what's in it or throw things away.  A bag of blueberries needed using up and I decided to make these homely muffins.  There are only two of us to get through eight large muffins, I tested one to make sure they are up to scratch, I've had to freeze the remainder.  The blueberries took up a fraction of the room of seven large muffins.  I really need to think the freezer problem through and maybe start a list. The fridge/freezers new home will be in my dining room, empty and turned off whilst I have a new kitchen installed but it still needs emptying.

Over the next few weeks Kitchen Delights London Reporter @PaulFoodie will be adding to the mix by contributing more fun posts. We have reviews for Taste of London, healthy snacks, tasty barbecue spices, exciting kitchen kit, a restaurant review and in the pipeline a Guest Posting by a friend of Kitchen Delights. There will be before and after photographs of the new kitchen refit which I've been planning since the end of last year. I've also made a few things which will hopefully get posted too!

I've been sent a fabulous microwave to review which will get us through a tricky couple of weeks whilst we are without any kitchen appliances.  I'm in need of a few survival tips......

Makes: 8 large muffins (in tulip cases) or 12 muffins in muffin cases.

200g plain flour
125g caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
75ml vegetable oil
1 egg
130ml semi skimmed milk
zest of 1 lemon
150g blueberries
Topping:
25g plain flour
15g cubed butter
1 tbsp caster sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Place the flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl.
3. Making a well in the centre, add the oil, egg, milk and lemon zest.
4. Mix together with a whisk to make a smooth batter.
5. Fold in three-quarters of the blueberries. Save the remainder to place on top of the batter.
6. Add to a bowl the flour, sugar and cubed butter.  Mix to a crumble with a fork.
7. Using an ice cream scoop fill the muffin cases equally with the mixture.
8. Taking the reserved blueberries, scatter over the top of the batter, pressing down slightly.
9. Sprinkle over the crumble mix. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and cooked through, a cake tester is useful for this.

For more muffin recipes:
Apple Muffins
Nigella's Chocolate Banana Muffins
Crumble Berry Muffins

Strawberry and Chocolate Cupcakes: Recipe

I've eaten more chocolate this year because the winter went on and on, I'm not a chocolate snob, but a bar of Lindt Excellence Strawberry Intense Dark Chocolate is hard to beat. The chocolate has pieces of freeze dried strawberries running through, it smells of summer and reminds me of strawberries dipped in chocolate.

The strawberries for the cupcakes were bought but it
shouldn't be too long before I am picking my own strawberries

For the vanilla cupcakes:

Makes: 9 cupcakes

You will need: 12 hole muffin tin lined with 9 cupcake cases

115g softened butter, 115g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 115g self raising flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence.

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and beat together with an electric mixer for two minutes.
3. Spoon into 9 cupcake cases and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool.

For the vanilla buttercream:

You will need:

175g softened unsalted butter, 350g sifted icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract.

1. Beat the butter in a bowl to soften. Add the icing sugar gradually, add the vanilla extract, and beat until the icing is very smooth and pale in colour which will take 5 minutes using a stand mixer.

To decorate:

I used a 1M icing nozzle to pipe the buttercream. Cut a square of chocolate in half and place on the buttercream, top with a whole strawberry.

More recipes you may like:
White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans Cupcakes
Mini Strawberry Victoria Sponges

Photographs taken using the Nikon D3200.

Nigel Slater's Smoked Haddock with Potato and Bacon

You will definitely need more sauce on your plate than this!

We would happily eat this tasty meal any day of the week, my husbands name for this is 'posh fish and chips' and I agree.  Dyed smoked haddock is our choice because it always looks good on the plate.

A pan of fabulous bacon and chips

Smoked Haddock, cream, bay leaves and peppercorns

There is a very generous amount of sauce, we didn't waste one single drop - dunk some fabulous bread into any remaining sauce.

The Smoked Haddock with Potato and Bacon recipe can be found on the Guardian website.

I am entering this into Dish of the Month challenge hosted by Janice at Farmers Girl Kitchen and the host for June is Sue at A Little Bit of Heaven on a Plate.