Black Forest Muffins Recipe

I remember Mum buying frozen Black Forest Gateau, it was considered posh and definitely not an everyday cakecumdessert, we always ate this on high days and holidays. I love a bit of 70's nostalgia, but looking back, I'm not quite sure what the gateau was actually made from!

Fast forward and today we still love the magical combination of chocolate and cherries, hence these delicious muffins.

Tinned cherries can sometimes lack in flavour and I added a few drops of cherry flavouring (purchased from Lakeland) to the cake batter.

You will need: 12 hole muffin tin lined with 12 muffin/tulip cases

Makes: 12
250g self-raising flour
25g cocoa powder
2tsp baking powder
175g caster sugar
pinch of salt
175ml milk
2 large eggs
100ml sunflower or vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
few drops of cherry flavouring (I used Lakeland)
425g can pitted black cherries, drained

Buttercream:
140g unsalted butter, softened
280g icing sugar,sieved
1 tbsp milk
grated chocolate and fresh cherries to decorate

Optional: Kirsch to brush over the cooked muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC.
2.Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder and stir in the sugar. Add the remaining ingredients, with the exception of the cherries, and mix gently together. Now add the cherries and fold in carefully trying not to break up the fruit.
3.Using an ice cream scoop place the mixture into the cases.
4. Bake for 20 mins or cooked. Cool for 10 mins, brush with kirsch, then transfer to a wire rack and leave until cold.

To make the buttercream:
1. Place the sieved icing sugar into a large bowl followed by the softened butter and milk.  Using either a handwhisk or stand mixer beat together for a good 5 minutes until the mixture is white and a light texture.
2. Using a piping bag and large plain nozzle pipe swirls on top of the cooled muffins.
3. Decorate with a whole cherry and grated chocolate.

Black Forest Cake
Jamie Oliver's Chocolate Love Cake
Cherry Jubilee Queen of Puddings

Christmas Crumble Muffins

Christmas Crumble Muffins - Christmas - crumble - muffins all rolled into one, perfect.  The muffins are filled with dried cranberries, sultanas, raisins, and black spiced rum, the buttery crumble is perfumed with cinnamon.

These are go large and there was far too much batter for the recommended 12 and will make 16 smaller cupcakes by half filling the cupcake cases.  There's a very generous amount of crumble topping too, I'm going to make 16 muffins next time.

I'm not too sure who the recipe belongs to but I've adapted it. Maybe the recipe is written by Annie Bell, I seem to be making quite a lot of her recipes recently.  I have now found the original recipe - I thought so, it's another great recipe by one of our best cookery writers Annie Bell.

This is a fabulous bake and ticked all the boxes - hope you have a go at making these.

They freeze perfectly and can be refreshed and gently warmed in the microwave, if you use foil cases remove them before refreshing.

Listening to Chris Evans on Radio 2 this week, he made the comment that all lovely Christmas foods should be for Christmas Day and two weeks after that.  I feel really guilty now..........

Crumble Topping

35g dark brown muscovado sugar
35g light brown sugar
70g chilled and diced unsalted butter
100g plain flour
⅓ tsp cinnamon powder

Whiz the above in the food processor until it takes on the look of breadcrumbs, put to one side.

Muffins

180g diced unsalted butter
180g light brown sugar
3 eggs + 1 egg yolk
50ml dark rum - I used a black spiced rum
80g sultanas
40g raisins
40g dried cranberries
180g plain flour
¾ tsp baking powder
icing sugar to decorate

1.  Line a cupcake tin with either 12 or 16 cupcakes.
2.  Preheat the oven to 190ºC.
3.  Put the butter and sugar in a food processor and whiz until fluffy, add the eggs one at a time whilst      still whizzing, add the egg yolk.  Now add the rum, it will look curdled but no worries.
4.  Toss the sultanas, raisins and dried cranberries in some of the plain flour.
5.  Pour the batter into a large bowl.  Sieve over the flour and baking powder, fold into the batter.
6.  Fold in the fruit.
7.  Half fill 16 cupcake cases or use all the batter mix in 12 large cupcake cases.
8.  Sprinkle the crumble mix over the top of the batter.
9.  Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked.
10.Once cool dust with icing sugar.

Chocolate and Pecan Muffins

These muffins are full of chocolatey goodness, they have a great pecan and chocolate crumble topping, but the plain chocolate sponge needs something extra. I wish I had read 'Sweet Surprises' at the end of the recipe, it says to add chopped chocolate, sour cherries or cranberries to the muffin mix, I think raspberries would be good too.

The microwave comes in very handy for refreshing and warming muffins, and I am going to serve mine for dessert topped with a scoop of ice cream.  Or, Gu suggest making their ganache, and serving this as a warm dip for the muffins, this sounds delicious too.

A selection of recipes from the new GU Chocolate Cookbook including these chocolate and pecan muffins, were featured in You Magazine last Sunday and details can be found on the Mail Online website.

This week is Chocolate Week and National Baking Week is 15th to 21st October - I have no idea which 'week' it is after that - I'm looking forward to National Tart Week.......

Apple Muffins

Annie Bell writes for You Magazine which is part of the Sunday Mail.  The first thing I do is to go to the back of the magazine and look for her recipes, the food styling is always wonderful too.  I have always liked Annie Bell, her recipes work, they are always straightforward and her books never disappoint.  I was really pleased to find out that she has a new book coming out this month - Annie Bell's Baking Bible.

Raisins are mixed into the muffin batter and the apples used are Cox's. I gave the recipe my own twist by using Cawston Press Still Apple and Ginger Juice instead of the apple juice suggested in the original recipe,  the apple and ginger came through perfectly.  A sprinkle of demerara sugar gives a crunchy topping. I find Lakeland muffin cases stay white after cooking, whereas some makes look greasy after a batch of muffins have been made.

I hope you will have a go at making these delicious muffins and any that are left over should freeze perfectly.  To warm through, simply pop into the microwave.

NIGELLA'S CHOCOLATE BANANA MUFFINS

Nigella has brought us some great muffin recipes to try at home and these in particular were met with a huge mmmm! Whose recipe is this, asked my husband - Nigella's I replied. My husband said he thought her double chocolate chip muffins couldn't be beaten but mmmmm.

I have frozen these and they thaw successfully, I've even thawed them and warmed them up in the microwave, although Nigella says to put them in the oven for a few minutes to warm.

Why not make some? You'll be glad you did!

This recipe comes from Nigella's new book Kitchen

CRUMBLE BERRY MUFFINS

This recipe came from Feel Good Food by Woman & Home - the magazine is published quarterly and is an excellent source of inspirational recipes, ideas, styling and information.

Unfortunately, in the photograph you can't see any evidence of the berries because the muffins are scattered with a pecan crumble topping, well that's my excuse anyway! Perhaps it would have been a good idea to coat the berries in a little flour and then gently poke them into the mixture in the muffin cases.

WOMAN & HOME FEEL GOOD FOOD

AUTUMN 2008

Makes: 8

You will need: 175g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 50g fruit sugar, 100g melted butter, 2 free range eggs, 75ml skimmed milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 100g mixed berries.

For the topping: 15g unsalted butter cut into cubes, 25g plain flour, 1tsp fruit sugar, 20g pecans roughly chopped.

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/325°F/Gas 3.
2. Make the topping by rubbing the butter into the flour and then stir in the sugar. Put to one side.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the sugar. Mix together the melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla. Pour the mixture into the flour, add the berries and stir to combine - be careful not to over mix.
4. Divide the mixture between the cakes cases in a muffin tin. Top each with a little of the crumble mixture, then the pecans.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until well risen and golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

DELICIOUS!