Mango muffins!!!

Gorgeous mango pulp was waiting for me since the conference. I really wanted to bake something with it. Muffins were the laziest idea but the result was not so cheap. Here you have deeply orange in colour, not too heavy and full of good stuff muffins. Ones of the best available!

Mango muffins

makes 12

200 g flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsps cream of tartar

30 g oat brans

30 g raisins

40 g sugar

1 egg

50 ml vegetable oil

180 ml mango pulp

2 Tbsps condensed milk

an EXTRA mango (a half is enough)

Orange icing

3 Tbsp icing sugar

1,5 Tbsp boiling water

2 drops of orange essence

1. Sift flour and baking powder together, mix in sugar, oat brans and raisins. An EXTRA fresh mango chopped into cubes would make a sensation.

2. Beat the egg slightly, add oil, mango and milk and mix well.

3. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ones and combine well trying not to overmix. Divide quickly into 12 muffin wholes.

4. Bake in preheated oven at 190 degrees for 15 minutes. Check with a skewer if it comes dry.

5. Cool for a minute and take out on a rack.

6. Add orange essence to the icing sugar and mix well with boiling water to make the icing. Make check on cold muffins pouring down the icing from the teaspoon. 

Mocca white chocolate muffins

That was my old dream to make muffins both with coffee and some chocolate. Of course not everything run smoothly this time. For example, take into account that if you melt sugar instead of mixing it with tlour it becomes a liquid ingredient and you have to add some extra flour. Let's say, twice more than originally presumed. Secondly, you can always ask a neighbour for... an egg. And finally, you can drop the bag of sugar while sprinkling it into the milk so anyway you have to double all the other ingredients...

Mocca white chocolate muffins

540 g flour (yeah...)

3 heaped tspns cream of tartar

1,5 heaped tspns baking soda

pinch of salt

375 ml milk

140 g brown sugar

70 g vegetable oil

100 g white chocolate chopped (or more...)

3 tspns of instant chicory coffee

1 slightly beaten egg

1. Lightly heat the milk, dissolving all the sugar and coffee and cool down.

2. Mix the sifted flour, cream of tartar, soda, salt and the chopped chocolate.

3. Add an egg and oil to the milk and combine with the dry ingredients.

4. Bake for 25 minutes at 185 degrees. Makes really large 12 muffins.

Another surprise can be that your yummy chocolate has melted completely (you just forgot that it used to happen before) which however does not affect the general reception.

And how to make a good shot if I am so impatient because of apetite?

Muffin rulez!

On the very important day of the presidential elections in Poland, on the 20th June 2010, I celebrate the draw won by Italy in the match with New Zealand. Well, actually I am celebrating New Zealand's success. I only pretended to be nice to the deceitul, simulating azzurri, shame on you!

Caramel Apricot Muffin
(presidential muffins)

1. Caramel:

200 g sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons boiling water

Melt the sugar together with the vinegar on a low heat on the frying pan. When it reaches a nice colour, add delicately water, mix, heat up and place a thick layer of the caramel on the bottom of the all oiled holes in your muffin tin.

2. Place halves of the apricots on the caramel bottoms.
(You can alternatively place them later on the top of the dough).

3. Prepare the dough:

3 eggs
100 g flour
80 g sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon of the vanilla aroma

Beat the egg whites, than slowly add sugar and beat until all the sugar dissolves. Lower the mixer rotation, add egg yolks, oil and aroma, mix briefly. Add the flour and mix really carefoully, you can use your mixer also. Divide the dough equally between the separate tin holes.

4. Bake at 175 degrees for 25 minutes.

5. Take out of the oven, leave for 2 minutes and remove the muffins from the tin, placing them upside down on the wire rack.
That WAS yummy.

Wholemeal Apple Muffins

Clearing the pantry I managed to get off with soya bean paste finally. Recently I am working on my flours. Cornflour was used for few variations of bread. Wholemeal wheat flour is much more demanding as it has very distinctive flavour. I try not to overdose....

Wholemeal Apple Muffins

Ingredients:
160 g wheat flour
40 g wholemeal wheat flour
pinch of salt
1 Tsp baking powder
65 g icing sugar

1 egg
150 g strawberry yoghurt - fill up with milk to obtain 200 ml volume
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 apple diced

1. Sieve into a bowl two flours, icing sugar, salt and baking powder, mix well.
2. Mix in another container slightly beaten egg, oil, yoghurt, milk and diced apple.
3. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until the flour is just incorporated.
4. Divide the dough into the oiled muffin tins and bake 25 minutes in 180 degrees.

What is different for these muffins it is the lack of spices what tends to be characteristic of the apple muffins. And that is why my husband loved these ones:-)PS. A successful recipe for to'okutu is mostly wanted. Help very appreciated.

PS. 2. It is obvoius that I was absent recently despite cooking every day and baking every second day. I will try to improve. Enjoy the muffins!

What about the coconut chocolate muffin?

I guess there came the time for the chocolate muffins. Usually I strongly resist to this idea although these are my favourites. It is because of the bitterness that cocoa gets in baking. On the other hand melting the chocolate in bains-marie seems somewhat too laborious and clashes with the idea of muffins being quick baking. Anyway, the thing has happened in my last day of being jobless this week.

My prejudice against cocoa was completely ungrounded. It works really well. If only you addjust the fat content. This is my best muffin recipe as far as now. It gives the demanded texture, the muffin has the lightness of the sponge but doesn't need so long preparation process, its taste is not only the taste of the cocoa powder but actually reflects the taste of the real chocolate. It also results with the perfect bottom mushroom shape thanks to the small surprise stuffed in the middle.

Coconut chocolate muffins
for 8 large muffins

250 g flour
2 tsps cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
130 g icing sugar
25 g cocoa powder
200 ml buttermilk (I used peach flavoured - which is white in colour and has a very delicate taste)
50 g dessicated coconut
70 g vegetable oil
2 eggs
very good milk chocolate

1. Sift flour, raising agents, sugar and cocoa powder into one bowl.
2. Soak coconut in buttermilk for few minutes, add oil and lightly bitten eggs. Mix well.
3. Pour the liquid into dry ingredients.
4. Divide the butter into 8 oiled muffin moulds.
5. Place one piece of chocolate in the center if every muffin, as deep as you can. You can also use pralines filled up with some liquid stuffing as toffee:-)))
6. Bake in 185 Celsius degree for 20-25 minutes.

Originally I was going to introduce these muffins in the beginning of my cooking journey across the Pacific as I am now deeply involved in organisation of the international conference Aid for Tuvalu. But I come to the conclusion that sincerely this is my first muffin that I would recognise as a sophisticated one. I also realised that actually from a very long time this blog needs a tag for muffins. Moreover, an appealing idea came to my mind, the idea of a pure white muffin which, while admiring of the white chocolate aroma in baking goods, almost immediately was distracted by the image of a white chocolate muffin - with orange coloured threads. Imagine more.

Back to the oven

Yahoo!!! We have just moved back to our previous students' house flat!!! I have my amazing oven back again! We need to celebrate this with some crazy muffins!

First, of course cleaning and finding a place for all our belongings. I am terribly sorry for all my kitchen utensil that must be placed under the bed because there is no other space left (to be clear: there is the common kitchen with this MY oven outside of the room in the corridor). I dream that one day I will have a huge kitchen for all my jars, pots, pans, spoons and bowls.

Can you believe that the sunny air smells exactly the same as a year ago when I was moving to this place and began the story with this blog? My smell memory recalls all the mornings at the pastry board when I was kneading, cutting, mixing and photographing food. This feeling gives me hope for more. I recognise snow in the air and I know that pretty soon I am going to bake bread and gingerbreads will come even sooner than I expect. Mmm.

First, no ordinary muffins - Pizza muffins.

(for 7 large or more smaller muffins)

250 g flour
2 tsps baking powder
2 flat tsps salt
1 large egg
250 ml milk
3 Tbsps vegetable oil
1 small onion
120 g grated hard cheese (I used Gouda)
30 g ham (2 large slices) cut into small cubes
4 Tbsps tomato sauce
1 tsp dried oregano

1. Chop the onion and fry on the oil until transparent. Here you can warm up also the ham but it is not necessary. Cool a little.

2. Mix sieved flour, two thirds of cheese, ham (only if it was not fried), salt and baking powder in one bowl.

3. Combine tomato sauce with oregano in another bowl, than add milk, slightly beaten egg and onion with oil.

4. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients, mix quickly and portion the batter into an oiled muffin tin. Sprinkle every muffin with the remaining cheese.

5. Bake for 20 minutes in 180 degrees in preheated oven.

6. Serve at least warm, grilled if possible, with tomato sauce. You will be surprised with the gentle pizza flavour of these muffins!



YuMMMy. On that day I also made with my friend from ANZORA my banana & forest fruits yoghurt muffins. And I couldn't refrain anymore from baking a traditional Hawaiian wedding cake for my friend's birthday. So, we greeted much with my oven.

In Search of Perfect Muffin

About three things I am absolutely positive. First, travel broadens the mind. Second London is a great place to discover diversity of the world's food. And third I am unconditionally and irrevocably in love with muffins.

Since my first stay in Great Britain I am a great lover of muffins, all of them, from the best of all really chocolate chocolate London's muffins to the delightful cheese muffins of Steam in Oamaru, New Zealand. Of course I mean the American style muffins which are of a cupcake's shape. The English muffin term refers to a leavened, round, flat roll, usually toasted and eaten with butter and jam. They are also yummy but my devotion goes to the baking powder or cream of tartar muffins, stuffed with variety of sweet and savoury food, including fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, cheeses, nuts, meat and whatever you like.

Many times I wonder what the ideal muffin should looks like. The shape of a cupcake, but what the size? I prefer rather bigger muffins, maybe not the Texas ones, but certainly not that small as a cupcake! This is why if the recipes says "makes 12 portions" I always spoon the mixture in 6 tins;-) Apart from my personal preference to the size, a good muffin should have a gently rounded, rather not a mushroom, top with a golden crust. A moist, finely-grained crumb is absolutely necessary. As well, as a seductive aroma. From my experience, I am always surprised of the intense smell of baked banana and strawberries.

Finally, I want to share this great recipe, improved and checked to the pleasure of my husband and friends.

Banana and Forest Fruits Yoghurt Muffins

200 g flour
105 g icing sugar
1 egg
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
1 ripe banana
250 ml forest fruits yoghurt (weights roughly 270 g)
opt. a dash of vanilla sugar

1. Sift flour and icing sugar into a bowl, add baking powder and mashed banana, mix.
2. Place 1 egg, oil and yoghurt in another bowl and mix well, even pretending beating.
3. Pour the liquid into a bowl with dry ingredients and mix quickly. Do not overmix. Warning: the dough is quite thick, it is fine.
4. Spoon into 7 muffin tins (this amount makes large muffins).
5. Bake in preheated oven in 190 Celsius degrees for 20 minutes.
6. Leave to cool.
7. You can serve these wonderful muffins with yoghurt but they are delicious on their own!

Generally muffins belongs to quick breads but sometimes I dream about sophisticated muffins, and I suppose it can be easily achieved by careful selection of ingredients. Trying to observe the rule of speed and easiness of preparation, on basis of a few common staples (flour, milk, egg, raising agent, salt) I experiment with freshly squeezes fruit juices, candied peel, yoghurts, spices. When you get used to so much loved blueberries or chocolate chips muffins you must discover the versatility of the kind: ham&leek, triple cheese, double chocolate, lemon and poppy seed, apple and cinnamon, raspberry and many many more...

PS. Bloggers community is a wonderful place to meet other food enthousiasts and share our experience. With great interest I read about Zorra's of Kochtopf blog initiative of Bread Baking Day, a web event for food bloggers, with changing theme and hosted by different blogs. For the 18th Bread Baking Day with the theme 'Quick Bread' I send my entry with Banana and Forest Fruits Yoghurt Muffins. This time the event is hosted by Fun and Food Blog. All the vegetarians are welcome to drop in for inspiration!