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tangzhong hot cross buns

23 Mar 2021

It wouldn't be Easter if I didn't make a batch of hot cross buns. Unfortunately Easter and Passover usually coincide, so this year I made my hot cross buns a little earlier than usual so I wouldn't miss out.

Do you Tangzhong, where you make a roux from a small amount of flour from the recipe mixed with water or milk which when cooled is added to the dough ingredientsThe Tangzhong method is supposed to make a fluffier longer lasting bun and who wouldn't want that. I used the hot cross bun recipe from the Flour and Stone cookbook as my base and I did all the maths for you and the adjusted recipe is below.
It does seem like a lot of steps to make these hot cross buns, but the soaking of the fruit and the glaze can be made some time ahead and the dough can prove overnight in the fridge. If you don't want to Tangzhong the recipe just add 25g of flour to the bun dough recipe and don't forget to increase the milk by about 120 mls. Activating the yeast is an additional step and one I only use when making a sweet dough as sugar can retard activation of the yeast. You can always leave out this step if you like but I think it results in a better rise.
Here's the recipe for you which makes 12 regular size buns. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Tangzhong Hot Cross Buns adapted from a Nadine Ingram recipe from The Flour and Stone Cookbook.
Fruit Mix
60g each sultanas, raisins and currants
200mls boiling water
1 Earl Grey tea bag
50g dried apricots, chopped
1 tsp finely grated orange rind

Tangzhong
25g flour
125ml milk

Yeast Mixture
10 g dried yeast
1 tsp flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tbl water

Bun Dough
375g bread flour
¾ tsp fine salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp each ground nutmeg, ground allspice and ground cloves
60g softened unsalted butter
60g soft brown sugar
1 egg
60 mls milk 

Crossing Mixture
50g plain flour
50 mls water
1 tbs sunflower oil
¼ tsp ground nutmeg 

Glaze
100g caster sugar
100mls water
2 tsp finely grated orange rind
50 mls orange juice

To serve - butter 

Fruit soak
Place the sultanas, raisins and currants, tea bag and 200mls boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for an hour or until fruit is plump. Remove the tea bag and drain fruit well, discarding the liquid. Pat the fruit dry with a paper towel. Add the dried apricots and 1 tsp orange zest and set aside until needed.

Tangzhong
Whisk the flour and milk together in a small pan over medium heat. Cook, whisking at all times, until the mixture thickens. Once it has thickened, scrape the roux into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Allow the roux to cool to room temperature.

Yeast Mixture
While the roux is cooling, activate the yeast. In a small bowl, combine the yeast with 1 tsp flour and 1 tsp sugar and sufficient water to make a paste. Cover and set to one side for about 10 minutes until the mixture froths up, then continue on with the rest of the recipe.

Dough
Sift the flour, salt and spices into the bowl containing the tangzhong mixture. Add the yeast mixture, butter, sugar and egg then mix together on a low speed adding enough milk to form a sticky dough. Once incorporated, increase the speed to medium and mix for 7 minutes. The dough will have pulled away from the side of the bowl forming a ball. Add the fruit mixture and continue to mix until incorporated. The dough will be quite sticky at this point. Place the dough into a large lightly greased bowl. Cover and place in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Line a large tray with baking paper. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead until no longer sticky. Divide into 12 pieces. Use your hand to roll each piece on the work surface to form a round bun. Place buns close together, cover with a tea towel and allow to prove until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to one hour. While the buns are proving, make the crossing mixture.
Crossing mixture
Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional.Place all the ingredients for the crossing mix in a bowl and whisk to form an elastic batter. If it’s too thick, add a little extra water. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 5mm plain nozzle. Once the buns have risen, pipe a cross on the top of each bun. Place the tray in the pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the buns have risen a little. Reduce the temperature to 190°C rotate the tray and bake for a further 10 - 15 minutes or until dark golden brown.

Glaze
While the buns are in the oven, make the glaze. Combine the sugar, water, orange rind and the juice and bring to a boil. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until syrupy. Remove the buns from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Brush hot cross buns with the glaze and cool a little, then slide the baking paper and buns onto a wire rack. Serve warm with butter.

I shared half the batch with my neighours, froze the rest but kept one aside to see if the Tangzhong technique would stop the bun going stale. I'm a bit sad to report the day old bun was still stale but nothing that couldn't be rectified by toasting the bun then slathering it with butter. 
 
Have a Happy Easter and I'll see you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.
 
Bye for now,
 
Jillian
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passover apple and blackberry crumble tart - passover week 2021

Welcome to Day 2 of Passover Week 2021. On my hunt for a Passover pastry recipe I found this Aran Goyoaga recipe for a vegan gluten free apple and blackberry crumble tart. The recipe looked promising and I thought I could easily adapt it for Passover.

The original recipe used coconut oil instead of butter so you could always swap the butter for oil to make this tart gluten free, passover friendly, vegan and pareve.
The tart came out so well I've used the pastry recipe in another Passover bake coming up later in the week. Honestly this tart tastes so good you wouldn't know it was made for Passover.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm tart. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Passover apple and blackberry crumble  tart – makes one 17 cm tart
Pastry
½ cup superfine matzo meal
½ cup almond meal
2 tbs tapioca or potato flour
¼ cup caster sugar
Pinch salt
75g unsalted butter, cubed
1 tbs cold water
¼ flaked almonds

Filling
100g blackberries, fresh or frozen
2 small apples — peeled, halved, cored and thinly sliced
1 tsp grated lemon rind
30 ms lemon juice
2 tbs caster sugar
1 tbs tapioca or potato flour
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Method
Grease the base and sides of a 17cm springform tin. In the bowl of a food processor place the matzo meal, almond meal, tapioca flour, sugar and salt. Add the cubed butter and process until you have dough that resembles coarse sand. Add a tbs of cold water and process until a dough starts to form around the blade. 

Take approximately two-thirds of the dough and press it into the springform pan bringing it up about 2 cm up the edge. Mix the flaked almonds into the remaining dough to make the crumble topping. Refrigerate both the tart crust and the crumble topping while preparing the filling.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC, conventional. In a large bowl, toss together the blackberries, sliced apples, lemon rind and juice, sugar, tapioca or potato flour and cinnamon. If the filling is very wet, add 1 more tablespoon of the potato flour. Let the filling rest for about 20 minutes then add the fruit filling and liquid to the tart shell and sprinkle with the crumble topping.
Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbly, 55 minutes to one hour. Allow the tart to cool before slicing or the pastry will crumble. Lightly dust with icing sugar before serving.

See you all again tomorrow with another Passover bake.

Bye for now, 

Jillian

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passover white chocolate and almond cake - passover week 2021

22 Mar 2021

Welcome to Day 5 of Passover Week. For the last bake for Passover Week 2021, I decided to go a bit fancy and busted out my piping bag. Originally I made a Torta Caprese al Limone to share with you but I found it a bit lacklustre. Instead I decided to rework my Mum's almond cake recipe swapping the dark chocolate for white chocolate and toasted blanched almonds for the natural almonds.

It turned out really well and now I don't know which version I prefer more! This cake is best made the day before serving as it gives the flavours time to intensify. You could just serve the cake with lashings of whipped cream but I thought some lemon curd would be a nice addition. I've included an easy, made in the microwave lemon curd recipe for you.
Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17 cm cake. if you'd like to make a 23cm cake then double all the ingredients and you may have to add another 10 minutes to the bake time. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Passover white chocolate almond cake 
100 gm softened unsalted butter
100 gm caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 small lemon, rind grated
4 large eggs, separated
60 gm ground toasted blanched almonds
75 gm white chocolate, grated
40 gm medium matzo meal
¼ cup lemon juice
Pinch of salt
1 extra tablespoon caster sugar
 
To serve
300 ml whipped cream
White chocolate curls
Candied lemon rind
Lemon curd
a few mint leaves
 
Lemon curd
1 egg
50g caster sugar
80mls fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
Pinch salt
45 g unsalted butter, chopped at room temperature 
 
Cake 
Grease and line a 17 cm spring form tin with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
 
In a medium size bowl; cream the butter, the caster sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon rind until light and fluffy. Beat the egg yolks in one at a time until thoroughly mixed. Add the ground almonds, the grated chocolate, the breadcrumbs and lemon juice in 3 batches, mixing thoroughly.
In a clean dry bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Add the extra tablespoon of caster sugar and beat until the sugar dissolves and then gently fold the egg whites through the cake batter.
 
Gently spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 45 minutes at 180°C/350°F or until the cake tests cooked and the edges pull away from the sides of the tin.
 
Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack before removing from the tin. Serve with lashings of whipped cream, lemon curd and chocolate curls.
Microwave lemon curd adapted from a Taste Magazine recipe
Whisk the egg, sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind and salt in a large microwave-safe glass bowl until combined. Cook on low in the microwave for 3-4 minutes stirring every minute, or until a smooth, thick curd forms.
 
Sieve the curd to remove any eggy bits and lemon rind. Set aside to cool a little before stirring in the unsalted butter. Allow the curd to cool completely before storing in the fridge in an airtight container.
That's the last bake for Passover week 2021 and I hope you enjoyed my recipes.
 
I'll see you all again next week with some Easter baking from my kitchen.
 
Bye for now, 
 
Jillian
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passover brown butter plum friands - passover week 2021

Welcome to Day 3 of Passover Week 2021. When I spied this Nigel Slater recipe for brown butter and fig friands I noticed it contained no baking powder and such a small quantity of flour, the recipe was ripe for renovation for Passover. Instead of figs I decided to top the friands with some plum slices, as they're still in season here
I didn't have enough hazelnuts for the recipe so I decided to use some almonds and swapped the icing sugar for caster sugar, as it's much easier to source at Passover. Once everything is weighed out and measured, these friands take no time to put together.

If you'd like to make these friands, here's the recipe for you which was adapted from a Nigel Slater recipe. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Passover brown butter plum friands – makes 10 
Ingredients
180g unsalted butter plus extra for greasing  
50g hazelnuts, skinned
50g blanched almonds  
2 ripe plums pitted, halved  
50g Passover baking mix  
Pinch salt
180g caster sugar, reserve 1 tbs 
1 tsp lemon zest 
5 egg whites (150 mls)

Method 
Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. Lightly butter and flour 10 friand tins then place the tin in the fridge until ready to use. 
 
Melt the butter in a small pan over a moderate heat. Watch carefully as the butter first froths and then calms down and starts to turn deep gold. Once the butter becomes walnut coloured and smells nutty and toasted, remove immediately from the heat and set aside. You can also brown the butter in the microwave. Place the butter into a microwave safe bowl then cover with a plate or lid. Microwave the butter on high for about 6 minutes or until nut brown in colour. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes, to allow the burnt solids to collect at the bottom of the pan. Strain through a fine-mesh (or muslin- lined) sieve, discarding the solids. Allow the browned butter to cool slightly before using. It should still be warm when folding into the mix later: if it is too hot it will start to cook the egg whites; if it is too cool it will be difficult to incorporate into the mix. You should have about 135g of browned butter.

In a shallow pan over a moderate heat, toast the nuts until they are golden. Moving them regularly around the pan will help them brown evenly. Tip them into a food processor and process to fine crumbs. They should be slightly less fine than commercial ground almonds.
 
Slice each plum half thinly and sprinkle with the reserved 1 tbs caster sugar then set aside. 
 
Sift the baking mix with the salt into a large mixing basin then stir in the sugar and all but 1 tbs of the ground nuts. Stir in the lemon zest. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they reach a soft, sloppy foam.
 
Make a deep well in the dry ingredients and then pour in the egg whites, together with the cooled butter. Combine the ingredients lightly but thoroughly and then pour into the friend tins. Place a couple of plum slices on the top of each friend and then scatter the reserved ground nuts over the top.
 
Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown. The surface should be lightly crunchy. Remove from the oven and leave to settle for 10 minutes before sliding a palette knife around the edge and teasing them out of their tins.

The mixture was quite loose and next time I think I'd use a little less butter and 4 egg whites rather than 5. I normally grease and flour my friand tin but decided not to on this occasion. It took quite a lot of 'teasing' to get the friands out of the tins so I won't be making that mistake again.

Despite all this, the friands were buttery, moist and delicious. I took these into work and no-one realised they were made for Passover, which made them a great success by my yard stick.

See you all again tomorrow for Day 4 of Passover week.

Bye for now,

Jillian


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passover fig frangipane tart - passover week 2021

Welcome to Day 4 of Passover Week 2021. You might remember I've been on the hunt for a Passover friendly pastry recipe capable of making a large tart shell for quite some time. I had some epic fails until I discovered this Aran Goyoaga recipe. It worked well when I made the apple and blackberry crumble tart so I decided to use the same pastry to make this passover fig frangipane tart.


To make it work for Passover I swapped the gluten free flour for superfine matzo meal and white sugar for brown sugar. I also used butter instead of coconut oil because coconut oil is an ingredient I do not like to use. The dough is too soft to roll out, so you just press it into the tin.


No Passover pastry is perfect and it was a bit of a challenge removing the tart from the tin but it did come out and when refrigerated, I was able to cut a neat slice. As far as I'm concerned this made the pastry a roaring success.
Here's the recipe for you which makes a 16 -17 cm tart. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Passover Fig Frangipane Tart – makes a 16 - 17cm tart
Pastry
½ cup superfine matzo meal
½ cup almond meal
2 tbs tapioca or potato flour
¼ cup caster sugar
Pinch salt
75g unsalted butter, cubed
1 tbs cold water

Method
Grease the base and sides of a 17cm springform tin or 16cm tart ring. If using the tart ring, place the greased ring on a baking tray covered with baking paper. For ease of unmoulding you might want to line the side of the tins with some strips of baking paper as well.

In the bowl of a food processor place the matzo meal, almond meal, tapioca or potato starch, the sugar and salt. Add the cubed butter and process until you have a dough that resembles coarse sand. Add a tbs of cold water and process until a dough starts to form around the blade.

Press the dough into the springform pan bringing it up about 2cm up the edge. Refrigerate the tart crust for 30 minutes while preparing the filling.
Filling
6 small figs, halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon sugar
100 grams unsalted butter
100 grams caster sugar
100 grams almond meal
1 tbs potato flour
1 teaspoon grated orange rind 
1 large egg
1 tbs orange juice

Filling
Preheat the oven to 190°C, conventional. Sprinkle the caster sugar over the cut side of the figs and put to one side. In a small bowl or in a food processor, combine the butter, sugar, almond meal, potato flour and the grated rind until a soft mixture is formed. Add the egg and the orange juice. Gently spoon the almond mixture evenly into the frozen shell. Don’t overfill the tart ~ ⅔ is fine. Gently place the sliced figs onto the filled tart, cut side facing up.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C and bake the tart for 50 minutes or until the filling has puffed and golden in colour. Remove the tart from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When cool, gently remove the tart from the tin.

You can glaze the top of the tart with 1-2 tablespoons of warmed apricot jam or sprinkle with icing sugar just before the serving.

I took this tart into work and it was consumed without anyone realising that it was a Passover bake. See you all again tomorrow with the final recipe for Passover week 2021.

Bye for now,

Jillian

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passover chocolate olive oil and citrus cake - Passover week 2021

21 Mar 2021

Welcome to Day 1 of Passover week 2021. This Passover I'm continuing my tradition of sharing a flourless chocolate cake recipe with you. This recipe is adapted from Cannelle et Vanille: Nourishing, Gluten-Free Recipes for Every Meal and Mood by Aran Goyoaga. As the cake is made without flour its perfect for Passover and as it's made with oil, it's also pareve.
What makes this cake special? The addition of the citrus rind and juice to the chocolate mixture. Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17 cm cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Chocolate, Olive Oil and Citrus Cake – makes one 17cm cake. 
Ingredients
75mls extra-virgin olive oil plus more for greasing
3 large eggs at room temperature
135g 75% dark chocolate coarsely chopped
½ cup caster sugar divided into 2
1 lemon grated and juiced
1 orange grated
½ tsp fine salt
icing sugar or cocoa for dusting
whipped cream for serving (optional)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC, conventional. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Grease the base and sides of a 17cm diameter cake pan with olive oil then line with baking paper.

Separate the eggs by cracking the egg whites into the squeaky-clean bowl of a stand mixer and the egg yolks into a small bowl. Room-temperature egg whites whip better and hold more air than cold ones, so the cake will turn out best if you let them sit on the counter while you prep everything else.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Place in the microwave and melt in 30
second bursts on high. Once all the chocolate has nearly melted allow the residual heat to melt the remaining pieces. If your chocolate is too hot, let it cool for 5 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. Whisk in the olive oil, ¼ cup of the sugar, 1¼ tsp each of the lemon and orange zest, 1 tbs lemon juice, the salt, and finally, the egg yolks. Set aside. The texture might feel a bit gritty, but that’s OK.

Whip the egg whites in the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high speed. You could also do this by hand or with an electric beater. When the whites are fully foamed and turn an opaque white, slowly sprinkle in the remaining sugar then continue to whisk until they become glossy and firm, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Fold a third of the whipped whites into the chocolate base until fully incorporated. You can be as aggressive as needed at this stage because you are just lightening the base.

Gently fold in the remaining whites, this time being careful not to deflate them too much as this air from the meringue is what will help the cake rise. Don’t worry if you have a few streaks of white left through the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40 minutes. The top will crack and deflate as it cools. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes in the pan.

Lift the cake out with the baking paper and place on a serving plate. Dust with icing sugar or cocoa before serving. If you like you can serve this delightfully squidgy cake with a dollop of whipped cream.

See you all again tomorrow with another Passover bake. 

Bye for now, 

Jillian

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fig, yoghurt and almond loaf

15 Mar 2021

It's fig season in Sydney, so when one of my colleagues bought in a bag of organic figs I snaffled a few. Originally this was going to be a fig and mascarpone cake until I spied an Ottolenghi recipe for a fig, yoghurt and almond loaf. 
I brought the cake in for a work birthday morning tea, all gussied up.
I'd love to claim the idea of decorating the loaf with yoghurt, figs, flaked almonds, honey and mint as my own but I borrowed the idea from here.
Here's the recipe for you which makes a small loaf or an 8 inch round cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Fig Yoghurt and Almond Loaf, inspired by Ottolenghi
Ingredients
133g unsalted butter
133g caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla paste or extract
2 tbs thick cut orange marmalade
2 eggs, lightly beaten
120g almond meal
67g plain flour or GF plain flour
¼ tsp salt
¾ tsp baking powder
67g Greek yoghurt
3 figs, chopped into 1 cm pieces

To decorate
6 figs, some halved, some quartered
½ cup plain Greek yoghurt, drained
1 tbsp toasted flaked almonds
1 tbsp small mint leaves (optional)
2 tbsp clear honey

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. Line the bottom and sides of a small loaf tin with baking paper. Put the butter, sugar, vanilla paste and marmalade in an electric mixer bowl, and use a beater to work them well until they turn light and pale. Beat the eggs lightly, then, with the machine on medium speed, add them gradually to the bowl, just a dribble at a time, adding more only once the previous addition is fully incorporated. Once all the egg is in, mix together the almond meal, flour, salt, and baking powder and fold into the batter. Mix until the batter is smooth, then fold in the yoghurt and the chopped figs. You can also make the batter in a food processor, transferring the batter into a bowl before folding in the chopped fig pieces.

Pour the batter into the lined tin and level roughly with a palette knife or a spoon. Reduce the heat immediately to 175°C, conventional and bake for about an hour until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely before taking it out of the tin.
When cool, spread the yoghurt on top of the cake. Top with the figs, flaked almonds and mint leaves (if using) and drizzle with the honey. Best eaten on the day it’s decorated, but the undecorated cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

So how was it? As you'd expect from Ottolenghi, the cake was simply delicious.

I've been busy baking for Passover week 2021 so next week expect 5 days of Passover bakes, which I'm hoping you'll all enjoy whether you observe Passover or not.

See you all again next week.

Bye for now,

Jillian


 


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dark chocolate and raspberry muffins

8 Mar 2021

I don't make muffins very often but when I saw some dark chocolate raspberry muffins on Instagram, I decided to make a batch. These muffins were inspired by the dark chocolate and raspberry muffin recipe from The Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook. That recipe is loaded with butter and sugar so I turned to my favourite Ottolenghi Muffin recipe and decided to adapt it to make the muffins.
I used some wholemeal flour in the recipe but my wholemeal flour was very high in fibre so after I sifted it, I used 1-2 tbs of the bran left in the sieve and tossed the rest. You might find you'll need a bit more buttermilk if your wholemeal flour is similarly high in fibre. As raspberries are so expensive at the moment I used frozen raspberries. They work out fine but they do break apart during the mixing process, discolouring the batter a little. Don't worry as it all works out well in the end.
Here's the recipe for you which makes 12 small muffins. I used the Le Creuset tin 12 cup muffin tray from Everten. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins, adapted From Ottolenghi: The Cookbook
Ingredients
200g plain flour
75g wholemeal flour
2½ tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
1 large egg
200 g caster sugar
75 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
190 ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g raspberries, fresh or frozen
150 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
raw sugar for sprinkling and icing sugar to dust

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C /350°C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper cases.
 
In a medium bowl sift together the flours, baking powder and salt and set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, lightly whisk together the egg, sugar and melted butter. Whisk in the buttermilk and the vanilla. Add the sifted dry ingredients and fold together very gently. When about half the dry ingredients are properly folded in, add the raspberries and chocolate and continue to fold in. Make sure you stir the batter just enough to combine; it should remain lumpy and rough. 

Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases to fill them up. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Dust with icing sugar once cooled.
Remove the muffins from the pan while still warm and serve immediately or cool completely and freeze in individual ziplock bags for breakfast on the run. The raspberries make the muffin super moist and they are delicious still warm from the oven as the chocolate is all melty.
These muffins are pretty special. I took some into work then shared the rest with my neighbours. A work colleague asked for the recipe and my next door neighbour stopped me on the stairs to tell me how the great the muffins were. High praise indeed. 
 
See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 
 
Bye for now, 
 
Jillian
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