A lusciously rich treat that goes nicely with a cappuccino
These are probably my favourite muffins to make, containing two-and-a-half of my favourite ingredients: raspberry, dark chocolate, and a little coffee to help it all blend together.
Ingredients (makes 4)
spot the raspberries
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Line your muffin tin with paper cases - sometimes I like to cut out squares of greaseproof paper and use those instead, but fitting them into the tin can be a little tricky.
Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. I used a wooden spoon for this, but switched to a whisk for the remainder so that the mixture gets reasonably airy. (Also, it's a lot easier to mix like that if you have a decent whisk!) Add the egg and beat until you have a consistent runny mixture.
unlisted ingredient: elbow grease
Pour in the espresso, and the same amount of single cream - or whatever dairy substitute you feel like today. I'm quite a creamy person, which can get rather messy at times. Ahem. Add a smidge of vanilla at this stage, too, and give it a quick whisk.
Espresso gives colour and flavoursome strength to your mixture, taking the edge off the sweetness of the batter and placing your focus on the raspberries and chocolate
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl. As you can see, I like to save on washing up by weighing the flour directly into the bowl and sieve, but there is a lot to be said for mise en place, especially when you're using egg whites or anything equally volatile.
Fun fact: my height in inches
Oh, and mix it in well. Shouldn't take you long with that whisk.
Next step... chopped chocolate...
You know those boxes of broken biscuits? They should sell boxes of broken chocolate, too. I know you can get misshapes at Cadbury's World, but it's just not the same.
...and raspberries, all in. Just fold the mixture to spread it all the way through, you've got to keep it lumpy. You should find it rather sticky now, too. Don't be afraid to use your fingers (a good lesson in life, except in sausage factories).
A thinly-veiled excuse to lick it off your finger afterwards
A little mess is fine, and gives you yet another excuse to eat crispy muffin mix from the tin once it's done
OK, now we're ready! Fill the muffin cases aaaand...
Rise, sir Muffin
...we're go! Now all you have to do is wait for 20-25 minutes. Plan ahead, make yourself two espressos at the start. It'd what I'd do.
At about 20 minutes, test with a skewer - it might need doing a little longer, I've never trusted ovens to be too reliable. If all goes to plan you'll get something like this:
Looks nice, huh? But they're lacking a little something... hmm, what about drizzling coffee and chocolate icing over them? Or a ganache with white chocolate shavings (which I save for my Triple Chocolate Muffins, more on them another time)? Or better still...
Alternative method: place in popcorn maker. Do not try that at home unless you need the insurance money.
Toasted pine nuts complement the taste beautifully. Add them before you put the muffins in the oven, so that by the time you take them out they'll be encrusted with them. Trust me, it's excellent - you won't regret it.
(The more observant will notice I intended to do this. Yes, I forgot, I was far too busy taking pictures to remember or I definitely would've presented them to you. On the bright side, they made a simply looovely pesto, and you'll get to see what I did with that tomorrow. One for the vegetarians!)
These are probably my favourite muffins to make, containing two-and-a-half of my favourite ingredients: raspberry, dark chocolate, and a little coffee to help it all blend together.Ingredients (makes 4)
- 35g golden caster sugar
- 35g butter, softened
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 shot of espresso or 50ml strong coffee
- few drops of vanilla essence
- 50ml single cream
- 100g plain flour
- 1 level tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 50g raspberries
- 50g dark chocolate, chopped or chips
spot the raspberriesPreheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan). Line your muffin tin with paper cases - sometimes I like to cut out squares of greaseproof paper and use those instead, but fitting them into the tin can be a little tricky.
Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. I used a wooden spoon for this, but switched to a whisk for the remainder so that the mixture gets reasonably airy. (Also, it's a lot easier to mix like that if you have a decent whisk!) Add the egg and beat until you have a consistent runny mixture.
unlisted ingredient: elbow greasePour in the espresso, and the same amount of single cream - or whatever dairy substitute you feel like today. I'm quite a creamy person, which can get rather messy at times. Ahem. Add a smidge of vanilla at this stage, too, and give it a quick whisk.
Espresso gives colour and flavoursome strength to your mixture, taking the edge off the sweetness of the batter and placing your focus on the raspberries and chocolateSift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl. As you can see, I like to save on washing up by weighing the flour directly into the bowl and sieve, but there is a lot to be said for mise en place, especially when you're using egg whites or anything equally volatile.
Fun fact: my height in inchesOh, and mix it in well. Shouldn't take you long with that whisk.
Next step... chopped chocolate...
You know those boxes of broken biscuits? They should sell boxes of broken chocolate, too. I know you can get misshapes at Cadbury's World, but it's just not the same....and raspberries, all in. Just fold the mixture to spread it all the way through, you've got to keep it lumpy. You should find it rather sticky now, too. Don't be afraid to use your fingers (a good lesson in life, except in sausage factories).
A thinly-veiled excuse to lick it off your finger afterwardsA little mess is fine, and gives you yet another excuse to eat crispy muffin mix from the tin once it's doneOK, now we're ready! Fill the muffin cases aaaand...
Rise, sir Muffin...we're go! Now all you have to do is wait for 20-25 minutes. Plan ahead, make yourself two espressos at the start. It'd what I'd do.
At about 20 minutes, test with a skewer - it might need doing a little longer, I've never trusted ovens to be too reliable. If all goes to plan you'll get something like this:Looks nice, huh? But they're lacking a little something... hmm, what about drizzling coffee and chocolate icing over them? Or a ganache with white chocolate shavings (which I save for my Triple Chocolate Muffins, more on them another time)? Or better still...Alternative method: place in popcorn maker. Do not try that at home unless you need the insurance money.Toasted pine nuts complement the taste beautifully. Add them before you put the muffins in the oven, so that by the time you take them out they'll be encrusted with them. Trust me, it's excellent - you won't regret it.
(The more observant will notice I intended to do this. Yes, I forgot, I was far too busy taking pictures to remember or I definitely would've presented them to you. On the bright side, they made a simply looovely pesto, and you'll get to see what I did with that tomorrow. One for the vegetarians!)
Leave a comment