Apple and Blackberry Muffins

I love this time of year as it's the start of the blackberry season! Blackberry picking is something I've done ever since I was little. At my dads I used to climb over this stone wall beside our garden, where there were the BIGGEST blackberry bushes. The blackberries were so juicy but often hard to reach, so out came the ladders and most memories of blackberry
picking involve balancing and nearly falling off. Unfortunately, the bushes were inhabited by wasps so I occasionally got stung in the process. Luckily there are loads of places to pick blackberries where I live, including a few in the garden. So really there's no excuse not to pick any. It also means I can make lots of delicious bakes using hand picked blackberries to distract me from the prospect that summer is over and it's time for school again. Although as I'm moving on to college now, I'm actually quite excited! 

My first blackberry bake is apple and blackberry muffins, as both me and my mum LOVE this flavour combination and I wanted to surprise her after her first day back at work (she works in a school). I know, call me the perfect daughter.. This recipe is from Maria's blog: The Godess' Daughter. It's a beautiful blog with so many lovely recipes. I suggest you take a look! 

This is the first time I've used oil instead of butter and although I think it would work in a denser, more moist cake, I thought that it was a little heavy for muffins, which as Mary Berry would say, should have a good crumb. However I still loved them! 

I halved the recipe, expecting it to make 9, but instead it made 11. 

100g Blackberries

1 and a half Bramley Cooking Apples

1 Egg

120ml Milk

60ml Vegetable Oil (I used sunflower)

100g Caster Sugar (Although I think 120-130g could be used)

180g Plain Flour, sifted 

2 tsp Baking Powder (If your mixture is looking quite dense or overloaded with fruit, use 3 tsp)

Half a teaspoon Cinnamon

Half a pinch of Salt

Demerara sugar to top

Preheat the oven to 200oC and fill a muffin tray with muffin cases. In a large bowl, mix together the egg, milk, oil and sugar until they are well combined. Add the flour and sift in the baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix thoroughly. 

Core and dice the apples into small pieces and stir into the mixture along with the blackberries. Spoon the mixture into the cases and fill then to two thirds full. Sprinkle some brown sugar on top of each muffin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave in their tray for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling wrack.

Happy Baking

x

Apple and Raspberry Meringue Pie with Sweetcrust pastry

Isn't this weather gorgeous?! With weather like this I think there's nothing better than fruity dessert to satisfy the taste buds- and this one is certainly full of flavour. It's a recipe from my favourite cookbook-Jo Wheatley A Passion for Baking- and as always Jo didn't let me down. Whilst looking back at some older posts I realised that my bakes weren't very adventurous with flavour so I've made a vow to start branching out with more flavoursome bakes, hopefully this is more interesting. I also love making meringue so this was my perfect summer bake!

For the the pastry you'll need:

225g Plain Flour, plus extra for rolling out

100g Unsalted butter or margarine

25g Icing Sugar

Pinch of Sat

1 egg yolk (reserve egg white for later)

3-4 tbsp Milk

If you have a food processor, put the flour, butter (diced), sugar and salt into the bowl and whizz with the pulse button until you have a breadcrumbs consistency. If like me you don't have a food processor, putt he flour, salt and sugar into a bowl. Before hand, freeze your butter/ margarine and then grate it into the bowl and use the "rubbing in" method to create a breadcrumbs consistency. Freezing the butter helps to keep the the butter/margarine from melting too quickly whilst using your hands. Add the egg yolk and 2 tbsp of milk and whizz/mix until the dough comes together. You may need more milk if mixing by hand. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and work briefly into a ball. Chill in the fridge for approx. 20 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas Mark 5. Roll our your pastry into a disc with a thickness of about 2mm. I used a 21cm tart tin but this recipe is for a 23cm one. Line the tart tin carefully, being sure to push the pastry into all the corners. Trim off any excess. Prick the base several times. Screw up some baking parchment to line the pastry tin and fill with baking beans. (Screwing up the parchment helps the beans to sit easier.) Bake for 20-25 minutes until pale golden. Reduce the oven to 170oC/ Gas Mark, remove the beans and parchment and bake for further 5 minutes. 

For the filling:

3 Medium-Large Bramley Cooking Apples, peeled and sliced

30g Butter or Margarine

185g Caster Sugar

Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon

1 tbsp Cornflour

2 Eggs, separated

Egg white from Pastry

200-300g Raspberries

Meanwhile, add the apples, butter, 60g of the caster sugar and lemon juice and zest to a saucepan. Cook teh apples until they have become soft and puréed. Stir frequently. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Add the cornflour to the apple along with the two egg yolks. I found that there was a lot liquid with my apples so had to add a bit more cornflour. Beat until smooth and combined.

Spoon the apple into the pastry case and place the raspberries evenly on top. 

For the meringue, whisk the 3 egg whites in a clean, oil-free bowl until stiff. Gradually beat in the remaining 125g Caster Sugar, whisking well between each addition. The meringue should be stiff and glossy. Spoon the meringue on top of the apple and raspberries. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on how cooked you liked your meringue. I cooked it for 15 minutes but the meringue was very soft. I would be inclined to cook it for longer at a lower temperature to get a crunchy outside and chewy middle. Make sure you leave the pie to cool and then chill in the fridge before serving. I was too hasty when eating mine, so the filling hadn't set properly! 

I'm entering this into Tea Time Treats held by Lavender and Lovage and What Kate Baked with this month's host being Karen at Lavender and Lovage. This months theme is fresh fruit! 

Happy Baking! 

x

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Toffee and Apple Sauce Muffins

Sometimes, I just want to bake something that is really flavoursome and smells wonderful. Well I've certainly found a recipe that fits that description! These smell amazing when they're in the oven and, if I do say so myself, taste delicious! What with the show (see below) and starting back at school, I have seemed to be very busy recently, so I needed something that wasn't too time consuming and these were surprisingly easy. Also, with the weather getting cooler and the feel of Winter lingering over us, these are very comforting and I'd defiantly recommend baking them, (even if they don't look like something Mary Berry would make). So take a look and see what you think! 

This recipe is from Eric Lanlard's Home Bake recipe book but admittedly  they look more "rustic". I have tweeked some of the amounts slightly as I found they worked better. I found out the other day that he baked Lady GaGa's birthday cake!

Makes 6 Muffins
For the Apple Sauce:
½ a Large Bramely Cooking Apple
50g (1½oz) Light Brown Sugar
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Calvados (Optional. If not using, use a tsp of water)

Peel, core and dice the apples into small cubes. Place the apple into a saucepan, along with the sugar, cinnamon and calvados/water. Cook on a low heat until the apple is tender, but not mushy. Leave to cool.

For the Muffins:
140g (4½oz) Plain Flour
50g (1½oz) Caster Sugar
½ tbsp Baking Powder
1 Large Egg
75 ml Milk
200g Fudge, chopped into small chunks
Extra Brown Sugar and Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200^oC/400^oF/Gas Mark 6. Line a muffin tin with 6 muffin papers.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the sugar.

Beat the butter and the milk together, then add the milk. Stir this mixture into the flour mixture and then stir in the fudge chunks.
Half-fill the muffin cases with muffin mix and then spoon on two thirds of the apple sauce. Cover with the remaining muffin mix. With a small spoon, dribble on some apple sauce on top. Cover with lots of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
I made a mistake here, and put on some fudge chunks. This was a bad idea as the fudge melted and candied the muffin cases making them very sticky!

Bake for 20-25 minutes and cool on a wire rack. Serve with fudge chunks on top.

Happy Baking! 

x

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P.S  I am in a show at the Epsom Playhouse called Half A Sixpence with Lottie from Lottie's World of Cakes and Bakes from Tuesday 9th-Saturday 13th October. We play the parts of two shopgirls called Kate and Flo!