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!

Cinnamon Pear and Chocolate Tart

It's safe to say that I am a big lover of fruit and, as cheesy as it sounds, I'm very big on getting my five-a-day. So when I go to the kitchen and find a measly grapefruit in the fruit bowl, I'm not a happy bunny. I expressed this to my mumma, and the next day she consoled me with enough fruit to open a fruit stall! Name any fruit and we had it! I couldn't help but giggle when I saw how much she'd bought. Anyway, she'd bought some pears and we don't often have pears so this was exciting times! Except, she'd bought about 6 of them, along with the other mountain of fruit. So being the good non-wasteful person I am (ahem), I came up with this: (excuse the dodgy photography, was in a bit of a hurry!)

 

You'll need:
Approx. 200g Shortcrust pastry
3 Pears, peeled and quartered
110g (4oz) Caster Sugar
Zest of half a Lemon
Cinnamon
50g (2oz) Dark Chocolate
30g (1oz) Butter/Margarine
3 tbsp Golden Syrup/ A large squidge full
1 Egg
Half a tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 200^oC/400^oF/Gas Mark 6. Grease a 9inch fluted tart tin and line with your pastry. Bake blind for 10 minutes.

Put the pears in a pan and cover with water. Add 50g of the sugar, the lemon zest and a good shaking of cinnamon. Bring to the boil and then cover and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pears and leave to drain in a colander/sieve.

Put the chocolate into a bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water. Meanwhile, heat the sugar and the syrup together until the sugar has dissolved. Make sure the sugar has fully dissolved or you'll end up with slightly crispy crust on top of your filling once cooked. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 3-4 minutes but make sure it doesn't burn. 

Whisk the egg into the melted chocolate and add the syrup mixture along with the vanilla extract. Mix well. On a chopping board, cut small slices in the pears but making sure they don't go all the way through! Pour the mixture into the pastry case and then place the pears in. I did it the other way around and found it hard to  pour in the mixture without covering the pears. Bake for 30 minutes, until the filling is set. 

Happy Baking! 

x

Please leave a comment below! 

Follow @nicsfeasts and  @NicckkNackk

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!