Ginger muffins with plums whole spelt flour and oats

This is very aromatic autumn recipe. The cake is spicy, moist and deliciously sweet wit sour bits of plums. The recipe comes from BBC GoodFood wall calendar. 

Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 140g butter or margarine
• 100g brown sugar
• 100g golden syrup or honey
• 6 plums (about 250g)
• 140g whole spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 1 tbsp crystallised ginger
• 85g oats
• 2 eggs

Line muffin tin with paper cases. Preheat the oven to 180C.

Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a sauce pan and heat it up until all ingredients melt together.

In a meantime chop the crystallised ginger and set aside.

Cut the plums into quarters. Set aside. 

When all ingredients are melted add the flour, baking powder, salt,, ginger, chopped ginger, oats and eggs. Stir all ingredients together until well combined. Spoon the batter into paper cases up to 3/4 full. Set aside about 2 tablespoons of batter.

On top of each muffin place chunks if plums.

Ingredients for the crumble:

• 25g flour
• 25g oats
• 2 tsp chopped ginger

 The flour, oats and ginger place in a small bowl add the remaining batter and stir well. Sprinkle over each muffin top. Mine crumble was too dry :(

 Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Recipe n Polish

 

Kiribath and pol pani

Kiribath ( milk rice) is a traditional Sinhalese dish served at almost all festivals, ceremonies and special occasions. Milk rice is creamy, has delicious richness from being cooked in coconut milk. It's usually served with sweet or sour additions. I am rather on the sweet side so prepared mine with pol pani, which is mixture of honey and coconut with plenty spices.  As this rice cooked in coconut milk it becomes creamy and sticky. It is easy to form it in different shapes. Traditionally is served cut into diamonds or squares. I put mine into silicone muffin cases, filled with pol pani and really enjoyed it. The kiribath recipe comes form my Sri Lankan friend Shiromi and pol pani she found for me on this web site.

While I am writing a tiny bit about Sri Lankan cuisine I would love to recommend you Bree Hutchins 'Hidden Kitchens of Sri Lanka' book. There are interesting stories about Sri Lankan regions, people who live there and type of food they eat. The book is packed with beautiful pictures and very interesting recipes. 

   

Ingredients for kiribath to fill 8 muffin cases:

• 200g basmati rice
• 350g water + 50 g to add later
• 250 ml coconut milk
• salt

 Wash the rice and place in a sauce pan. Pour in 350g water add some salt and cook stiring from time to time until the rice absorbs all the water. Taste the rice if you think it need more cooking or salt add additional 50g water and cook for few minutes longer. When cooked pour in the coconut milk. Cook longer stiring from time to time until the rice absorbs all the coconut milk. The rice should be moist and sticky.  

Here is the movie how to make kiribath.

While the rice is being cooked prepare pol pani.

Ingredients for pol pani:

• 150g golden syrup or honey
• 1 cardamon pod
• 1 clove
• 1/4 cinnamon stick
• 50g dessicated cococnut
• 1/2 vanilla stick
• 25g palm sugar

 Pour the golden syrup into a sauce pan. Add the cardamon, clove, cinnamon, sugar  and cook until sugar dissolves. Do not overcook as mixture will caramelize. Add the coconut and vanilla beans. Stir all well an set aside to cool down.

When the rice is cooked spoon the rice into silicone muffin cases. Press well to the bottom and make a well in the middle. Fill the well with pol pani and cover with remaining rice. Leave for a few minutes to set. Then turn upside down on the plate.  

Recipe in Polish.

Enjoy !

Caramel mud cupcakes

Caramel mud cupcakes were divine. Very sweet, moist, crunchy on top. Perfect. The recipe comes form The Australian Womens' Weekly 'Cupcakes'. 

 Ingredients for 12 muffins:

• 125g butter
• 100g white chocolate
• 150g brown sugar
• 90g golden syrup (I didn't have enough of golden syrup so I added 50g of golden syrup and 40g of honey)
• 160ml milk
• 200g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 170C.

Line muffin tin with paper cases.

Put the butter, broken into smaller chunks white chocolate, sugar, golden syrup (or golden syrup and honey) and milk into a sauce pan. Heat up all ingredients stirring occasionally until melted. Pour the liquid into a bowl and set aside to cool down for 15 minutes.

Add the flour, baking powder and whisk. Then stir in the egg. 

Divide the mixture among paper cases.

Bake for 30 minutes. The remove form oven and set aside to cool down. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy !

 

 

Gingerbread latte

Those cupcakes were very delicious. Gingerbread flavour, soft and rich cake with cinnamon and coffee butter cream. Perfect ! The recipe comes form 'Making cupcakes with Lola' cookbook.

Ingredients for 12-18 cupcakes:

• 120g golden syrup
• 120g black treacle
• 200g heavy cream
• 250g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 and 1/2 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp instant coffee
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 135g butter
• 125g brown sugar
• 2 eggs

Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa, coffee, ginger, mixed spice, nutmeg, salt into a big bowl and set aside.

Put the golden syrup, black treacle and heavy cream into a sauce pan. Heat the ingredients up until they turn into liquid. Do  not  let the mixture to boil.

Into an electric mixer bowl put the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. 

In a meantime preheat the oven to 180C. line muffin tin with paper cases.

When the butter and sugar turn into fluffy mixture add the eggs one at the time beating continuously. When the eggs well incorporated add half of the flour mixture and half of wet ingredients mixture beat until all ingredients combined and repeat with remaining ingredients. 

Spoon the batter into paper cases about 3/4 full. Bake about 25 minutes. When ready remove form the oven and keep for a while in muffin tin then transfer to wire rack to cool down completely.

Ingredients for frosting:

• 120g soft butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 300g icing sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• mixture of 2 tsp instant coffee and 1/2 tsp boiling water and  1 tsp cinnamon

Place the butter into an electric mixer bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla extract and sugar (reduce the mixer speed otherwise your kitchen will be dusted with sugar) and beat until well incorporated. The add the milk and increase the speed to high. 

In a meantime put the instant coffee, cinnamon and boiling water into a small bowl and combine them with a spoon until they turn into a thick mixture. When the butter cream is ready add thick mixture and beat until is well incorporated. 

Put the butter cream on top of each cupcake. Enjoy !

 

 

Upside - down pineapple cupcakes

I have always liked upside - down cakes. There are very easy to make and look nice. This time I decided to bake upside - down cupcakes. That was a dessert for my family so we did not need all big cake, small cupcakes were more than enough. The recipe comes form this website.

Ingredients for 4 cupcakes:

• 4 tbsp golden syrup
• 4 pineapple slices
• few glace cherries
• 85g self - rising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 100g sugar
• 100g margarine
• 2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Grease 4 heatproof baking tins. Pour 1 tbsp golden syrup to each tin. Then place in the middle of each baking tin one pineapple slice and cherry in the middle. For one cupcake I chopped some glace cherries and sprinkled around pineapple (see the first picture)

Into an electric mixer bowl sift the flour, baking powder. Add the sugar, margarine and eggs. Beat all ingredients for 3 minutes until smooth and creamy. 

Spoon the batter into prepared earlier baking tins. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. Bake until the toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Remove form oven and left in the baking tins for a few minutes to cool down a little bit.

Place the plate over the top of each tin and turn upside down. Lift the tin away.  Enjoy !

Flapjack cupcakes

Those chewy flapjack cuppcakes are really delicious and easy to make. The recipe comes form 'Easy cupcakes' cookbook. 

Ingredients for 8 cupcakes:

the oat filling:

• 40g margarine
• 40g demerara sugar
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 55g porridge oats

the batter:

• 55g soft butter
• 55g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 55g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Place the margarine, sugar, golden syrup into a sauce pan and heat gently until margarine has melted. Stir in the oats and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line cupcake tin with paper cases.

Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and with electric mixer beat them together until white and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift the flour and baking powder and with a spoon gently fold  into the mixture.

Spoon the batter into paper cases. Gently spoon the flapjack mixture over the top. 

Bake for 20 minutes until golden and crunchy on the top. Transfer to the wire rack to cool. Enjoy !

Gingerbread man muffins

This recipe comes from 'Cake days. Recipes to make every day special. The hummingbird bakery.'

Ingredients for 18 muffins:

• 140g unsalted butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 60g black treacle
• 60g golden syrup
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 310g flour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 240 ml hot milk

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line muffin tin with paper cases. This time I had silicone muffin cases so there was no need for muffin tin and greasing.

Sift the flour, spices, baking powder into a big bowl and whisk them together. Put the  butter and sugar into electric mixer bowl and beat them until white and fluffy. Then add the golden syrup, black treacle, eggs and egg yolks. Beat them until all ingredients well incorporated. In a meantime heat up the milk. 

To the mixture in the electric mixer bowl add alternately the hot milk and dry ingredients mixture. Pour the batter into muffin cases 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Leave them in muffin cases fro a while after baking then transfer to the wire rack. Muffins have to be cooled down before decorating them.

Ingredients for frosting:

•  600g icing sugar
• 100g soft butter
• 200g Philadelphia cream cheese
• sugar, chocolate sprinkles

Put butter and icing sugar into electric mixer bowl and beat on low speed until sandy.  Add cheese and beat until soft and fluffy.

With a spoon, knife spread the frosting over muffins' tops and sprinkle with sprinkles. Enjoy !