Nutty Carrrot and Ginger Muffins

After much debate in the staff room at work about what would work with 'peas' in  a muffin, I ended up craving carrot cake when I went shopping for ingredients today, so instead of a weird invention I went for a more traditional flavour of carrots, with a bit of ginger, and some chopped nuts! 

The pea muffins will have to wait a while longer.

In a large bowl mix together:
375g self-raising flour
100g soft brown sugar
120g caster sugar
half teaspoon ground ginger

In a small bowl mix together:
90g melted butter
half cup sour cream
quarter cup milk
2 large eggs

Mix the wet into the dry, then stir in:
half cup chopped mixed nuts
half cup grated carrot

Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases
Bake on Gas 5/6 for 20-25 minutes
Leave in the tin for a few minutes before putting on a wire rack to cool

What fun it has been to be back in the baking box again this afternoon - it had been too long.

Carrot and Ginger Muffins

This evening we are having open house, so I got busy baking straight from work with a couple of inventions. this is the first of those.

In a large bowl mix together:
375g self-raising flour
220g caster sugar
half teaspoon nutmeg
half teaspoon cinnamon 

In a small bowl mix together:
90g melted butter
half cup sour cream
quarter cup milk
2 large eggs

Mix the wet into the dry then stir in:
three quarters cup grated carrot
quarter cup diced glace ginger

Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases
Bake Gas 5/6 for 20-25 minutes
Leave in the tin for a few minutes before removing on to a wire rack to cool

Ginger Cake

Well that's two 'firsts' this evening -
1) I have made Ginger Cake
and
2) I baked using a non-metal cake tin (which can't be called 'tin', but I don't know what else to call it!)

How successful my late night kitchen adventure is, will be decided tomorrow when I have my newly married son and daughter-in-law for tea.

I made a huge mess in the kitchen, mostly due to how many bowls you need to use, but I eventually got it all back to normal. So bake this one at your peril - it didn't help that the dishwasher is broken, and I had to do all the washing up by hand though.

Grease a 9'x9' square cake tin with butter

Melt 120g butter in a small pan then pour into a bowl

Beat 120g sugar with 1 egg for 2 minutes, then stir into the melted butter

In another bowl sift together:
450g plain flour
1 and a half teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
half teaspoon of salt

In another bowl mix together:
120ml molasses
120ml clear honey
250ml hot water
grated rind of 1 orange 

Add in the sifted and liquid ingredients alternately, in 3 batches, into the butter mixture until thoroughly blended

Pour into the greased tin
Bake on Gas 4 for 45/55 minutes until firm and it shrinks a little from the side of the tin

Turn out to cool on a wire rack
 
Can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge

Pear and Ginger Muffins

This is birthday invention number two!!

In a large bowl mix together:

375g self raising flour

220g demerera sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

In a small bowl mix together:

90g melted butter

half cup sour cream

quarter cup pear juice (drained from the can)

2 large eggs

Mix the wet into the dry

Then stir in (1 cup measure of fruit in total):

220g can pears (drained and diced)

quarter cup glace ginger

quarter cup milk chocolate chunks (enough to make up the cup!)

Divide between 12 muffin cases

Bake Gas 5/6 for 20-25 mins

Leave in the tin for few minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool

Happy Birthday to me...

Ginger Cream Pud!

Amazingly not a muffin today - but a treat none the less. This is my easy-peasy pudding, that looks fantastic and takes no time at all. I first ate this at aunty Jose's house - thanks for the recipe aunty Jo.

You will need:

one packet of ginger nut biscuits

a carton of whipped cream (10 fl oz)

some orange juice (150ml)
some grated chocolate

Dip a biscuit in the orange juice. Remove straight away and 

Spread one side of it with whipped-up whipped cream.

Repeat with all teh biscuits, joining them together into a round, or line as yu go. (You can do any pattern you like, making initials, or even a tower, but a tower falls over quite easily and isn't easy to store in the fridge or serve) 
Cover the outside with the remaining whipped cream
Sprinkle with grated or crumbled chocolate
Pop in the fridge for a little while before serving - this will help the bisuits absorb the liquid and go all mushy - in a good way!

You could try an alcoholic version by replacing all or some of the orange juice with Rum, or something similar - but as I'm driving tonight, I went for the alcohol-free version.  

Enjoy!