Raspberry, Strawberry & Almond 'Cheesecake' Muffins

Today was a great day - it finally turnied out to be the day i built the bridge for my dry river bed, and the day I finally got a curtain pole put up in my lounge so I can now make some  blue gingham curtains to finish off my room. Also the day I got my mirror on the wall and coat hooks in the understair cupboard. Thanks to my wonderfully talented son and a couple of bizarre encounters at a woodyard I can now say I'm almost done with the list of jobs I made when I first moved in six months ago. 

So to honour such a momentous day I figured I'd better go all out on the muffin front - so that yummy cheesecake-esk filling needed to be added, and then I got all adventerous with the ground almonds so this is the combo we ended up toasting the bridge with.

In a large bowl mix together:
300g self-raising flour
75g ground almonds
220g caster sugar

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

Mix the wet into the dry then stir in:
half cup fresh raspberries
half cup chopped fresh strawberries

In a small bowl mix together:
half tub cream cheese 
1 tablespoon caster sugar

Place a small dollop of the mixture in the base of 12 muffin cases
Then add a small dollop of the cheesecake mixture in the centre
Top off with the remaining muffin batter.
 
Bake on Gas 5/6 for 20-25 minutes
Leave in the tin for a few minutes before moving onto a wire rack to cool

Best served in the garden sunshine whilst admiring your newly created bridge!

Strawberry & Blueberry Muffins

The latest batch of muffins has been Strawberry and Blueberry Muffins. I didn't however remember to take any photos of those muffins, and they didn't last long because they were well scrummy, so you'll have to make do with a photo of my new moose - Canute. A seriously wonderful aquisition to grace my fireplace purchased from the Nantwich market, made by the very talented Libby Bower.

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

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

Mix the wet into the dry 

Stir in:
half cup chopped strawberries
half cup of blueberries

Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases
Bake on 190 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes
Leave in the tin for a few minutes before moving onto a wire rack to cool

Almond, Strawberry and Lime Muffins

Tonight, in anticipation of Movie Monday, I have rustled up a batch of muffins. I have no idea if these flavours will work, but time will tell. But they do look good next to my verdant llama - it's not often I get to use the words 'verdant' and 'llama' in the same sentence, but today is one of those days.

In a large bowl mix together:
300g self-raising flour
75g ground almonds
220g caster sugar
zest of 1 lime

In a small bowl mix together:
90g melted butter
half cup sour cream
juice of one lime, made up to a quarter cup with milk
2 large eggs

Mix the wet into the dry then stir in:
three quarters cup diced fresh strawberries
quarter cup flaked almonds

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 moving onto a wire rack to cool

Best served with company and a great movie!

Mascapone, Chocolate and Strawberries

Not muffins today. It's too hot, and I'm exhausted from five hours of gardening! 
Instead I have rustled together a little something for desert this evening that is cheesecake/trifle esk

You will need:
a chocolate swiss roll
strawberries
mascapone cheese
icing sugar
lime zest
chocolate sprinkles, or grated chocolate

In individual deep sided bowls layer up:
a decent sized slice of swiss roll
sliced strawberries
a dollup of mascapone cheese (mixed with 20g icing sugar and the zest of half a lime)
grate chocolate on top
top with a whole strawberry

And voila! yummy pudding.

Berries!

These were the deliciously fruity contents of my last batch of muffins - a few blueberries, strawberries, cranberries and dried cherries. A most tasty combination - and one that definitely left me feeling I had celebrated becoming a granny in style.

In a large bowl mix together:

375g self-raising flour

220g caster sugar

In a small bowl mix together:

90g melted butter

half cup sour cream

quarter cup milk

2 large eggs

a few drops of vanilla essence

Mix the wet into the dry then stir in:

1 cup mixed fruits (see photo above)

Divide between 12 muffin cases

Bake on Gas 5/6 for 20-25 minutes

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

Strawberry and Raspberry Muffins

The diet is playing havoc with my creativity - so this year at camp we won't have lots pf weird varieties of muffins - I am only baking one dozen, so if you want one you had better be quick! And being as it's the hottest day of the year so far and summer is well and truly here it was only right that I made them with the fruit of the moment - fresh strawberries and raspberries.

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

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:
1 cup of mixed diced strawberries and raspberries

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 onto a wire rack to cool

Rhubarb and Strawberry Muffins

In honour of Luke's leaving party I thought I had better try something new - and having once had rhubarb with strawberries on a crepe in a restaurant in France I figured it was worth a try.

 

*First cook a stick or two of Rhubarb, diced up small, in a teaspoon of sugar and stir in diced strawberries 50/50 - cook until the rhubarb is soft and the strawberries mush a little - you will need 1 cup full of fruit to add to the Muffin batter at the end of the mixing. 

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

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

Stir in:
1 cup strawberries/diced rhubarb pulp (see above*) 

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 removing onto a wire rack to cool

They went down very nicely - and for those of you on Weight Watchers they come out at a staggering 8 pro-points per muffin - but worth every moment of eating salad all day just to make sure I could have one for supper.

Enjoy Ibiza Luke

Now what flavour shall I do for his return at the end of the summer?...

Strawberry Almond Muffins

Couldn't decide what I fancied for tea tonight, and I deserve a bit of a treat being as I have been decorating all day - so I headed for the kitchen and came up with these:

 

In a large bowl mix together:

300g self-raising flour

75g ground almonds

220g caster sugar 

In a small bowl combine:

90g melted butter

150ml sour cream

quarter cup milk

2 large eggs

Mix the wet into the dry then stir in:

180g diced strawberries

Divide into 12 muffin cases
Bake on Gas 5/6 for 20-25 mins
Leave in the tin for a few minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool 

Ahh, the perfect summer supper

Variation on a Theme

Needing to use up the strawberries from the previous recipe, but having run out of cream cheese for the filling, I decided to mix the strawberries with white chocolate, and very tasty they turned out too, so much so, they all went before I got to photograph them, so you can have a photo of a beautiful Scabius flower that I have taken instead!

In a large bowl mix together:

375g self raising flour

220g caster sugar

In a small bowl mix together:

90g melted butter

half cup sour cream

quarter cup milk

2 large eggs

few drops of vanilla essence

Mix the wet into the dry
Then stir in:

half a cup of chopped strawberries

half a cup of white chocolate chunks

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

Strawberries and Cream Muffins

It seems only right now that it is June to put those most English of fruits - strawberries, into a muffin. This is the month of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the usual time for Pick Your Own, and Wimbledon, so it was only fitting to make a muffin for the moment, and very nice they turned out too. In fact I'm fairly certain that I'll have to bake these again quite soon.

For the 'cream':
In a small bowl mix together:
one tablespoon of caster sugar 
half a tub of cream cheese

In a large bowl mix together:

375g self raising flour

220g caster sugar

In a small bowl mix together:

90g melted butter

half cup sour cream

quarter cup milk

few drops of vanilla essence

2 large eggs

Mix the wet into the dry

Stir in 200g fresh diced strawberries
 

Put a small dollup of mixture into the bottom of 12 muffin cases

Put a half teaspoon of the 'cream' on the top

then cover with the remaining muffin batter

Bake on Gas 5/6 for 20-25 mins

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