It's been a mix of things- life is busy, the weather is too nice to be stuck inside and, as much as I love slaving over a hot cookie sheet, the idea of doing that in my tiny, badly-ventilated kitchen in 24 degree heat just doesn't appeal.
I've been sticking with muffins a lot lately. They're fast, simple and adaptable. I promise I'll do something new soon but for now, I present two great muffins using my Ultimate Muffin Recipe.
Ice-Cream Cone Cupcakes
Makes 12
You'll need:
One batch of muffin batter from my usual recipe
A pack of flat-bottomed ice-cream cones, available from most large supermarkets.
Buttercream (made by beating 225gr soft butter with 240gr icing sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract)
Decoration- sprinkles, Flakes, cherries etc.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (gas mark 4 or 160 degrees in a fan oven).
Stand the flat-bottomed cones into a muffin tray.
Using a piping bag, fill each cone 3/4 way to the top. Piping prevents air-bubbles and muffin eruptions.
Bakes for 20-24 minutes until the muffins are golden, risen and a toothpick stuck into the middle comes out clean.
Place the cones onto a wire rack to cook completely.
Once completely cool, pipe the buttercream on top using a large star-tipped nozzle. Starting at the outside, slowly pipe in a circle moving inwards and upwards to give the impression of soft-serve ice-cream.
Decorate using whatever you'd like. I stuck with sprinkles and cherries.
Butterscotch Muffins
These taste like a mix between Werther's Originals and sticky toffee pudding. The best thing is that the butterscotch sauce will keep in a covered container in your fridge for 3 days so can be used on ice-cream, in coffee or as a dip for apple slices (and by "apple slices" I mean "original Pringles". I need help).
Make muffins but only fill the case one-third of the way. They baked, you want a nice gap of a quarter of an inch or so between the top of the bun and the top of the case. I like to refer to this as the butterscotch zone.
To make butterscotch, you'll need:
50gr butter
4 heaped tablespoons of muscovado sugar
100gr golden syrup*
Pinch of salt
150ml single cream
*Yes, I am telling you to use 100 grams of syrup, not millilitres. The easiest way to do this is to weigh your container of syrup on a scales then pour out small quantities and re-weigh until your container is now 100gr lighter.
In a heavy-bottomed pan, combine the sugar, butter, salt and syrup over a medium heat. Allow to boil for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from the heat and add the cream. Return to the heat until everything is combined but not too thick.
Be very careful as the mixture will be exceptionally hot.
Put aside and allow to cool completely.
Once the muffins and butterscotch are cool, spoon some of the syrup not the bun. Just enough to glaze the top. Allow to rest for 30 mins then repeat. You'll end up adding about three layers and will have filled the case almost to the top.
If you can resist, these are best left to set overnight so that the butterscotch sets slightly and can seep slightly into the cake.
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