Great for a weekend breakfast or weekday treat.
In 2022 my 'resolution' is to be more creative and not as scared, as I guess for Caking It that means branching out to muffins!
I have to say usually I'm in the camp of cupcakes over muffins because of my love of sweet buttercream, but I was really in the mood for a little something different and these truly are delicious.
I couldn't start down the muffin road without beginning with blueberry. They're a classic muffin flavour.
Now, it's a good thing I'm so committed to these because at one point there were about 4 batches of these in the house! All with varying quantities of ingredients. Honestly, there were a lot! But I persevered and tweaked and tweaked and here we are!
The difficulty with blueberry muffins lies with the blueberries themselves. They add quite a bit of moisture therefore making the crumb more fragile. But they also contribute those fantastic blue splashes of colour and flavour! So, after lots of taste testing and crumb inspecting, I landed on the recipe you see here.
Buttermilk compliments the blueberry flavour and extra flour and ground almonds provide support.
To finish, instead of fancy ganache or frostings, a simple sprinkle of granulated sugar compliments these perfectly.
Let's get Caking It!
Recipe
180C (170C fan)
Yield: 12 muffins
Prep: 10 mins
Bake: 20 mins
Ingredients
Sponge
150g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
4 medium eggs
100ml buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g gluten free self-raising flour
50g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
100g fresh blueberries, washed
Granulated white sugar
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Method: Sponge
Don't forget to wait until all the ingredients are room temperature before starting.
Preheat oven to 180C. Fill 12 muffin holes with cases.
Cream the butter until pale, then add the sugar and cream together until fully incorporated.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing with an electric whisk between each addition and add the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and ground almonds with a fork, and then add this to the eggs and butter, mixing until fully incorporated.
Add the blueberries and give it a final mix.
Spoon the mixture into each muffin case until all the mixture is equally distributed.
Sprinkle a 1/4 tsp of granulated sugar onto the tops of each muffin to give it a crisp crunch.
Let the mixture sit in the cases for 20 minutes before placing in an oven for 20 minutes. A skewer or toothpick inserted into the cupcakes should come out clean.
Assembly
Enjoy warm on their own, or with jam or marmalade.