Raspberry and Chocolate Muffins/Brioche

Cake and friends - a perfect morning! Catching up with old friends always involves cake and tea. Sometimes out, sometimes at theirs, but today it is at mine. Time for me to get baking...

Muffins are an easy option and today I have chosen to adapt a recipe I made in January. 'Raspberry and Chocolate Muffins' (see below) are to become 'Summer Fruit and Chocolate' today - there were no bags of frozen raspberries when I went shopping. The base mix is a different one to the one I used last time for my chocolate ones; it's slightly sweeter with the dark brown sugar in it, but the contrast with the sharp berries (redcurrant, blackcurrant, blackberry and raspberry) is perfect.

Raspberry and chocolate muffins.

This was a first attempt, so I adapted a recipe I already had and crossed my fingers that the juicy, mushy raspberries wouldn’t be too juicy to allow the mix to set around them. Luckily it worked!

250g flour

2tsp baking powder                             dry ingredients

150g caster sugar

75g dark brown sugar

Small pot sour cream (142ml)

125ml sunflower oil                            wet ingredients

1tblsp honey

2 eggs

Frozen raspberries

Chocolate chips.

Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk up the wet ingredients and pour into the dry. Add a handful of raspberries (I used about ¼ bag) and chocolate chips to taste – a good sprinkling!

Bake at 200˚C for 25-30 mins, or until firm to the touch. Allow to cool on a rack.

I use silicone muffin cases, so I remove my muffins from these before cooling.

A perfect snack, lunchbox treat or breakfast for the week. Made 12. 

Easy, and made whilst drinking my first cuppa of the morning!

Raspberry and Chocolate Muffin

For a while now, I have been making brioche rolls using a bread mix I bought once (Wright's) and loved. It is really easy and takes very little time. I wondered recently how I could have a go at making it from scratch, and came across a recipe in my old Good Housekeeping recipe book. Today seemed a good day to try:

Brioche

8 oz strong plain white bread flour

1 sachet dried yeast (7g)

pinch salt

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 oz butter, melted and cooled

2 tbsp tepid water

Mix the flour, east, salt and sugar in a bowl. I used my mixer with a dough hook, and added the egg, butter and water gradually as it mixed, but the same can be done by hand. Knead for about 5 mins, until the dough is smooth, soft and elastic.

Place the dough in a bowl and put in a warm place for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Knead the dough again for 2-3 mins, then divide the dough into 10-12 pieces and shape into rolls. Place on an oiled baking tray, and leave to rise again until doubled in size (30-40 mins).

Brush with beaten egg, and then bake at 230 C for 15 mins, when they should be golden and sound hollow when tapped on the base.

Obviously the test will be in the eating, so I will let you know how they are compared to the mix. Fingers crossed!