For many chefs and cooks, baking began their odyssey in the culinary world. School-aged children may be intrigued by the scientific process of measurement and the chemical reactions between ingredients when heat is added.
But cooking is also emotional and has a calming effect. It can be as complicated or intimidating as you choose to make it. Our hardworking grannies accomplished a lot with a large bowl and a wooden spoon.
This Christmas, a baking starter kit might include a digital scale, a large bowl, a good whisk, and two baking tins. First, a loaf pan for breads and cakes (accommodating the occasional round cake recipe) and a muffin pan for cupcakes, fairy cakes, tarts, caramel puddings, and muffins, sure.
American muffin recipes are generally real “muffins” that originally developed as “quick breads” in small cans and they are surrounded by a bit of confusion as their history is somewhat linked. with cupcakes. Muffins have the WYSIWYG factor (what you see is what you get).
Cupcakes, being miniature cakes are a little less comfortable in their skin and are the glamorous models of the genre requiring a lot of frosting and embellishments. Muffin doughs are “wetter” mixes with added oil, milk, and even fruit juice, while cupcake mixes start by creaming the butter and sugar together. American muffins are totally different from English muffins, which are less sweet, flatter, more crumpet-like, leavened with yeast and baked on a griddle.
Kids love these muffins and they are so easy I saw a seven year old make them. Dried cranberries, a little tart, go well with white chocolate for added sweetness. By simply mixing everything together with a wooden spoon in a bowl, this recipe can be assembled in 10 minutes.
I think they are the perfect treat, especially served fresh from the oven. Since freshly baked muffins are best the day they’re baked, I immediately freeze any extras and reheat them in the microwave for 30 seconds after being frozen.
Cranberry and white chocolate muffins (fact 12)
Ingredients
75g dried cranberries
150g of white chocolate, drops (divided into 75g and 75g)
300g plain flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
100g caster sugar
300 ml of milk
1 large egg, lightly whipped
60 g of melted butter
Method
1. Soak the cranberries in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes, then discard the water.
2. Divide the chocolate into 75g and 50g (for the melted fillet).
3. Preheat the oven to 180 ° C Hot air. Fill a muffin pan with muffin cases.
4. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the sugar, half the cranberries and 75 g of white chocolate drops (keep the rest for the fillet).
5. Mix the milk, egg and melted butter.
6. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, indent the center of the dry ingredients and gradually pour in the liquid mixture, stirring until just combined (do not over-mix the mixture. dough or it will make the muffins hard).
7. Pour batter into 12 muffin cups (you should have enough batter to fill them two-thirds full), then press remaining cranberries into top of muffins.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until mixture is lifted, firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Melt the remaining white chocolate in the microwave in bursts of five seconds, stirring (or in a double boiler) and finely baste the tops of the muffins.
Variation: You can add any type of fruit or nut to muffins. The zest of oranges, lemons and mashed bananas will add flavor to most mixes. Frozen blueberries are also popular because they can be added straight from the freezer.
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