Meeting Baby E

It had been many months since I had seen my lovely friends B and T. Not since they had baby E. So the chance to meet up finally came around and I was so excited to meet baby E.

He is so cute, with gorgeous blue eyes and the wickedest smile ever! Except I wasn't successful in getting the wicked smile in my photos or getting him to look directly to the camera. We did try...

Throughout our catch up time (and there were lots to catch up on), we had appetisers to nibble on. B's tomato and basil bruschetta is good! They are quite addictive actually.

Cinnamon, Cherry and Pear Muffins

This recipe is sourced from the Taste website. I have tried it a couple of times and have found it to be a good one to keep. Bear in mind that the ingredients listed is designed for 4 muffins. When I made for 8, I literally doubled the amounts of each ingredient.

Ingredients
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons caster sugar
50g reduced-fat canola spread, melted, cooled
1/3 cup skim milk
1 egg
1/2 cup canned seedless black cherries, drained, halved
1/2 cup canned pears, drained, chopped
pure icing sugar, to serve

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Lightly grease four 3/4-cup capacity texas muffin pan holes (I used muffin wraps instead).
3. Combine flour, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl.
4. Make a well in the centre.
5. Whisk melted spread, milk and egg in a jug (I used a glass bowl).
6. Pour into well.
7. Add cherries and pears.
8. Stir gently using a large metal spoon until just combined (do not over-mix).
9. Three-quarter fill each muffin hole with mixture.
10. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
11. Stand muffins in pan for 4 minutes.
12. Turn out onto wire rack to cool slightly.
13. Dust with icing sugar.
14. Serve warm.

Taste website: www.taste.com.au

Chocolate, Cherry and Sour Cream Muffins

I recently celebrated the purchase of my new stove by attempting to bake some muffins. Bearing in mind that I have not baked in over 14 years (not having a working oven was part of the problem), I was a little anxious at how the muffins would turn out.

I found the recipe in the latest issue of Better Homes & Gardens March 2012 and the recipe was a Bulla Advertising Feature courtesy of George Calombaris. I made only a couple of minor adjustments to it but the recipe source is from Bulla and George Colombaris.

The muffins - sorry the picture is not pretty!

275ml Bulla Premium Sour Cream (note that I used lite sour cream)
350g plain flour
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
250g caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten (note that I used free range)
180ml extra virgin olive oil
150g dark chocolate buttons (55% cocoa) (Note that I could only find 43% cocoa)
1 x 450g can pitted cherries, drained and cut in half

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan-forced.
2. Line two 6-cup Texas muffin pans with paper cups.
3. Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and caster sugar into a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, extra virgin olive oil and sour cream until smooth.
5. Gently fold wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
6. Fold dark chocolate buttons and cherries into the mixture. Spoon mixture into paper cups.
7. Bake muffins for 25-28 minutes. Remove from the muffin pans and cool onto a wire rack.

Make 12 large muffins

Note: As this was my first baking experince in years, I found out that the lower tray cooked faster than the top tray. Eventually it all worked out but on average my baking time was more like 35 to 40 minutes. I did forget to sprinkle some icing sugar but the verdict from my work colleagues was 'yummy', 'delicious' and there were requests for 'more please'. So I guess I did well.

I hope you enjoy these too if you decide to try the recipe out. Thanks George C and Bulla!

Cheers....