So far on our allotment, the only things that have come to fruition are the currant bushes that we inherited. The last time we were there we did a little bit of weeding but we spent the vast majority of our time picking shiny, jewel-like blackcurrants and redcurrants.
We harvested almost a kilo of the latter – that’s over £10-worth from a supermarket! 125 grams of it was put towards making a batch of redcurrant muffins.
We acquired a silicon muffin tray in a boxed lot at an auction many moons ago that we surprisingly, have never used. Fished out, dusted down and washed; it turned out 6 big, beautiful muffin specimens!
Silicon is a revelation – baked goods ease out of it with no cajoling whatsoever. If you’ve not tried it before, Lakeland does a good range of affordable silicon baking tins, pans and trays.
The redcurrant muffin recipe used here was found on the Abel & Cole website.
The rest of the redcurrants have been put into the freezer temporarily, waiting to be turned into jam, jelly and relish; so keep a watch out for some more redcurrant recipes to follow!
Redcurrant muffins
Ingredients
- 60 g Stork or butter
- 175 g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 120 g caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 120 ml milk
- 125 g fresh redcurrants
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350ºF/Gas mark 4
- Grease a 12-hole muffin pan (We have a 6-hole silicone muffin pan that makes lovely large, tall muffins!) or insert paper muffin cases
- Put the Stork/butter into a microwave-proof bowl or measuring jug and heat on a low setting for 20 seconds. Set aside to cool
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium-sized mixing bowl
- Add all but 2 tbsp of the caster sugar - this is being reserved to sprinkle over the muffin tops prior to going into the oven
- In a small measuring jug, beat the egg a few times until the yolk & white is just combined
- Whisk in the milk and melted Stork/butter
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, stirring quickly and gently until flour is just dampened
- Gently fold in the redcurrants, being careful not to burst too many of them
- Spoon the batter into prepared muffin , filling each slightly more than half full
- Sprinkle the 2tbsp of reserved sugar over each muffin
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and an inserted skewer comes away clean
- Cool on a wire rack for a few minutes prior to serving
- Keep in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 3 days
