ANYONE who follows my column might think that I have a raspberry obsession, and I do, I think that they are delicious and perfect for enhancing any cake or pudding.

I also always have them around, as I think that raspberries and peas do better frozen than any other fruit or vegetable.

These muffins are pretty good, I made them this morning while my daughter was taking her driving test. She passed.

Now that I know the basics of how to make muffins I tend to make them with pretty much whatever I have around.

The secret for a muffin is that needs to be pillowy, light, full of scrumptiousness instead of heavy and sweet. The coffee-chain culture’s take on muffins turned them into a cake, but they should not be.

I like fruity muffins best, although one of the best muffins I have ever had was a Miso muffin! Because I make my own mixture and don’t measure ingredients so I tried and tested a recipe from Jamie Oliver’s muffins to accommodate an accurate recipe for you to have.

The secret with muffins is not to mix too much, that is what makes them light.


Ingredients

60g really soft butter
100g plain flour
100 g wholemeal SR flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
150g light brown sugar
2 tbs flax seeds, chia seed or hemp seed 
120 ml of milk (you can use almond or soya milk too)
1 large free range/organic egg
100g raspberries
A few strawberries, sliced


Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, or gas mark 6.

In a large bowl, sieve together the flour, the baking powder, the bicarbonate of soda, then mix in the sugar and salt.

In a measuring jug, beat together the milk, the egg and the soft butter.

Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add the seeds. Add the berries but try not to over do the mixing . You don’t want the fruit to start staining the batter with their juices.

In a muffin tray filled with pretty muffin cases get ready to spoon the mixture. I use an ice cream scoop as a measure.

Bake for 25 mins. Allow to cool before serving.

 

Florencia Clifford is a zen cook and the author of Feeding Orchids To The Slugs: Tales Of The Zen Kitchen. 
For more information, visit feedingorchidstotheslugs.wordpress.com.