IN THE MOOD FOR MUFFINS

I'm sure all you foodies out there know what that irresistible feeling for late late night baking is all about, right? Especially when you know that after a long day at work there is nothing better then what the relaxing effect of mixing up some sugar, flour, eggs and butter can bring.

Well that was what my late night was all about yesterday, and I was in the mood for muffins.Since there are so many muffin recipes out there in the food blogosphere, this will just have to be the gazillionth addition to it all I guess.

But, I must say, these muffins are extra-delicious and fit perfectly in this autumn season when all you want to do is cocoon under a tree, branching out with beautiful red & yellow leaves, with a cup of tea in one hand and a muffin in the other.

So whenever you find yourself under an autumn tree, please bring along with you one of these speculoos-apple muffins. A simple moment of pure bliss.

Just throw (almost) everything in:

(and no- that's not peanut butter, it's pate de speculoos. A totally addictive scrummy yummy spread that tastes of fabulous speculoos)


Sprinkle over some caramelized chopped hazelnuts if you wish, and it's ready to go in the oven!


25 minutes later, this is what you get, mmmmm:


Inside, the diced apples make such a perfect match with the speculoos flavour:


Go ahead, take one & indulge!


Recipe for Apple-Speculoos muffins (makes 8):

2 eggs
90gr sugar
90gr butter, softened
Vanilla
70gr pate à speculoos
30ml liquid cream
110gr flour
Baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 large apple, diced
Chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 160C. In a bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, pate a speculoos and liquid cream. Then add the flour, baking powder and salt; mix well. Finally throw in the diced apple and stir batter gently. Fill muffin moulds with the batter, sprinkle with some chopped nuts (plain or caramelized) and bake for 25 minutes.

LEFTOVER RASPBERRIES...

At any point in time, us cooking & baking lovers, will always be faced with leftovers...and I'm not speaking about leftover pizza slices that some people enjoy eaten cold for breakfast (I never really got that?), I'm talking about leftover egg yolks, ganache, pistachios, orange zest, or, in this case raspberries. Do you remember the raspberry cheesecake I posted not too long ago? Well after the cheesecake was baked and devoured by all, I was faced with handfuls of raspberries leftovers...I could have of course eaten them plain (which I did, some of them), I could had made ice-cream, or a crispy tarte fine (thin puff pastry tart), or even raspberry jam... but for some reason, my leftover remedy has always seemed to be muffins! They just seem perfect in every way... they are of the ideal size whether for breakfast or to accompany of cup of coffee, they look alluring on a tray inevitably tempting friends & family who pass through the kitchen, they can transport themselves conveniently to picnics or to work... they are pretty to look at and easy to make, and loved by (almost) everyone!

So what on earth could had stopped me from making muffins with my raspberry leftovers?!

And take these almond-raspberry muffins as an sweet interlude until I get back cooking in my beloved kitchen that I missed so much when I was away in Cuba last week...!

Raspberry-Almond muffins:

For approx 12 muffins:

2 eggs

100gr sugar

100gr melted butter

50ml milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence or a vanilla pod.

140gr flour

70gr ground almonds

5gr baking powder

Pinch of salt

Handful of delicious raspberries

Shredded almonds for decorating (and for crisp!)

Preheat oven to th4/180C/350F.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together. Add the butter,milk and vanilla mix well. Add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt, mix well. Then gently throw in the raspberries and stir...gently! Transfer batter to muffin moulds (with containers, optionally). Fill moulds in 3/4th of the way. Top off with a generous layer of shredded almonds and bake for 30mins. Check with a sharp knife if well cooked, if not extend baking by intervals of 10mins, always at th4. Remove, and let cool.