Muffins

Quick Little Cakes

Everybody loves them, children and adults alike. And what is the reason for that? One reason is that they are a great little cakes in a very convenient size fitting into the palm of an adult hand and can literally be eaten 'on the go' with your hands of course.

Muffin or Cupcake? Muffins are usually bigger and not as sweet as cupcakes and they are also made and served without frosting. But the fact that a muffin can be made in so many different flavours makes it one of the most favourable cakes which do not take long to make. Small, tasty and quick to make – a winner in every way.

Sweet muffins are often eaten for breakfast but are equally enjoyed for afternoon tea, at a party or a a picknick. But also savoury versions are getting more and more popular and are served as part of a buffet or can simply be enjoyed as an ideal snack in-between meals, both at work and at home.

Tradition and New Inventions

There are two types of muffins: in Commonwealth countries there is the original English version, the 'English Muffin' where the batter is more dough like, made from yeast. The muffin is usually baked as a disk typically about 8 cm in diameter. It is then split into two, toasted and buttered, and is really what the English call a crumpet.

The Northern American version of a muffin is made with a thick batter mixture rather than a dough and raised with baking powder or baking soda. It is symmetrical with a domed top. The batter should have almost doubled during baking. Less sugar and butter makes a bread-like muffin. A higher sugar and butter content makes a cake-like muffin.

There are many different varieties and flavours ranging from the classic Blueberry Muffin to a muffin containing chocolate chips, raspberry, cinnamon, pumpkin, nuts, lemon, banana, orange, peach, strawberry, almond, carrot and cucumber.

Nobody can deny that the best muffins are the one that is prepared in the kitchen at home. And the best is that you get to eat them fresh and warm. Below we have listed a few hints and tips so that nothing can ever go wrong when you want to bake muffins.

Tips and Tricks for Muffin Baking

• Always use both parts of the eggs, the yolks and whites, for your muffins. It's a small but very important detail so that those little cakes do not dry out during the baking process.
• Another small but important detail: First mix together the wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients. This way the batter gets the right consistency when mixed. The batter should not be too runny, yet moist.
• In order to get real fluffy muffins, add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda. In addition add another sour ingredient such as buttermilk or yogurt so that the bicarbonate of soda can get under way.
• Always use specialised muffin trays/tins or silicone ramekins. To reduce a few calories, omit using butter to grease the tins, trays or ramkins but use parchment or baking paper instead. Using only muffin paper cups can cause the batter to leak out as the paper is rather thin to hold it well.
• Preheat your oven. After baking, turn off the oven and leave muffins to sit for a few minutes before removing them to then let them cool on a wire rack.
• Muffins keep fresh for several days, but it also depends on the type of muffin. A real moist muffin does not become dry so quickly, but a dry muffin looses its freshness and flavour a lot earlier. Always keep muffins in an airtight container!
• It is also possible to freeze muffins so that they last even longer. After defrosting, place them in the oven or microwave to bring them right back to the stage they were when you took them out of the oven after baking.
• But the real delight of eating a muffin comes when eaten right after baking. If you made too much batter or you want to keep some for later to have fresh muffins again the next day, then simply freeze the batter in freezing bags. When you feel like baking more, simply defrost the batter, fill the muffin tray or tins and only after a few minutes of baking you have fresh and hot muffins to enjoy all over again.

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