Triple B Muffins

Muffins.  They didn't exist when I was a kid - the most glamorous thing we ever made was butterfly buns.  And I can assure you that buttercream was most definitely made with margarine then.  I'm still shuddering at the memory of margarinecream gritty with granulated sugar because icing sugar wasn't a staple ingredient, the way it is now.  If you're curious, a butterfly bun was a standard fairy cake (called a bun in the country to this very day) with the top lopped off to create a flat surface.  A splodge of gritty margarine buttercream and a dab of jam, usually strawberry, were spread onto the flat surface.  Then the leftover cake top was cut in half and placed back at angles on top of the jam and cream to create a sort of butterfly effect.  And there were no fancy paper cases either.  Just like Henry Ford, cake cases came in one colour only - white.  Take it or leave it.  Kids nowadays have no idea of the trauma we went through!

I digress.  Now we have a whole new era of baking where the butterfly bun has gone the way of the Minidisc, the pager and the video recorder.  The muffin is definitely here to stay and gives you a chance to experiment with ingredients in the way that the old-school bun didn't.  Here, I've used three ingredients to turn a sometimes dry cake into a luscious fruit-filled treat : buttermilk, bananas and blueberries.  These are three great ingredients to have to hand - buttermilk has a decent shelf life so a carton can last up to a month in the fridge.  Bruised bananas can be frozen and saved for baking, and blueberries are generally better value when frozen.  This recipe makes about 12 muffins.

Triple B Muffins

100g Butter, melted and cooled
300g Plain Flour
150g Caster Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tsp Salt
350ml Buttermilk
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Bananas, mashed
150g Blueberries

Melt the butter and let it cool for 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180c / Gas Mark 4.  Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Now sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarb & salt into a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla together before adding the cooled butter.

Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour, folding gently until just combined (over mixing will give you a tough muffin).  Add the bananas and blueberries and mix until well distributed.

Use a large spoon, a ladle or an icecream scoop to transfer the muffin batter into the paper cases.

Very posh paper cases

Place the muffin tin onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring the muffins to a wire cooling rack.

Make some coffee.  Eat a muffin.  Repeat as necessary.