A couple of days ago, I posted about making apple sauce, and mentioned that I was going to make apple muffins. You'll find that post here.
In that post I gave the recipe for my spiced pickled oranges - one year the entire crop of oranges fell off the tree, ripe, perfectly formed, but little. It seemed such a pity to do nothing with them, but they were too small to eat by the time they'd been peeled. So I pickled them, and I'm still using them! They've gone more brown in the jars since then, but are still a fabulous accompaniment to ice cream, or as an ingredient in my apple muffins.
The secret of making good muffins is not to overmix the batter - there should still be signs of flour. Beat them, and they will be tough and small. As you would too, if you'd been beaten!!
As I use homemade apple sauce if I have it, I don't stew apples just prior to making these muffins, so I measure out the apple and add the orange, and then pop the butter in with that and warm in the microwave for a minute. I should also say that I use raw sugar, and half and half wholemeal and white flour.
APPLE MUFFINS
In that post I gave the recipe for my spiced pickled oranges - one year the entire crop of oranges fell off the tree, ripe, perfectly formed, but little. It seemed such a pity to do nothing with them, but they were too small to eat by the time they'd been peeled. So I pickled them, and I'm still using them! They've gone more brown in the jars since then, but are still a fabulous accompaniment to ice cream, or as an ingredient in my apple muffins.
The secret of making good muffins is not to overmix the batter - there should still be signs of flour. Beat them, and they will be tough and small. As you would too, if you'd been beaten!!
As I use homemade apple sauce if I have it, I don't stew apples just prior to making these muffins, so I measure out the apple and add the orange, and then pop the butter in with that and warm in the microwave for a minute. I should also say that I use raw sugar, and half and half wholemeal and white flour.
APPLE MUFFINS
1 ½ good cups flour ½ teasp salt ¾ cup sugar
1 tblespoon mixed spice1 teasp baking soda1 cup stewed apple
1 cup sultanas 125g butter 1 egg
Stew the apples and while hot add the butter to melt. Add to dry ingredients together with the beaten egg. Mix lightly and quickly. 15 mins at 200°C. A lesser amount of apple may be made up to 1 cup with stewed rhubarb, spiced orange preserve etc. I use about 2/3rds cup of stewed apple and make it up to a cup with finely chopped Pickled Oranges.
I have to say that every time I've given a basket of these muffins as a thank you to my mechanic or other bloke-y blokes, they have been received with rave reviews, more so than any other muffins I've ever made! It's the secret ingredient, that pickled orange!