Blueberry muffins . . . who doesn't love them! I adore them, but baking a full dozen muffins isn't practical anymore for just Todd and myself. Oh yes, I could freeze them, but to be honest I think that when it comes to fruit muffins, they just aren't the same after having been frozen, or is that just me??
I think they go a bit soggy after being frozen, and if there is something that I really don't enjoy on this earth, it is a soggy muffin.
Moist and tender muffins, yes . . . I enjoy them. But not soggy muffins. Who does? Put your hand up.
Uh huh . . . I didn't think many of you would. So in my quest for smaller batch recipes today I created a small-batch blueberry muffin. It makes four perfect blueberry muffins. No more no less.
And when I say perfect, I mean truly perfect. With a lovely tender crumb . . .
Delicately flavoured with fragrant lemon zest . . . and studded with plenty of fat blueberries . . .
And topped with a lemon demerara sugar crunch . . . mmmm . . . perfect. (Demerara sugar is the same as turbinado sugar, or granulated coffee sugar.)
Feel free to use frozen berries. Just make sure you don't thaw them before using and dry them with some paper towels before folding them into the batter.
True confessions, I like to stick a few extra ones in the tops of the muffins prior to sprinkling with the sugar and baking . . .
You don't need to use muffin papers . . . so long as you butter/grease the pans really well. I used papers because I have lots of pretty papers and I like using them.
Just look at the beautiful texture of that muffin . . . its perfect . . . .
And there are just enough blueberries . . . you wouldn't want any more, and you definitely wouldn't want less. In short, these truly are four perfect blueberry muffins!
Four Perfect Blueberry Muffins
Yield: 4
Four beautiful blueberry muffins, stogged with berries and lemon zest flavour, plus a lemon sugar crunch on top. Delicious and perfect for the smaller family.
ingredients:
For the lemon sugar crunch:
- the finely grated zest of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
- 1 TBS demerara sugar (turbinado)
For the muffins:
- 105g plain flour (3/4 cup)
- 45g caster sugar (1/4 cup)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 60ml whole fat milk
- 1 large free range egg, at room temperature
- the finely grated zest of 1/2 waxed lemon
- 3 TBS melted butter, cooled
- 70g fresh or frozen blueberries (1/2 cup) (if using frozen, do not thaw and dry before folding them into the batter)
instructions:
How to cook Four Perfect Blueberry Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 170*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Line 4 muffin cups with paper. Set aside.
- Stir together the demerara sugar and lemon zest.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and soda. Stir in the sugar and lemon zest. Whisk together the milk, egg, and melted butter. Add to the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Fold in the blueberries. It should be lumpy. Divide this mixture between the four muffin cups. Divide the lemon sugar between the muffins, sprinkling it on top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the tin halfway through the bake time.
What is your favourite type of muffin? Are there any recipes in general that you would like to see/try downsized for a smaller family! Just leave me a comment and I will see what I can do. Happy Saturday!
One of my favourite things to make and eat is macaroni and cheese. I like to make it from scratch, using cheese that I have grated myself, and a rich homemade sauce.
You cannot beat a great homemade mac and cheese.
I call this the World's Best and it is not a claim that I make lightly. It truly is (in my opinion) the World's Best.
I have eaten a lot of mac and cheese in my lifetime.
I have tried many, many different recipes. I love it done the old
fashioned way which is pure and unadulterated, nothing but cooked
macaroni, milk, chunks of cheese and lots of butter.
Oh my, pure and utter bliss.
Seasoned with salt
and pepper and baked until the milk is almost absorbed by the macaroni. There are gooey patches of delicious cheese scattered throughout . .
.
It is simple, old fashioned, and really, really good.
This is not that mac and cheese. Its a bit more work than that mac and cheese.
This one involves making a rich cheese sauce, which then gets layered in a baking dish along with cooked macaroni and more grated cheese.
Surprisingly the cheese sauce is created with a mix of chicken stock and milk.
This simple step adds a depth of flavour and richness that I have never found in other cheese sauces.
I also like to use a combination of cheeses.
Crumbly and rich strong cheddar . . . .
Nutty and sweet Gruyere cheese, which has beautiful melting properties and provides a lovely ooze factor (this is a type of Swiss Cheese) . . .
Red Leicester Cheese which is mild and creamy and bright orange in colour. You can use more cheddar if you like, but choose a coloured one.
And finally grated Parmesan Cheese . . . salty and piquant . . .
A little bit goes a very long way.
The three together are an unbeatable combination, which gets used partially in the sauce . . .
As well as being layered between the macaroni and the sauce. Mmmm . . . .
I top it with a mix of the cheeses and some dry bread crumbs. Today I used Panko Japanese Bread Crumbs.
This provides a lovely layer of crunch.
You don't want the macaroni to be crunchy . . . but you do want a nice element of crunch on the top.
Well, I do anyways.
Today I added some strips of partially cooked streaky bacon . . . I mean, bacon . . . you can't go wrong.
However if you want to keep it totally without meat, then just leave the bacon off. Its not something I do all the time anyways, but I had it today and so I added it.
Yield: 2
World's Best Mac & Cheese for two
prep time: cook time: total time:
Nothing says comfort quite like macaroni and cheese. This is, in my opinion, the very best version! I have downsized it for two people.
ingredients:
- 225g of macaroni (2 cups)
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 1/2 TBS plain flour
- 240ml hot chicken broth (1 cup)
- 120ml milk (1/2 cup)
- 60g shredded Gruyere cheese (1/2 cup)
- 60g shredded red Leicester cheese (1/2 cup)
- 60g cup shredded strong cheddar cheese (1/2 cup)
- 3 TBS freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- a dash of Tabasco sauce
For topping:
- a bit of Parmesan, Cheddar, Gruyere and red Leicester cheese grated and mixed together with a few bread crumbs
instructions:
How to cook World's Best Mac & Cheese for two
- Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Lightly butter a large shallow casserole dish and set aside.
- Grate all your cheeses and mix them together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Bring a large pot of slightly salted water to the boil and add the macaroni. Cook according to the package directions, draining it while it is still a tad bit undercooked. Drain it well and rise with cold water. Set aside.
- Make the sauce by melting the butter over medium heat in a heavy saucepan. Stir in the flour, mixing well and allow to cook for about a minute. Add the chicken broth, whisking it in vigorously until the mixture is thickened and smooth. Whisk in the milk. Heat thoroughly. Stir in 1/2 of the cheese mixture until it is well melted and amalgamated. Season to taste with black pepper and tabasco sauce.
- Place about 1/3 of the cooked macaroni in the buttered dish. Pour over 1/3 of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle on 1/2 of the reserved cheese. Repeat layering until you finish up with the final 1/3 of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle the top with a final layer of the cheese bits mixed with the bread crumbs.
- Bake in the heated oven until nicely browned and bubbling. Remove from the oven and enjoy!
NOTES:
If you can't get Red Leicester cheese, just use cheddar in its place. Gruyere can be substituted with Swiss cheese. Place your baking dish on a baking tray as it can bubble over.
Altogether this is pretty fabulous. Wonderfully down-sized for just two. A simple make. All you need on the side is some salad and a crusty loaf. Perfection at its best.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
One thing we both really enjoy in our house is Banana Loaf. I always buy extra bananas so that I can make one for us to enjoy with a hot drink every now and then.
Usually half of it gets given away or thrown out because we can't get it all eaten.
I know I could freeze it, but experience has taught me that things get lost in my freezer, never to be seen again.
Today I managed to cut my recipe in half and bake a really lovely one for just two people. I was really pleased with how it turned out and couldn't wait to share it with you.
It is lovely and moist and delicious. Sour milk helps to create a really beautiful loaf, but don't worry, I have told you just how to make your own sour milk. You could also use buttermilk.
You will need a small loaf tin for this. I have one that is about 7 by 3 by 2 inches and it worked well. It was the perfect size.
You could also bake it in a couple of ramekins or muffin cups. Whatever you have to size really. Who says a loaf has to be shaped like a loaf, really?
It rose really nice and tall. I like to blitz my bananas for banana loaf with my stick blender.
It gets them nice and smooth. I used two quite small banana's for this delicious moist loaf.
My husband loves his bananas. I always have hide a couple so that I can make banana bread, or else there would never be any left to make one.
Does anyone else have that problem?
And I do really enjoy a banana bread. You don't often catch me eating a raw banana unless its sliced onto my rice crispies, but I do love banana bread.
Baked into something, I love . . . raw, not so much.
This is a lovely moist bread with a beautiful crumb. The secret to a good quick bread is not over-mixing it.
Overmixing quick bread batters develops the gluten too much. This is something you really don't want in a quick bread.
They are much more rustic than cakes. You don't want to over mix them.
Overmixing results in a quick bread that is often quite tough and full of holes. They also won't rise as high. Its the same with muffins.
This is especially good served sliced and spread with softened butter . . . I know naughty . . .
Tell me I am not the only person who loves their loaves like this spread with soft butter?
I would rather have butter than icing or jam or anything sweet on it.
In all truth this is also very good with nothing on it.
I added toasted walnuts, but chocolate chips would also be very good . . . or butterscotch chips, or both . . .
I know. I am a glutton through and through.
In any case. I was super pleased with how this turned out. It is moist and delicious and has a beautiful flavour.
I think you are sure to love it also!
Banana Loaf for Two
Yield: 8 slices
Nice and moist with a delicious banana flavour.
ingredients:
- 60g butter softened (1/4 cup)
- 70g granulated sugar (1/3 cup)
- 1 large free range egg
- 125g mashed banana (1/2 cup)
- 2 TBS sour milk (see note)
- 175g plain flour (1 1/4 cups)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp of salt
- handful of toasted chopped walnuts (optional)
instructions:
How to cook Banana Loaf for Two
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a small loaf tin (7-1/2 by 3-3/4 by 2-1/8 inch) and line with some baking paper.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl, then beat in the egg, banana and sour milk.
- Whisk the flour, soda and salt together. Add to the creamed mixture stirring just to combine. It is okay and preferable for the batter to be a bit lumpy. Stir in walnuts if using. (You could also use chocolate chips.)
- Spoon into the prepared loaf tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and it is well risen and golden brown.
- Lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into slices to enjoy.
NOTES:
To make the sour milk. Measure 1/2 tsp of white vinegar into a TBS measure and fill with milk. Dump into a small cup. Add the other TBS of milk and let sit for five minutes.
I am really enjoying this little exercise in making smaller recipes. Not sure what I will do next! Watch this space!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan@aol.com
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