Muffins

I tried baking muffins for the first time in my life this week. Don't ask me why it was muffins - it just was.

I tried two recipes - one from a Delia Smith cook book (which is an excellent book) and another from a Donna Hay magazine.

The Delia Smith muffins were good (apple and pear), but they failed to muff. I did two batches, and each turned out flat, but tasty.

The Donna Hay ones turned out much better (chocolate and orange) and they disappeared faster than the other batches. The also muffed up much better.

After re-reading Delia, I found that I was probably over-mixing the mixture. With muffins, apparently all you do is stir it just enough to combine the ingredients, and no more. Trying to get the lumps out will wreck the rising process. I think I am too used to stirring the hell out of everything. I will have to try again tomorrow - they have been such a success that 36 muffins have been scoffed in 2 days.

They're not big muffins though - they're not like the huge, crumbly things that you buy at a cafe. They are more like cupcakes, and they are moist and definitely non-crumbly. They might not be fluffy, but they are delicious.