Lemon muffins with crunchy lemon sugar topping

Quiet moments can jolt your memory of lovely things.
It was a very busy baking week. I wanted to make four different cakes, three for a fundraiser for Bellyful and one for our builders working very hard on our house extension. I used the baking opportunity to try a number of new recipes to add to this  blog. On Wednesday one of my Old Girls gave me an 'All in one Cake' recipe. It was a cake her children used to bake, it never fails. It appealed to me because you could change the cake according to the flavourings you added, e.g. chocolate, lemon, orange or coffee.  So I decided on a coffee one. I will experiment a little more and will post later.
Catherine's recipe and story reminded me of an Eggless Chocolate Cake recipe my daughter used to make (from the NZ Radio and TV Cooking Book, I have talked about this book before, it served me well in the 1970's). When I opened to the page it made me smile. It was covered in cocoa powder and grease stains which has made it almost impossible to read the print. I am sure this mess was not made by me but by my dear daughter who (in later years) made it every time she needed to bake a cake (which was often, think birthdays and teachers morning teas!). The reason - quickly made in one bowl and she lovvves chocolate. It has stood the test of time and I will make sure I make the cake again and post this recipe too.
I was also given some lovely homegrown lemons so decided whatever else I made for the builders that week it had to include lemons. The quickest and easiest morning tea baking to make (when you are pressed for time) are muffins. So muffins it was.
I  copied this recipe some time ago but I didn't note the direct link, so my apologies to Kate's Kitchen.... It is a little gem. Apart from its simplicity I like this muffin recipe for the gorgeous crunchy sour topping.

Lemon muffins with crunchy sugar topping   - from Kate’s Kitchen 2012

2 cups self-raising flour

¾ cup sugar

75g butter

1 cup milk

1 egg

Grated zest and 1/4c lemon juice from a large lemon

and  for topping - 1/4cup lemon juice and 1/4cup of sugar

 Melt the butter, add milk, beaten egg and lemon zest

Beat with a fork to combine.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, don’t over mix – just gently fold to combine

Divide mixture between 12 greased muffin tins

Bake at 200°C (or 190 for fan oven) for 10 mins  

Topping

Stir together lemon juice and sugar, drizzle over muffins as soon as they come out of oven.

Prick top of muffin with a toothpick so it soaks in.

Remove from tins after only a few minutes as the syrup can make them stick to the tins.

Sharing the kitchen bench with the builders

To make them even' posher' (is that a word?) for your morning teas, eat served on a lovely china plate using a cake fork, with a little Greek plain yoghurt on the side.

Marvey Muffins

My little 'Just Muffins' book (pub 1989) has become a bit of a treasure in my kitchen. You will remember from an earlier post I gained permission from the editor to use her recipes on my blog. It is the book I go to when making muffins. It is peppered with Christchurch advertisments and the names of people who made the recipe contributions supporting their fundraising efforts. I couldn't help thinking about how all these people fared in the earthquakes. On my last visit to my hometown I was astounded by the amount of vacant spaces of land. I was sad to see the house I lived in all my childhood - condemned and deserted, as were most of the houses around where we lived. Many members of my own family have suffered damage and the loss of their homes but now thanks to EQC and insurance they have a brighter future in new homes. So here's a bit of love to Christchurch, and yummy Apple Sultana Muffins by Fiona Marris that is now an absolute firm favourite in our home. So easy too! I have changed the recipe slightly using wholemeal instead of white flour. Use medium size muffin tins or better still use paper cases.

1 3/4 cups of wholemeal flour
salt
125g melted butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup stewed apple (hot)
3 tsp mixed spice
1 cup sultanas
3/4 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
Put dry ingredients in bowl. Add egg, then hot apple and lastly melted butter. Bake at 225degrees Celsius for approximately 10 minutes.

Marvey Muffins

My little 'Just Muffins' book (pub 1989) has become a bit of a treasure in my kitchen. You will remember from an earlier post I gained permission from the editor to use her recipes on my blog. It is the book I go to when making muffins. It is peppered with Christchurch advertisments and the names of people who made the recipe contributions supporting their fundraising efforts. I couldn't help thinking about how all these people fared in the earthquakes. On my last visit to my hometown I was astounded by the amount of vacant spaces of land. I was sad to see the house I lived in all my childhood - condemned and deserted, as were most of the houses around where we lived. Many members of my own family have suffered damage and the loss of their homes but now thanks to EQC and insurance they have a brighter future in new homes. So here's a bit of love to Christchurch, and yummy Apple Sultana Muffins by Fiona Marris that is now an absolute firm favourite in our home. So easy too! I have changed the recipe slightly using wholemeal instead of white flour. Use medium size muffin tins or better still use paper cases.

1 3/4 cups of wholemeal flour
salt
125g melted butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup stewed apple (hot)
3 tsp mixed spice
1 cup sultanas
3/4 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
Put dry ingredients in bowl. Add egg, then hot apple and lastly melted butter. Bake at 225degrees Celsius for approximately 10 minutes.

Lemon Yoghurt Muffins

I always like to cook with the season's flavours as usually we have heaps of produce to use up or the items are  less expensive in the markets! Today I was expecting visitors for morning/afternoon tea and as I had plenty of lemons and walnuts I decided to search my recipe books for inspiration. One book 'Just Muffins' I have used a lot over the years. I purchased it in 1989; published by The Waimairi Toy Library as a fund raiser. I rang the number listed to ask for permission to use the recipe online but the number was out of date. A quick Google and I found the editor Bronwyn Bijl still in Christchurch and after a lovely chat permission was happily granted.

The book contains some useful tips on muffin making~

- don't over mix the batter as it makes a tough and peaked muffin 

- muffin pans should be 2/3 filled 

- over filled pans will make them poorly shaped

- and of course the use of muffin cases makes cleaning tins easier and keeps muffins fresher.

There was also some useful tips if you find yourself short of an ingredient~

Egg - replace with 1 tbsp milk, vinegar and custard powder

Buttermilk - replace with the same quantity of yogurt or milk and 2tbsp vinegar

Milk- replace with the same quantity of water (for a slightly heavier muffin). Powdered milk is often handy in the cupboard too. 

For this recipe I have used my favourite Honey from the West Coast!

Lemon Yoghurt Muffins – Bronwyn Bijl

5tbsp honey

4tbsp butter

1 large egg

1 cup yoghurt

½ tsp lemon zest (I use more)

¼ cup lemon juice

1 cup flour

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ c chopped nuts

Melt butter and honey together. Beat yoghurt, egg, lemon juice and rind. Add butter and honey. Beat well. Sift dry ingredients. Add wet to dry and nuts, stir to combine gently. Bake 190 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes (reduce heat by 10 degrees or cook for less time if you are using a fan oven).

Not part of her recipe but I like to dip these warm muffins in a mixture of lemon juice and raw sugar for a nice sweet/sour crunchy topping!

Lemon Yoghurt Muffins

I always like to cook with the season's flavours as usually we have heaps of produce to use up or the items are  less expensive in the markets! Today I was expecting visitors for morning/afternoon tea and as I had plenty of lemons and walnuts I decided to search my recipe books for inspiration. One book 'Just Muffins' I have used a lot over the years. I purchased it in 1989; published by The Waimairi Toy Library as a fund raiser. I rang the number listed to ask for permission to use the recipe online but the number was out of date. A quick Google and I found the editor Bronwyn Bijl still in Christchurch and after a lovely chat permission was happily granted.

The book contains some useful tips on muffin making~

- don't over mix the batter as it makes a tough and peaked muffin 

- muffin pans should be 2/3 filled 

- over filled pans will make them poorly shaped

- and of course the use of muffin cases makes cleaning tins easier and keeps muffins fresher.

There was also some useful tips if you find yourself short of an ingredient~

Egg - replace with 1 tbsp milk, vinegar and custard powder

Buttermilk - replace with the same quantity of yogurt or milk and 2tbsp vinegar

Milk- replace with the same quantity of water (for a slightly heavier muffin). Powdered milk is often handy in the cupboard too. 

For this recipe I have used my favourite Honey from the West Coast!

Lemon Yoghurt Muffins – Bronwyn Bijl

5tbsp honey

4tbsp butter

1 large egg

1 cup yoghurt

½ tsp lemon zest (I use more)

¼ cup lemon juice

1 cup flour

1 cup wholemeal flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ c chopped nuts

Melt butter and honey together. Beat yoghurt, egg, lemon juice and rind. Add butter and honey. Beat well. Sift dry ingredients. Add wet to dry and nuts, stir to combine gently. Bake 190 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes (reduce heat by 10 degrees or cook for less time if you are using a fan oven).

Not part of her recipe but I like to dip these warm muffins in a mixture of lemon juice and raw sugar for a nice sweet/sour crunchy topping!