Burnt Butter Blueberry Muffins

These muffins are the one. I was a little apprehensive about burning my butter, but omg, these taste so good! The burnt butter creates a smokey wintery taste to the muffin and with the sharp blueberries make a great combo! This recipe is taken from Joy the Baker, one of my favourite bakers and bloggers. I love her style or writing and her recipes are divine!

I have changed the measurements from American to English as I always spend ages converting them in all the recipes I use from America.

Ingredients
100g unsalted butter
80ml whole milk
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
190g plain flour
150g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla
1/ 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4tsp salt

300g fresh blueberries

For Topping

40g butter (cubed)

64g plain flour

45g caster sugar

Method

(preheat the oven to 190 Celsius, line a muffin tin with 12 cases)

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on the butter.  Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan.  The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that.  Keep a close eye.  Remove from heat.
2. Whisk milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.  Add the brown butter and stir to combine.
3. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl  Add milk and butter mixture all at one and stir gently to combine.  Gently but thoroughly fold in the blueberries.
4. Divide mix between the 12 cases and make the topping my combining the 3 ingredients in a bowl then crumble over muffins
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes then cool in pan for 15 minutes before serving

Enjoy! :) x

Lilac French Macaroons with Raspberry Buttercream Filling

When I was in France last year, I loved staring through the windows of all the posh patisseries, marvelling at the stacks of beautifully coloured macaroons.

The reason I was staring through the windows? They are so expensive!!

For a lovely pack of 6 mini macaroons it can cost up to €20! As much as I would have loved to, I could not justify spending that and so when I was reminded of them last week, I had to give them a go!

Next time, mine would be smaller than they are here- I was under the impression that the mix would stay where I piped it (like a meringue) - wrong! It spreads!


Recipe to follow!


Emily :)

White Chocolate Pannacotta with Raspberry Coulis

This is one of my favourite ever desserts. It sounds and looks way more complicated than it actually is and I was put off making it for ages because of the gelatine in it, but if you can overcome that- make these!

Ingredients
For the Pannacotta
500ml double cream
150ml milk
100g white chocolate
4 sheets gelatine
25g sugar


For the coulis and decoration
1 packet of raspberries
sugar
+ extra raspberries for decoration


Method

1. Heat cream and milk until it is almost simmering then turn the heat down low and add the sugar and chocolate, stirring (you can add vanilla here if you like, too)
2. Soak the gelatine in a bowl of warm water till it is soft (it almost looks like it has disappeared- but it hasn't!) then, by hand, take each sheet out of the water, squeezing out excess water and stir them into the mixture
3. Take off the heat and stir until completely smooth
4. Leave for a few minutes to cool then pour into ramekins and put into the fridge for a minimum of 5 hours
5. The coulis is really easy to make; either blend or break up the raspberries with a fork and add just enough sugar to take away the tartness of the raspberries

When the coulis are set and you are ready to serve, place the ramekins in warm water and loosen with a knife if needed. I think they look best with coulis served round the bottom and a few whole raspberries and a mint leaf on top.

Enjoy! x

Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

The Hummingbird Bakery is my sisters ultimate favourite bakery. She has the cookbooks and made these amazing brownies once before and loved them so I decided to make a 21 out of them for her 21st birthday! They turned out really well, I made about 3 batches, using loaf tins to get smaller, longer brownies rather than the big trays most people would make!
The recipe I have included is for one batch, as it makes more than enough for an average batch!

Brownie ingredients:

200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

200g unsalted butter

250g icing sugar

3 eggs

110g plain flour

Cheesecake ingredients:

400g cream cheese
150g icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Cream topping

300 ml whipping cream
100g icing sugar

150g raspberries, plus extra to decorate

33 x 23 x 5-cm baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper

• Method

For the brownie: 

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F) Gas 3.
2. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water). Leave until melted and smooth. 
3. Put the butter and sugar in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat until all the ingredients are well incorporated. 
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. 
5. Gradually beat in the flour, mixing well after each addition, then turn the mixer up to high speed and beat for a little longer until you get a smooth mixture. 
6. Slowly pour in the melted chocolate and mix thoroughly. Pour into the prepared baking tray and smooth over with a palette knife.

For the cheesecake: 

1. Put the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat on slow speed until smooth and thick. Add one egg at a time, while still mixing. Scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. The mixture should be very smooth and creamy.
2. The mixer can be turned up to a higher speed at the end to make the mix a little lighter and fluffier, but be careful not to overmix, otherwise the cheese will split. Spoon on top of the brownie and smooth over with a palette knife. 
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30–40 minutes, or until the cheesecake is firm to the touch and light golden around the edges. The centre should still be pale. Leave to cool completely, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight if possible.

For the cream topping:

1. Put the cream, sugar and raspberries in a freestanding electric mixer with a whisk attachment and beat until firm but not stiff.
2. Turn the brownie out onto a board and turn the right way up.
3. Spread the topping evenly over the brownie and decorate with more raspberries.

Enjoy! x

This recipe is taken from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook by Tarek Malouf and The Hummingbird Bakers