Blackcurrant muffins... The Hummingbird Bakery

You know my love affair with muffins and cupcakes I will repeat myself here, saying that they are very quick to prepare, usually quite easy, usually not complicated at all, nor expensive ingredients needed and usually you'll have all of it at hand, at home! Not to mention the fact, that your little ones can help you with making them (help you with eating them too - but that goes without saying!). 


This recipe is taken from The Hummingbird Bakery cookbook "Cake Days", I think it's the first one where I didn't have to cut down the amount of sugar (which in my opinion is usually in "abundance" in their recipes...), also I've veganized it by swapping dairy and eggs for their plant based equivalents. 


The original recipe is for "mixed berries muffins", but seeing as my blackcurrant bush in the garden was literally leaning over, because of all the fruit hanging from its branches, it was blackcurrant muffins for us. The addition of flaked almonds on top is mine, sprinkled evenly by my two little helpers ;) They brought another texture to the very soft muffins and taste of mellow, sweet almonds worked really well with sharp blackcurrants.

How to make it...

Ingredients:
- 300 g plain flour
- 150 g caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 250 ml oat or soy milk
- 2 flax or chia eggs (2 tablespoon ground flax or chia seeds with 6 tablespoon water, whisked until thick and frothy)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 85 g unsalted vegan butter, melted (lie Flora)
- 100 g fresh or frozen (and defrosted) fruit (mixed berries, or just one kind)
- handful of flaked almonds

Method:

- Preheat the oven to 190 C and prepare 12 hole muffin baking tray. 
- Sift together flour, 120 g caster sugar, baking powder, soda and salt and place in a large bowl or the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer. 
- Pour the milk into a jug and add the flax/chia eggs and vanilla essence and mix together. 
- Start mixing the flour slowly and at the same time start pouring your milk-egg mixture into it. 
- Follow with melted butter. Increase the speed slightly so everything will mix well together. 
- Once the batter is evenly mixed stir in the berries using a spoon. 
- Spoon the batter into prepared/lined muffin cases, filling each up to two-thirds and sprinkle the rest of the sugar and almond flakes (if using) on the top. 
- Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown on top and bounce back when lightly pressed. 
- Leave in the tin for few minutes to cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Smacznego!


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Comments

  1. I love the sliced almonds on top. Wish I had some black currants growing in my backyard I could use for muffins.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sliced almonds were my girls' idea :) Unfortunately all the fruit from my garden is already gone, have to wait till next summer for more...
      Pozdrawiam, Anula.

      Delete
  2. I have lots of blackcurrants in my garden too and stumbled across this recipe while googling what to do with them! Thank you so much, they were so yummy :-)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Charlotte :) Glad you enjoyed them!
      Pozdrawiam, Anula.

      Delete
  3. The batter is very liquid - my berries all sank to the bottom :-(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment. I have to say that I didn't have a problem like that with this recipe before - not with the sinking and not with the batter being to thin/liquid.
      What I do with "fruity bakes" when I'm afraid that the fruit will all sink - I don't mix the fruit with the batter (or mix only half of it), but after putting the batter into muffin cases/baking tin, I scatter the fruit on top. That way I always have some fruit throughout and on top of the cupcakes/cake.
      Another "trick", that my Nana uses to prevent fruit from sinking is to barely coat them in a bit of flour before adding to the batter.
      Also if using frozen fruit, you always have to make sure they're fully defrosted before using them in your bakes.
      Hope it will all work better next time round!
      Pozdrawiam, Anula.

      Delete
  4. Off to buy some almond flakes as like you I have an abundance of black currants , and I like the look of the almonds on top :-)
    Made some black currant jam the other day which I am really pleased with too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just recently made blackcurrant & peach jam - brilliant result. Also tried my luck at making blackcurrant syrup (aka Ribena) and it worked perfectly! :) Thare's actually quite a lot one can do with blackcurrants!
      Pozdrawiam, Anula.

      Delete
  5. Tried the tecipe using gluten free flour mix. They were tasty but dried out quickly. Loved the almonds on top , they really came through :-)
    Trying blackcurrant jelly with today's pick :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure about drying out - could it be due to the gluten free flour? Might. I'm afraid I don't know, as I've never baked using gluten free flour. I'm glad that all in all you liked them :)
      Pozdrawiam, Anula.

      Delete
  6. AnonymousJuly 16, 2017

    Hello,
    I made your muffins today and they came out very well and are delicious.
    Thank you for sharing your recipe.
    Zdravím, Olga

    ReplyDelete
  7. Is it really I tablespoon of baking powder, or is that a typo?

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    Replies
    1. Hi. I've actually just grabbed the Hummingbird cookbook and double checked - and yes, it is 1 tablespoon of baking powder. I know it might seem like a lot for this amount of flour, but it's correct. Hope they'll turn out great for you!
      Pozdrawiam, Anula.

      Delete

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Pozdrawiam, Anula.