With the seemingly endless summer holidays behind us and the prospect of many tea dates with long lost friends, I thought it would be appropriate to share a delicious recipe to have over a steaming cup of Earl Grey and gossipy catch-up.
This week, it’s Doughnut Muffins (a.k.a. “Duffins”). I found the recipe in the cookbook of my namesake teashop: Bea’s of Bloomsbury. Having been given the book a few years ago, I finally went to the shop in London this summer. Man, it was good. A pot of fragrant loose-leaf tea and a melt-in-the-mouth strawberry cupcake hit the spot after a long day at work. Go if you’re ever nearby. You won’t regret it.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 420g plain flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp grated nutmeg (use fresh if you can, it tastes much better)
- 330g caster sugar
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 375ml buttermilk (or plain milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice)
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 130ml sunflower oil
- 250g melted butter
- 300g caster sugar
- Raspberry jam
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. To make the batter, mix together all the ingredients (minus the last three – they’re for the topping!) in a large bowl.
3. Fill the holes in the muffin tray ¾ full (I didn’t have a tray with deep enough holes so I improvised with cupcake cases) – it should make about 24.
4. Bake for 25-30 mins until they’re golden brown.
5. Near the end of the bake, prepare the toppings by melting the butter in a small bowl, and putting the caster sugar in another bowl.
6. When baked, immediately remove the duffins from the tins and dip the top of each one first in the melted butter, then in the caster sugar, creating an even coat.
7. With the restraints of student life, I didn’t have a piping bag (or a syringe, as it suggests in the recipe) to fill the duffins with, so I simply cut each one in half and spread a teaspoon of jam in the middle to create a sandwich-type appearance.
And there you have it, the perfect teatime treat. Now you can bribe your friends to come to your house so you don’t even have to go outside.