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.
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2. To make the batter, mix together all the ingredients (minus the last three – they’re for the topping!) in a large bowl.
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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.
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4. Bake for 25-30 mins until they’re golden brown.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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