Winter Warmer

Up to now all my baking efforts have been focused on sweet treats; but with the cold days, and after the Christmas sugar rush I fancied trying out something savoury. I saw this yummy looking recipe for red pepper & goats' cheese muffins in a leaflet I got inside the newpaper, and made them yesterday as thought they would be the perfect thing with soup on a cold winter lunchtime. It's also my first attempt at a Paul Hollywood recipe!!

Red Pepper & Goats' Cheese Muffins

Taken from: Daily Mail leaflet adapted from The Great British  Bake Off: Everyday by Linda Collister (with recipes by Mary Berry & Paul Hollywood).

Makes:12 (so they say .... I made 10 :-) )

Ingredients:
135g (4.75 oz) log style goats' cheese, crumbled into approx 1cm chunks
1 medium red pepper - cored, seeded and cut into 1cm chunks
300g (10.5 oz) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I omitted this as I didn't have any, and used black pepper instead)
1 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh basil or parsley (I used parsley)
225ml (8 fl oz) buttermilk, at room temperature
1 medium egg, at room temperature
100ml (3.5 fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil.

Tip: If you don't have any buttermilk (I don't and don't know where to get it) you can make your own by adding 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar to 225ml of milk, beat slightly to combine, and leave for 10-15 minutes to curdle.

Equipment:
12 hole muffin tin, lined with paper muffin cases.

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 190°C/170°C fan/Gas Mark 5.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and pepper into a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped basil or parsley, red pepper and goats' cheese and stir thoroughly using a wooden spoon.
3. Lightly beat the buttermilk with the egg and olive oil in a measuring jug just to mix, then pour into the dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined (I did my best to "fold" this in).

4.Spoon into the paper cases evenly.

5. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes until muffins are golden brown and feel just firm when pressed in the centre.

6. Leave to cool in the tray for 2 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack. Eat warm or at room temperature the same or next day. Once cold, store in an airtight container.

Observations:
This recipe really was very easy to make. The hardest bit was getting the paper muffin cases to behave themselves while I spooned the mixture into them ... they seem to move about a lot more than normal cupcake cases,and I did slop a bit of mixture onto the points of the cases ... but it didn't affect the taste ;-).

Being a fairly novice baker still, I was nervous of not having to beat the mixture to make it light and fluffy as I do with cakes; but I guess this is because it is made with oil rather than butter.

Originally I baked these for 25 minutes and they did seem to be done; but in hindsight I think they were still fractionally undercooked. I was in a real rush to try them and ate one with my soup while still very warm ... it stuck quite badly to the paper, crumbled and seemed a teeny bit greasy and undercooked. As they were still hot I popped them back in the oven for 3 more minutes and then let them cool completely ... when I ate a room temperature one today it was much better ... no sticking to the paper case or crumbling, and the texture seemed much better.

I do wonder though whether I might experiment with different oils when I get a bit more confident  ...  I have used a light vegetable oil (rapeseed oil) for making carrot cakes and might have a go with that. I'm also thinking about trying a version with sundried tomatoes and olives as I think that would lend a nice tang ... watch this space!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Hugs,