Recipe - Blueberry and Buttermilk Muffins

Here is a recipe that came about purely because I wanted to use up some buttermilk that I had left over from making creme fraiche.

I found it on the internet ages ago and wrote it into my cookery notebook so I sadly do not have the source any more but as I have made some changes I am going to claim credit!


Ingredients
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar (original recipe is 3/4 cup)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 orange zested and juiced
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (bi-card soda)

Extras
1/4 cup poppy seeds
Nuts
Blueberries
Raspberries
Chocolate Chips

Method
1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2.  Line a muffin tray with papers or silicon muffin cases.  I just use a silicon tray because its easiest to wash.
3.  Beat sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla zest and orange juice in a jug, with a fork until well combined.
4.  Mix flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.
5.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry, one third at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Do not over mix (I still use the same fork).  Fold through any extras (I used blueberries).
6.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  I turn my tray after 6 minutes and change its shelf position as I do not have a fan-forced oven.

 

I love these warm out of the oven but they are also nice cooled.  As there are only two of us in our house, I wait for all of the muffins to cool and then put them in a large zip-lock bag in the freezer.  I zap them for about 30 seconds to reheat (ie. to eat them hot) but you can also let them defrost naturally in the fridge to have later in the day etc.

 

This is one of the only vintage recipe for muffins that I could find.  It is for honey muffins and it comes from The Australian Womens Weekly and it is titled Step-by-Step Cookery by Marguerite Patten in conjunction with Leila Howard. I cannot find a date of publication but judge it to be 60's by the prop-styling inside.

 

A recipe and a Day Out

I have just loaded all of my photos on to the computer and realise I have so much to blog about so this is a two-in-one.  First a recipe.  On my honeymoon in New Zealand I, and my husband, fell in love with creme fraiche.  Food in NZ is very good and feels cheaper than Australia (it prabobaly is) so we ate way too much creme friache in 10 days.

Imagine my delight when watching Annabel Langbein's show and she made it!  And it was easy - well it looked easy.  I have two of Annabel's cookbooks but the recipe was not in there so I found it on a NZ TV website.  Here is the link.

I have tried to make yoghurt before without my yoghurt maker and failed so I was a little apprehensive that it could be so easy - but like the rest of Annabel's recipes it was as easy as she says.  You only need two ingredients: cream and buttermilk.

Here are my pics from my attempt:

 

The Vodka bottle I have saved from awhile ago - don't stress I haven't been drinking.

 

This is what it looked like straight away and only a tiny bit thicker when I put it into the fridge but after 24 hours chilling it was much thicker - like the stuff you can buy in the shop (but with no gelatine - yea cows).  I have used it instead of cream on pikelets, in a risotto and in a delicious potato torte recipe from Laura Calder.  I think that the total cost of the creme fraiche (about 2 cups) was around $4 - and I had cream and so much buttermilk left over.  Considering last time I priced it was near $7 I am ecstatic with the result.  Thank you Annabel!

 

And I can't help but to add this photo from our honeymoon of the area where Annabel has her "cabin"

When I am not called into work I don't tend to leave the house.  Is that shocking?  I don't know - we have a big house and a garden so I am usually cleaning or gardening or reading etc.  So when my husband has a day off and I am not called in to work I plead with him to take us for a drive.  It is my job to see to the provisions (usually a thermos of tea and some sandwiches and tim-tams).  This time we went to Soldiers Beach with is quite a famous surfing beach in our area.  In the background is Norah Head Lighthouse - I think you can actually stay there. Here are some photos:

 

 This is a close a we are getting to an outfit post as I had no make-up on and didn't feel great.  I am wearing my everyday clothes apart from the jumper - which rather than being maternity is just a lrage size - and it is so lovely and warm.