MUFFINS

Muffins are generally classified as quick breads – quickly made and quickly eaten. They can be served for breakfast or
lunch, with morning coffee or tea. Try them with soup or cheese and fruit for a light evening meal. Muffins can be sweet or
savoury, high fibre and healthy.
Muffins are surprisingly easy to make, even easier than scones. Simply follow the ‘muffin method’: add the combined
liquid ingredients to combined dry ingredients with a few quick strokes. Use a fork for best results. The mixture should in
fact still be lumpy and the result will be light, fine-textured muffins. Overmixing causes muffins to rise into a peak,
producing long tunnels and a tough texture. If you are using fruit, cheese or bacon in a basic muffin mixture stir them into
flour to avoid overmixing.
For baking use deep American-style muffin tins. Buy the deepest straight-sided tins with a non-stick finish. Drop the
muffin mixture from a metal spoon evenly into the oiled tins. Brush oil into bottoms only, as unoiled sides allow batter to
climb and form rounded tops while baking. Remember not to stir the muffin mixture again as you fill the tins. After baking,
leave the muffins to cool in their tins for 3-4 minutes, and then carefully remove them to finish cooling on a wire rack.
Muffins are best eaten on the day they are made, served warm with butter. They can be stored in an airtight container for
up to two days. Muffins freeze well for up to three months. Frozen muffins can be wrapped in foil and heated in a
moderate oven for 10-12 minutes.

Preparation time: 15 minutes 1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush oil into bottoms only of twelve 6 cm
Cooking time: 25 minutes muffin tins.
Makes 12 2. Sift flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. In a small bowl combine
egg, milk and melted butter. Mix well and add liquids all at once to
1¾ cups self-raising flour flour mixture.
2 tablespoon caster sugar 3. Stir gently with a fork until all dry ingredients are just moistened.
1 teaspoon baking powder Batter should look quite lumpy.
1 egg, lightly beaten 4. Spoon batter evenly into each muffin tin, filling two-thirds full. Bake
¾ cup milk 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Loosen muffins with a spatula and
80 g butter, melted remove at once to a wire rack. Serve warm.
 CHOCOLATE
Chocolate is one of life’s great pleasures. Its rich consistency and distinctive flavor appeal to almost
everyone’s sweet tooth. It is also a prime source of instant energy as it is full of carbohydrates and contains
traces of the stimulants caffeine and theobromine.
This book teaches you how to make your own handmade chocolates with individual illustrations, step-by-
step recipes and easy-to-follow methods. There are simple recipes for beginners, or you can make more
sophisticated chocolates to round off a special occasion with real style. And there are chocolate cookies, cakes,
layer cakes, and every kind of exotic dessert.
Chocolate was first brought to the western world 400 years ago, when Spanish explorers came across it in
South America. At first it was used only as a drink, but in the 19th century the familiar chocolate bar was
invented in Switzerland and quickly became the world’s most popular confection.
The tree that yields confection is aptly named Theobroma, which means ‘food of the gods’. The tree has
been cultivated for so many centuries that there are probably no wild trees left. It is from the pale purple-pink
beans within the pulp of the hanging fruit that chocolate is made. The beans are fermented, dried, roasted and
processed into a paste called chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor is richly colored and bitter, and is not generally
available as it is difficult to cook with.
Cocoa powder is made by pressing the cocoa butter (vegetable fat) out of the pure chocolate liquor and
then pulverizing the remains. Extra cocoa butter has to be added to chocolate liquor to turn it into block
chocolate or compound chocolate, but also less of the true chocolate flavor.
The less sweet, good quality dark or plain chocolate blocks are satisfactory for cooking, or you can use a
good quality baking chocolate. Chocolate with a fairly high cocoa butter content has more fluidity and won’t
ball around the spoon when melting. Thick, chunky chocolate may not melt quite as easily as thinner blocks,
but some cooking chocolate is labeled easy-to-melt. If chocolate is not melting easily, add a little copha fat (2
to 3 percent of weight of chocolate) shortening, or vegetable oil.
For handmade chocolate, look for compound chocolate or coverture chocolate.

HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF CHOCOLATE

Chocolate Drinks
For chocolate-flavored liquid (i.e. hot or cold chocolate drinks), allow 4 oz (110 g) chocolate for every 4 cups (1
L) of liquid. Chop chocolate into liquid and allow it to melt slowly over low heat. The result will be a deliciously
thick, velvety mixture.
You can substitute ¾ cup (185 mL) cocoa powder and ¼ cup (60 mL) sugar per 4 oz (110 g) chocolate, if
you prefer.
If you wish to drink the chocolate mixture cold, bear in mind that it will thicken considerably as it cools.

Cooking with Chocolate

 When a recipe calls for melted chocolate, it must be heated in a bowl or on a plate suspended over
(but definitely not in) a pan of hot, but not boiling, water. Over-heated chocolate has a bitter taste
and loses its glossy shine and delicious aroma.
 Melt chocolate slowly without stirring, although some cooks advocate working it with a thin metal
spatula if it is to be used for coating cakes or making chocolate cases, because that helps it keep its
gloss when it sets. The chocolate should be no more than lukewarm.
 Chop or break chocolate into small pieces before melting so it melts quickly and evenly. Do not stir
chocolate while it melts.
 Test that chocolate is melted by dipping the point of a knife into the center.
 Cool chocolate at room temperature, because this also helps to maintain the gloss.
 Be careful that not even a drop of water gets into bowl (unless this is part of the recipe). Water
prevents a good sheen and will make the chocolate thick.
 Remember that instant chocolate milk powder (drinking chocolate) and cocoa are not
interchangeable; drinking chocolate has milder, sweeter flavor.

Quick Rich Chocolate Sauce

2 tbsp (30 mL) cocoa powder
1 cup (250 mL) brown sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) butter pinch salt
1 cup (250 mL) cream

Boil all ingredients together for a few minutes. Serve immediately over pancakes or crepe, ice cream, or fresh
or stewed fruit.
Makes 2 cups (500 mL)