Cherry Choc Muffins

There are two IWI book clubs in Istanbul: one holds its meetings in a cafe while the other has them in a different  member’s house every month. I belong to the second one. We like the more intimate atmosphere a private home generates!

lemon coconut biscuits, cherry choc muffins,  zesty carrot&ginger cake

So last week it was at my place. I was pleased as I hadn’t seen everyone since Australia but also because I had this recipe up my sleeve just waiting to be tried out. We serve tea and coffee and a few bits and pieces to eat, you see. I thought cherry choc would be just the thing for a grey winter’s day outside and a warm cheery gathering inside.

Ingredients for Cherry Choc Muffins

From BBC Good Food Magazine

Makes 16

250g/9oz unsalted butter

185g/6 ½ oz caster sugar (in Turkey use regular toz şeker)

4 medium eggs

250g/9oz plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder/kabartma tozu

A splash of milk

200g/7oz dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces (I used choc chips since we can get them here now)

425g/15oz can pitted Morello cherries, drained (mine were in a jar – vişne in Turkish)

Method

·         In a mixer using the blade attachment, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix for 4 mins. Add the flour, baking powder and milk, and mix for a further 4 mins on slow, then mix in the chocolate.

the silky batter

·         Heat oven to 200°C/350°F/gas 6. Cut 16 squares of baking parchment big enough to act as cases for the holes of your muffin tins. Using a piping bag or a spoon, fill the muffin cases with the mixture.

the filled cases minus the cherries

and here, with the cherries pushed into each one

·         When all the cases are filled, share the cherries equally between the muffins, pushing them into the mixture as you go. Bake for 25 mins, then serve warm or cold.

ready for the oven

          Warm is better!!

Afiyet olsun!

Comment

How do you like the new-look muffin cases? I first noticed Nigella using them but failed to track them down when I was last in John Lewis’.

baked cherry choc muffins

But there they were, on the supermarket shelf  in Dungog, a charming little place of 2000 inhabitants about 1 ½ hours away from Sydney where I was visiting friends from Istanbul. I was amazed and bought them without more ado!  

Of course you can easily make them yourself as the recipe describes! Or use regular ones.