The Proof Is In The Pudding

Vintage tearooms are very en vogue at the moment and there are half a dozen within close proximity to my home. It would seem that in the wake of The Great British Bake Off we want the old fashioned, familial warmth of pots of tea with scones, Victoria sponge, rich fruit cake and macaroons.

The Great British Bake Off started in 2010 and has become a cultural phenomenon with an estimated 8 million viewers. It's family friendly, easy-watching appeal is that in these modern times of skin-of-the-teeth, briskness in the kitchen, we take comfort in watching ordinary women and men with an extraordinary passion for baking.

I must admit it has been many years since I baked cakes, although I love cooking my blog is mainly focused on everyday food and trying to encourage readers who feel overstretched and have become alienated from their kitchens, to reclaim a love of cooking for their families.

Baker's are a different audience altogether, they will already have a love of cooking and will be wafting around in their warm, sweet smelling kitchens needing no encouragement from me!

I on the other hand could probably do with a bit of encouraging when it comes to baking cakes, in principle I love the idea but my recent attempts have been a bit hit and miss. Take yesterday's scones, my first batch were so hard they were probably bullet proof......don't ask me why. I didn't do anything far different with the second batch, two of my scones were beautifully risen and golden and the rest were edible but a bit flatter.

I was talking cakes with my friend today and we were trying to work out the best position in the oven for them, maybe that's where I'm going wrong? Anyway, not one to be beaten I decided to look in the children's cake section in one of my cookery books and came across snickers and peanut butter muffins. Look, if I'm going to make cake it is going to be of the indulgent, gooey, unctuous variety, it's not something I would eat everyday but they make for a seriously good treat.

Snickers and peanut butter muffins

Recipe
250g plain flour
6 tablespoons golden caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
6 tablespoons peanut butter
60g butter, melted
1 large egg beaten
175ml milk
3 x 65g snickers bars, chopped

Preheat oven 200c/gas 6
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and peanut butter,  mix until you have a bowl of coarse crumbs
Add melted butter and egg to the milk and slowly stir into crumb mix, add snicker pieces

Dollop mix into a 12 bun muffin tray
Cook for 20-25 minutes

Sit muffin tray on a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing muffins

As I only have a six bun tray I made two batches, as with the scones my first batch were done to a crisp? Second batch fine? Hey ho I shall persevere, it's easier to walk down a hill than up a hill but the view is better from the top.

'If baking is any labour at all, it's a labour of love, a love that gets passed on from generation to generation.'
-Regina Brett

Love Donna xxxxxxx