Rhubarb, Ginger and Honey Muffins

This recipe taken from Times Online and contributed by David Hall turned out to be a disaster. I ended up with gluggy, sticky muffins and was extremely disappointed since it was the first time I was eating/ cooking rhubarb and was much looking forward to it. Oh well, there's always next time right?

Makes 6 large muffins

Ingredients: 2 large or 4 small sticks of rhubarb, washed and cut into chunks, 100ml runny honey, 120g plain flour, 100g wholemeal flour, 50g rolled oats, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 2 root gingers, roughly chopped, 2 tbsp of the ginger syrup, 200ml natural yoghurt, 1 egg, 50g butter, melted, 50ml runny honey



Method: Put the chopped rhubarb, the honey and a little water into a pan. Bring to the boil then simmer for 10-15 minutes until it turns soft.



Mix with a fork and put aside to cool down. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/GM4. In a large bowl, sieve in the flours and bicarb, retaining any wheat that is left in the sieve for decorating the muffins. Stir in the oats and root ginger. Mix together the yoghurt, egg, melted butter, ginger syrup and honey then pour onto the flour and oat mixture. Combine thoroughly with a metal spoon. If it looks dry, mix in a little milk until the mixture falls easily from the spoon.



Grease a muffin tray with a little oil or butter. Cut out 6 squares of baking paper and push them into the muffin tray holes. Pour in the muffin mixture equally then sprinkle with the left over wheat. Bake on the middle shelf for 30-40 minutes until risen and golden brown. Eat slightly warm.

Peach and Macadamia Muffins

This recipe comes with a WARNING!

I absolutely adore peaches and nectarines and just as the season is coming to a close I thought I'd buy the last lot for the year and make some muffins to munch on. I spotted what looked like an easy recipe on taste.com.au and went straight in. At the batter stage everything seemed fine, although the amount of flour did seem an alarmingly large proportion, but an amateur cook, I didn't pay much attention to it. It took forever to bake, double the time mentioned, although I must say they looked impressive as I pulled them out of the oven. The taste and the consistency was far from edible however - the centre and base was a gluggy, floury mish-mash! Disaster of a recipe!

If anyone can figure out what the recipe is missing do let me know I would love to gain some insight here!

Preparation Time 20 minutes
Cooking Time 20 minutes
Makes 18

Ingredients: 4 peaches, 2 1/2 cups (375g) self-raising flour, 1/2 cup (80g) brown sugar, 1 cup (250ml) skim milk, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, ½ tsp grated nutmeg, 1 egg, 20g unsaturated margarine, melted, ½ cup quartered macadamia nuts,

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Method: Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 12 x 1/2 cup muffin pans with paper cases. Place the peaches in a heatproof bowl. Pour over boiling water and set aside for 2-3 minutes. Drain and peel off the skin and discard. If you find it is still tough to peel by hand, use a vegetable peeler, it will do the trick. Chop the flesh away from the stone into small bite size pieces.
Combine the flour, sugar, spices and peaches by hand with a big spatula. In a separate bowl whisk the egg, stir in the milk and melted margarine, then add to the peach and flour mixture gradually, mixing all the while to combine into a thick batter.
Spoon into cases and sprinkle with the macadamia nuts. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm.