Barbs favourite ‘Lemon Curd Muffins’

Barb highly recommends this delicious recipe by Hugh Withington

Lemon curd marble muffins

These are indulgent and delicious, but also very quick and easy to make. We sometimes replace 100g of the flour with 125g ground almonds, and add a few drops of almond extract to the mix, to create lemony frangipane muffins. These are lovely served warm, with cream, as a pudding. If lemon curd isn’t your thing, try one of the variations – the chocolate muffins are always popular with kids.

Ingredients

• 225g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Grated zest of lemon
• A good pinch of sea salt
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 medium egg
• 125g plain yoghurt
• 125ml whole milk
• 75g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 150g lemon curd

Prep 15mins Cook 30mins

Method

Put 12 large paper cases into a muffin tray. Put the flour, baking powder, lemon zest, salt and caster sugar in a large bowl and whisk lightly to aerate and combine.

Mix the egg, yoghurt, milk and melted butter together in a jug. Pour them into the dry ingredients and mix lightly, stopping as soon as everything is combined – it’s essential not to over-mix or you’ll get dense, cakey muffins.

Spoon some mixture into each muffin case and top with a generous ½ teaspoonful of lemon curd. Add a final spoonful of muffin mixture to encase the lemon curd and three-quarters fill the cases.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for about 30 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Eat on the day you bake them, ideally while still slightly warm.

Serving suggestions

Jammy Muffins

Replace the lemon curd with your favourite jam, first beating it lightly to soften slightly. Thick, fruity jams work best – a strawberry jam containing whole strawberries is perfect.

Chocolate Marble Muffins

Replace the lemon curd with 150g chocolate hazelnut spread (warm it gently first, so it’s easier to marble).

Fruity Muffins

Replace the lemon curd with 1 large, or 2 small ripe bananas, thoroughly mashed; or 75g blueberries; or 75g stoned and halved cherries; or 75g raisins or other dried fruit, such as chopped dried apricots. Stir the fruit into the mixture lightly and quickly, just before piling into the cases.

Ingredients  alternative ingredients without yoghurt

• 225g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• A good pinch of sea salt
• Grated zest of lemon
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 125ml whole milk = warmed
• 75g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 150g lemon curd