Muffins - easy receipe

I always thought muffins would be difficult. They are my cake of choice in a Costa when we are having a treat.  The other day I was collecting the last handful of autumn raspberries and blackberries and wondered what to do with them as they were a bit weak in texture and taste for a pie and not really enough to do anything special with.

I found this simple recipe and stirred in the collected fruit to make 6 of each. I had to cycle down to the supermarket for some muffin cases; they only had boring brown so when I have made 75 (?when, never!) I will try for something more jolly!

You sift together:

9 oz plain flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

4oz of golden caster sugar

Straight from fridge:you grate 3 oz butter and mix it up with dry ingredients

You add an egg and 6 fl oz of milk.

Lightly combine with a fork (do not over beat)

Fold in 5oz of raspberries (or any other fruit!)

Bake 20/25mins at 200 C in muffin cases in large hole tins (you can do it without but they do hold shape better in the tins).

Sprinkle with caster sugar as they cool.

Mine were a bit pale this time as I had to use ordinary caster sugar and the recipe calls for golden caster sugar. No difference in taste!  I also left the sugar sprinkling off - no need to overdo the "naughty"!

Lot cheaper than Costa!  and quite straight forward.
That's two new cakes I have learnt this month - muffins and carrot cake.

What next - after 45 years of marriage is it time to master a decent fruit cake for Xmas?  My husband's father was a master baker and for the first 20 years of marriage I was forbidden to go near the icon cake making.