Black Forest Fruits Muffins

What time is it? It's muffin time! Mufiin o' clock should definitely be an official time of the day.

Not one blueberry in sight here, these are all black forest fruits (cherries, grapes, blackberries, and black currants) in these muffins.

My fella (aka. the giant man-baby) came up with the idea behind these muffins. He formally requested (demanded) the he would like some blueberry muffins whilst we were in the kitchen chatting about non other than what he'd like me to bake next. I had some blueberries in but they're in the freezer. So off the giant man-baby pops to the freezer where he saw my other collection of frozen fruits. Then pops his head around the fridge door bearing the black forest fruits box and a giant smile and a wink. In our little world, that means he likey, he likey a lot!

Mmmmkay then, black forest muffins it is. Or more specifically, cherries, grapes, blackberries, and blackcurrants. All the fruits that are black and forest-like! I loved how it made the batter so pretty though..

Pretty eh? The best thing about these muffins is you can leave the batter to marinate overnight if you bake in the evening (like I do), or from morning to evening and the fruity flavour will blend into the batter even more making them even more delicious. That's if you can bear to wait that long.

I get pretty violent with the fruits in this recipe too. The fruits are whole and although some might like that in their muffins, I prefer to take a potato masher and violently murder the poor little fellas to a bloody red pulp. *I* just think it tastes better as the fruits and the standing juice help flavour the batter and mixes into the batter better but feel free to skip the violence.

Black Forest Fruits Muffins Recipe

Makes 24 Muffins (half recipe for 12 muffins)
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25-30 minutes
Total time: 40-45 minutes

Ingredients:
350g (12½oz) Black Forest Fruits - I used Tesco's frozen Black Forest Fruits (thawed),
200g (8oz) caster (superfine) sugar,
200g (8oz) butter,
600g (1lb 5oz) self-raising flour, sifted (see US version),
2 tsp baking powder,
2 tsp vanilla extract,
4 large eggs, beaten,
140ml (¼ pint) Milk.

Method/Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 160°C, 325°F, Gas Mark 3.
2. Line a muffin tray with paper muffin cases.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy then add in the eggs, one at a time.
4. Add the milk and vanilla extract then fold in the flour and baking powder to make a thick batter.
5. Add the black forest fruits without the standing juices to a separate bowl and crush the fruits. You can use a potato masher to crush the fruits or alternatively, squeeze and crush with your fingers. If you feel there is too much standing juice then remove excess juice (there was approx. 1-3 tablespoons of standing juice in the bottom of my fruits which I incorporated into the batter with the fruits).
6. Fold the fruits into the batter until incorporated. If you like a stronger fruity taste throughout the entire muffin, leave the batter to marinate for as long as you can stand to. Then spoon the mixture into the muffin cases. Bake for approx. 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
7. Leave the black forest muffins to cool in the tray for 10 mins before turning out.

Look at that oozing fruit popping up to say hello! If you make these, I'd love to hear from you, photos, and what you think to the recipe.

Happy Muffin Stuffin'!
-Lisa.

Blog: Sweet 2 Eat Baking.