Monday 5 November 2007

Blackberries - Are they cupcakes or muffins?


Firstly, referring to the title - I started to make cupcakes but since there is no icing, do they become muffins? Am sure there is a technical difference between both (other than icing) but honestly, I have not done a 'Google' search on it yet..I should :)!

Secondly, I wanted to use blackberries in my next recipe and since I don't eat the fruit much, I emailed my friends asking them how they liked to eat the berries....plain, with ice cream, yogurt etc... I received a variety of responses and one friend replied saying with yogurt. Fair enough. Sometime later she tells me her friend likes them in muffins. Makes sense. We exchange a couple of emails, I finally send her my idea for a new recipe... and that's when she emails me back from her BLACKBERRY telling me she thought all this time it was a joke and that I was asking how people would like to 'eat' their Blackberrys i.e. those technical gadgets that most of us can't seem to live without once we get them. Gosh, maybe not so funny now but it cracked us up that day, so had to share :)

Now lastly, am usually slow to post but reading Kate of Aaplemint's recent post inspired me to get a move on posting, as I too have been trying to avoid sweets (healthy recipe to follow in next post..this one is more abt the story). Anyway, what the abstinence from sweets leads to is a hubby who complains that he no longer gets dessert! So, I thought ..why not...let's bake but not eat...can't be that bad. Oh it was baaad....
I made blackberry cupcakes (let's just call them cupcakes for now) and they smelt like all baking does, heavenly and then - I had no clue how they tasted or turned out!! Well, okay. I had a tiny bite. And this time, let's call it a muffin so I don't feel too guilty abt the tiny bite. Besides, what's a tiny bite out of a mini cupcake..oops muffin?! Anyway, no self-tasting and a sweet hubby who had been denied homemade desserts - I needed additional opinions! Thus, a poll was taken at work and looks like the recipe was just fine! Obviously, there were a lot of suggestions that there be a weekly sample tasting session and that I should not stop baking since there are willing testers available Monday through Friday!!! Seriously !!! :)


Okay, enough stories!! Here is the recipe..not earth shattering and definitely not the 'new' one I had suggested to my friend, just a simple, comfortable one...

Ingredients
150g butter, softened with extra for greasing
50g caster sugar
200g self-raising flour
4 eggs beaten
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp almond extract
6-7 blackberries, roughly chopped
Makes about 15 cupcakes

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 150 degree Celsius. Generously grease the non-stick muffin pan. Cut the butter and place in a large mixing bowl with the caster sugar. Beat with an electric whisk until pale, fluffy and combined. Sieve the flour into the mixture and add the eggs and beat together. Stir in the milk, almond extract and the chopped blackberries. Spoon the mixture evenly into the holes in the muffin tin. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25minutes or until cakes are light golden. If you want to make a large cake, cooking time increases to about hour and half. If the top starts to look dark but the skewer does not come out clean when inserted in the centre, lightly cover the top with foil.

10 comments:

Kajal@aapplemint said...

haha call it muffin or call it cupcake u cant cheat the calories ... ! but since u had just a teeny bit i guess u passed the control test. I'm going crazy here, none of my clothes are fitting me and i cant take it.
These little *cakes* looks cute but i'm trying not to look at them too much. Yes yogurt would be fantastic, smoothies or just as it is ! Enjoy them girl :P

M'nMs said...

Kajal - so true cupcake or muffin, it's still sugar. Keep at it babe and it will all fit :).

Dwiana P said...

One of my list that I have to make is blueberries or blackberries muffins but I don't find time to meke one yet. I get confuse too sometime about muffin or cupcakes, probably this blog http://bellnad.blogspot.com/2007/11/cupcake-vs-muffin.html will answer you.

M'nMs said...

dwiana p - thanks! Guess reading the link you suggested - definitely made cupcakes :) !

Rita Sella said...

Hi..m&m.. thanks for visiting my site. I'm pretty much sure that this is cupcake... well fruity cupcake ^_^, based on the fat and the the method.

Finla said...

Well i would call them cupcakes.

Shella said...

Your cupcakes look delish.

Nic said...

Who cares what they are called - they look fantastic!!

M'nMs said...

Happy Cook - True..I need to embrace these cupcakes :)

Shella , Nicisme- Many thanks.

daphne said...

hey there! Those cupcakes look divine! I think they are cupcakes from looking at your ingredients and the way you made it... the texture is probably slightly denser and tastes more like a cake right? =)
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