Strawberry buttermilk muffins

October 22 2010
by emma

I had an epiphany late in bed the other night.  Yeah I know, I’m daft (or I was hungry), but it suddenly came to me how delicious strawberry buttermilk muffins would be.   Strawberries aren’t a fruit you commonly hear about in terms of baking, at least not as much as blueberries, raspberries or cherries, and I don’t know why because their gorgeous rosy sweetness fits perfectly well into muffins or cakes.  I’m just as guilty of neglecting them.

I used lemon zest in these muffins to offset the sweetness of the berries and I decided to use butter instead of oil and buttermilk instead of milk.  You could also use raspberries, blueberries or even blackberries!  I’m always disappointed blackberries (even frozen) are difficult to find as I love to bake with them – I enjoy their dark elegance, like tiny little bunches of grapes.

These cute little cakes are fluffy and light with sweet little bites of strawberry and a slight lemony tang.  They might even be pretty enough to display for a high tea.

 

Recipe:

2 cups white self raising flour
1/4 tspn baking powder
3/4 cup raw caster sugar
200g strawberries
2 large eggs
1 tspn vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
90g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tspn lemon zest

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.  Grease 12 cup muffin tin or use muffin/cupcake liners.

Dice strawberries into small pieces.  Set aside 1/4 of the strawberries.

Sift flour and baking powder and whisk with sugar briefly to combine.  Add strawberries to coat with the flour mixture using wooden spoon.

Whisk eggs, vanilla extract, buttermilk, cooled melted butter, and lemon zest until combined and add to dry ingredients, folding gently until just combined.  Spoon into muffin tins and press the pieces of reserved strawberries into the tops of the muffins.  Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Leave in muffin tins for around 8 minutes then remove onto cooling trays.

This recipe will make around 9-10 decent sized muffins or 12 regular sized.

Note:  these muffins freeze well – simple defrost them in the fridge overnight or at room temp., then wrap in foil and place in 180 degree oven for 10-15 minutes and they’ll be lovely and fresh again.

8 Responses leave one →
  1. The lemon and buttermilk sound like perfect ingredients to pair with/offset the sweet strawberries. Your recipe sounds exquisite – I've always wanted to make strawberry cupcakes 'cause they remind me of childhood.

  2. I was about to be really jealous of the fact that it's summer where you are, and that strawberries are in season — but then I realized you're right, frozen berries are really perfect for baking. Berries + buttermilk = a winning combination in my book!

  3. Oh these sound lovely! Sometimes frozen fruit works way better than fresh.Hey, I gave you not one but TWO shoutouts in my blog. An award and a game of tag. Check it out when you have a moment.

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