Banana and Oatmeal Muffins

The banana battle continues on in our fruit bowl - forcing me to result to tried and true but long forgotten battle plans [read:recipes]. A rummage through the bookshelf got me reacquainted with "Muffins - Fast and Fantastic" by Susan Reimer, this book is responsible for developing my baking passion! When I first moved to Edinburgh I shared a flat in St Stephen's Place with a couple from New Zealand (whoever thought putting an Aussie and two Kiwi's in a flat together was a good idea?) and various other people ranging in nationality from South Africa to Scotland occupied the third bedroom, which was really just a box room and probably explained why there was always a very high turn over in occupancy for it.

Being the first time I had ever 'stood on my own two feet' my very first grown up decision was to make sure I ate healthy food which was to include my 5 a day. This was a very good plan, that seemed to last all the way from the front door of the flat to the supermarket at Cannonmill's and back again. Peppers and mushrooms always went in the pasta that was great for dinner and could be taken to work for lunch the next day, the broccoli and cherry tomatoes that went into the feta salad also made a great dinner (but not quite so nice the next day for lunch), apples for morning tea, I pretty much had this healthy eating thing under control! Except for the banana's. They seemed to multiply in the fruit bowl and this is when I went out and purchased afore mentioned Muffin Book. I made banana muffins every Sunday afternoon, tried all the variations I could lay my hands on, and had a banana muffin every morning for breakfast.

Now I think about it, this was obviously the beginning of the end for banana's and I, and we parted company quite amicably after about a year or so Breakfast Banana Muffins. But as I've mentioned previously Hubby loves 'em, which has ended our fruit bowl cease fire.

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

225g SR flour

1 tsp bicarb of soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 large well ripened bananas, peeled and mashed

110g caster sugar (vanilla!)

1 egg beaten (the cake stand at work had duck eggs on it this week so I used one of those)

90ml milk

90ml veg oil

60g rolled oats

85g walnuts

1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare the muffin tins. Preheat oven to 190-200C.

In a large bowl, sift together; flour, bicarb and salt.

In another bowl, mash banana thoroughly (I pop them in a mini food blender and give them a good whiz - that'll teach 'em!) until pureed. Stir in sugar, egg, milk, oats, vanilla and oil.

Pour all of the wet ingredients into dry. Stir until batter is evenly mixed but still lumpy. No dry flour should be visible. Add walnuts during the final strokes.

Spoon into tins. Bake for 20-25 mins, until tops are lightly browned and spring back when pressed gently.

Makes 12 standard sized muffins

Adapted from 'Muffins - Fast and Fantastic'

Sometimes I sprinkle some more rolled oats and a bit of demerara sugar of the tops of the muffins before baking but today they have gone au natural.

Sweet and Simple Bake Number 1 - Not So Jammy Doughnut Muffins!

These little beauties are my first ever attempt at a Sweet and Simple Bakes monthly bake (Rosie and Maria just as soon as I figure out how to add your badge I promise it will be done)! This one has been mulling around in my mind for a little while now and as a result its not quite the same as the original recipe and it is entirely possible that I may have bent the rules slightly, very sorry if I have offended. The inspiration behind them being filled with Dulce de Leche and topped with caramel icing is twofold;

1) Iced doughnuts are the best.

2) I still had quite a bit of Dulce de Leche still kicking about

after the Banana and Mars Bar Cake.

But is a muffin with icing still a muffin?!?!?!?!?

So, I had the recipe, now all I needed was an excuse to bake ~ generally speaking having the recipe is normally reason enough but we're both still suffering with honeymoon weight gain and have promised each other to be extra strict with our WW points this week ~ and then Mr DF went and got himself admitted to hospital. Emergency baking action was required (as well as surgery for DF but he is home again now and driving Miss SD completely bonkers which is a sure sign he is returning to normality). Surely a trip into hospital and surgery and, in SD's case at least, having to look after a grumpy patient is reason enough for some nice Iced Doughnut Muffins? I knew you would agree.

Iced Doughnut Muffins

275g plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

200ml milk

75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 tsp Dulce de Leche

For The Topping

150g icing sugar

2 tbsp Dulce de Leche

2 tsp hot water

Chocolate Strands, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and stir through the sugar. In a large jug. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir gently until just combined. (Do not over mix, its fine to have a few lumps in the mixture). Spoon half the muffin mixture into the base of each paper case, top each muffin with a teaspoon of Dulce de Leche. Now top each paper case with equal amounts of the remaining mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 mins until well risen, golden and firm to the touch.

For the topping; combine icing sugar, Dulce de Leche and hot water in a bowl. Dip the tops of the cooled muffins into the icing mixture and sprinkle with the chocolate strands.

Adapted from Sweet and Simple Bakes Blogspot

The original recipe would have made 12 muffins but mine made 7 owing to the fact that these ones are HUGE. I wanted to try and recreate the ones that you get in cafes that look as though they have exploded over the tops of their paper cases so filled them right to the very top. I got the desired effect but I think investing in some of those Texas muffin pans might help them along even further. I made a batch following the same recipe yesterday and used greaseproof paper instead of muffin cases but they weren't as successful. My tried and true taste testers (Hubby and SD) both sampled the ugly ducklings and confirmed that they were still entirely eatable and possibly would have scoffed the lot had it not been time to head back to work!

Next time I'm going to add white chocolate to the mixture (this received a thumbs up from both testers) and possibly replace the vanilla extract with some banana flavouring as Miss SD loves Banoffee Pie and sounded quite keen to taste test the Banoffee Pie Muffins.

Jammy Doughnut Muffins

I'm back to work tomorrow - not sure if that is a good thing or not!  I've not missed the office politics one little bit but then day time TV is so poor it makes me think I could tolerate the politics again!  Returning to work means that there will need be some treats to either take in with me (to get me through the day!) or to have waiting for me to snack on once I get home. 

These muffins were the first recipe I ever made with the Sweet and Simple Bakes gang, except I didn't make mine jammy style, opting instead for Iced Doughnut Muffins that were filled with Dulce de Leche.  Mmmmmmmmm.  I am pleased to note that they are just as yummy when filled with some of that pesky over set strawberry jam that I am still trying to get rid of!

Jammy Doughnut Muffins
275g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
200ml milk
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 tsp strawberry or raspberry jam
For The Topping
100g unsalted butter
150g granulated sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
You will need 12 hole muffin tin lined with paper cases.

Preheat the oven to 190.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and stir through the sugar. In large jug, lightly beat the eggs then add the milk, cooled butter and vanilla extract and beat together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients stir gently until just combined. (Do not over mix, its fine to have a few lumps in the mixture.) Spoon half the muffin mixture into the base of each paper case. Top each muffin with a teaspoon of jam. Now equally between each paper case, top with the remaining muffin mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes until well risen, golden and firm to the touch.

For The Topping: melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Spread the granulated sugar in a wide, shallow bowl with the cinnamon if using. When the muffins are baked, leave in the tin for 5 minutes. Dip the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar. You can serve these muffins warm or cold.

Makes 12
Sweet and Simple Bakes

I love the muffin cases!  I found them at Morrison's and they come in a range of animal prints - these muffins are sporting the Zebra print - Hubby is not as appreciative of this fact as I was lol.  Although he has just phoned me to say that he has taken his first bite of the muffin and really, really, really likes them!

White Chocolate and Strawberry Centre Muffins

The danger of working across the road from a supermarket is that every time I pop in for a pint of milk after work I always end up buying other bits and pieces too.  My current obsession seems to strawberries, which is kind of stupid seeing as I have 8 strawberry plants on the balcony.  This means there will be a few post coming up featuring said berry!

White Chocolate Strawberry Centre Muffins

375g SR flour

1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g golden caster sugar

250g white chocolate, roughly chopped

3 large eggs, beaten

150g butter, melted

200g natural yoghurt

2 tbsp milk

12 strawberries, hulled

1 tbsp granulated sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, caster sugar and chocolate in a large bowl with a pinch of salt.  Beat together the eggs, melted butter, yogurt and milk, then stir briskly into the dry ingredients.  Don’t worry if it’s a bit lumpy.  Its important not to overmix, otherwise the muffins will lose their lightness.

Divide the mixture among the cases, then push a strawberry into each muffin, making sure its completely enclosed by the batter.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar, then bake for 20-25 mins until golden.  Cool in the tin for 5 mins before lifting on to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 12

Delicious, June 11

These are pretty delicious muffins, but then anything with white chocolate and strawberries will always score pretty highly on my list ;0)

I followed the recipe to the letter and used the mixture to make 12 muffins, as you can see these made for some pretty big muffins, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but next time I'd maybe stretch the mixture further and make one or two more.

Roasted Apricot and White Chocolate Muffins

I woke up early this morning so put the time to good use!  This recipe is in Australian measurements, my kitchen is decked out for both Aussie and British baking but if you need to convert any of the measurements then I find this conversion site pretty useful.

Roasted Apricot and White Chocolate Muffins
For The Roasted Apricots
1kg apricots, halved and stone removed
¼ cup brown sugar
For The Muffins
1 ½ cups plain flour
1 cup self raising flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
½ cup light olive oil
1 duck egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g white chocolate, chopped
60g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 200°C.

To make the roasted apricots; place apricots on a tray lined with a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 30 minutes or until soft.

To make the muffins; prepare 2 (12 hole) muffin tins either with olive oil spray or with paper liners. Sift flours, bicarbonate soda and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir through sugar.

In a jug, combine olive oil, egg, vanilla extract and milk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in wet ingredients. Quickly combine using as few strokes as possible. (Mixture should still be a bit lumpy). Quickly fold in apricots, chocolate and nuts.

Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.

Makes 24 muffins
Adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly

My version is a bit different to the original, which included cinnamon and ginger but no chocolate.  If you would like to try the original then the recipe can be found here.

Rhubarb and White Chocolate Muffins

These little guys were made last Sunday and the only evidence left of them after Tuesday was the empty bowl - I had managed to eat about 2 of them!  Somebody must think that my head is zipped up the back if I believe his story of 'they went bad and I had to throw them out'!

Rhubarb and White Chocolate Muffins
150g caster sugar
80g butter, softened
2 large eggs
225g self-raising flour
150g butter milk
400g rhubarb, cleaned
150g white chocolate, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to 225C.  (I was a bit scared of cooking muffins at this temp but it didn't have any adverse effects, I think it needs to be that hot to ensure that the rhubarb cooks as well as the muffin batter).

Beat the butter and the sugar until creamy. Add the eggs and beat to combine. Add the flour, then the butter milk.

Cut the rhubarb stalks into small slices, then fold into the batter. Add the white chocolate and work into the dough gently and quickly.

Line a muffin tray with paper cups, fill with the mixture. (Again, I was a bit worried about the amount of rhubarb in the paper cases as opposed to the muffin mixture but during cooking the rhubarb shrinks and the batter expands and it all works out well in the end!)

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

Makes 16 muffins
The Passionate Cook

The Passionate Cook also gives a good tip to store them overnight in the cooled oven so the crust doesn't go soggy from the rhubarb.  We enjoyed these warm from the oven but they are very nice the next day too - I couldn't pass comment on what they are like after that becasue they apparently 'went bad'!

Banana Yogurt Muffins

After the egg-travagance (I know!  Its a terrible joke - blame James Martin and his omelette challenge personally!) of Easter food it was high time we got back on the wagon!  The age old problem of banana's in the fruit bowl needed to be addressed and when this recipe caught my eye I knew where they were headed.

Banana Yogurt Muffins
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup natural yogurt
1 egg
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 12-hole, 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pan. Sift flour and sugar into a bowl.

Combine yogurt, egg, oil and 1 cup mashed banana in a large bowl. Gradually add dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.

Spoon mixture into muffin holes. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Stand muffins in pan for 5 minutes. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or cold.

Makes 12
Taste.com

These have made the perfect treat for taking to work - instead of reaching for a chocolate bar or bag of crisps we have been munching on these instead.

Two Tone Chocolate Muffins with Chocolate Truffles

What a glorious day it is. Can this mean spring has sprung? Please say yes! I love spring ;0)

To celebrate the wonderful new outlook the world is sporting today I decided to go into town and buy myself some Jumbo Muffin Tins. I cannot lie, this trip was not made on a whim! I stumbled across a recipe last weekend for what I can only describe as a complete chocolate overload of a muffin. Needless to say I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, I've wanted to make them everyday since and I guess I could have used ordinary, regular old muffin tins that I already own, but then they would just be ordinary, regular old muffins (please humour me on this one!)

Two Tone Chocolate Muffins with Chocolate Truffles

50g butter, softened

1/2 cup vanilla caster sugar

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 cups SR flour

80g white chocolate, chopped

80g milk chocolate, chopped

2 tbsp cocoa

6 chocolate truffles (I used some from Marks and Sparks but Ferrero Rochers would also work well)

Preheat oven to 190C. Grease around the the rims of 6 extra large muffin holes.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and milk, then min in flour until just combined.

Divide the mixture between 2 bowls.

Add white chocolate to one, and the cocoa and milk chocolate to the other and stir until just combined.

Half fill each paper case with the white chocolate mixture, then place a truffle in the centre of each.

Top with the milk chocolate mixture, until about 1cm from the top of the cases.

Bake for 20 mins.

Makes 6 extra large muffins

Best Recipes Website

I can't say I'm the hugest fan of adding all the wet ingredients and then all the flour. At one point I had a very sloppy mixture with lumps of creamed butter floating through it - not an appetising thought, its even less of an appetising sight! Miraculously it all seemed to come together in the end though and I love the way the white and milk chocolate mixtures all merge together and fight for space at the top.

I love the melted chocolate truffle center even more though, such a treat ;0)

Banana and Passionfruit Muffins with [Lemon] Icing

So many posts and so little time! Where does the weekend go?!?!? I'm just going to launch into this first recipe, I made it for Hubby when I spied the usual aging banana's ... only thing was by the time I'd gotten around to making these a couple of nights later I discovered that Hubby had eaten the banana's. Apparently they weren't as aging as I had first thought!

Banana and Passionfruit Muffins with Lemon Icing (at least its meant to be lemon - I made passionfruit instead!)

125g butter

315g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

150g light muscovado sugar

110g pecans, chopped

3 very ripe, medium bananas

Pulp of 3 passionfruit (about 3 1/2 tbsp)

Zest 1 medium lemon

65ml whole or semi skimmed milk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

For the icing

150g icing sugar

Juice 1 medium lemon (I replaced this with the juice and seeds from a passionfruit)

Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200C. Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl and stir in the sugar and the pecans. Peel and mash the bananas in another bowl and mix with the passionfruit pulp and lemon zest. Next, whisk the melted butter, milk and eggs into the fruit, then stir this mixture into the flour until combined; don't over mix or the muffins will be heavy. Divide the mixture between baking cases that are lining a 12 cup muffin tin. Bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 20 mins until risen and lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the icing, whisk three quarters of the lemon juice into the icing sugar in a bowl. Then add enough of the rest of the lemon juice to make a thick spreadable icing; you may not need all the juice. Use to ice the tops of the muffins.

Makes 12 muffins

I'm not sure which magazine a clipped this recipe out of - it may well have been Feel Good Food

For me, not being a lover of banana, I don't particular care for these muffins. There just seemed to be a million and one flavours going on, the cinnamon seems a step too far with the lemon and passionfruit. That said, the mixture did smell very tropical while I was making it. If I was to make these again then I'd leave the cinnamon out ... Hubby is slowly eating his way through them but that is evidence enough that he isn't really that keen on them! If he had really liked them they would have disappeared before I'd had the chance to ice them ;0)

Toffee Apple and Pecan Muffins

Must be quick - Hubby needs the laptop!

This recipe has been hanging around in my 'To Be Tried' recipe pile for a while now, except I never wrote down where I originally came across it! I made them yesterday out of pure boredom (I love it when the clocks go back - makes Sunday seem to last an eternity even if it is really only and extra hour longer!) so had to make do with the supplies I had. I substituted Fudge out of the Roses Tin ~ which we've actually bought for Christmas. Oops!

Toffee Apple and Pecan Muffins

100g butter, melted and cooled

2 duck eggs, beaten

100ml milk

150ml soured cream

300g plain flour

100g vanilla caster sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarb of soda

3 small apples (about 300g), peeled, cored and diced

50g pecans. roughly chopped

100g soft toffee's, chopped

Heat the oven to 220C/fan 180C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Mix the wet ingredients quickly into the dry ingredients with the apples, pecans and toffee (don't over mix - it should be a bit lumpy).

Divide between the cases and bake for 25 mins until risen, golden and cooked through.

Makes 12

These muffins went down a treat! Although I kept expecting each mouthful to be banana flavoured for some reason, I think it was the inclusion of the fudge. Highly recommend these ;0)

Ploughman's Muffins

Wow its been a long time in between posts! There hasn't been a great deal of cooking going on in the kitchen lately, work has been too hectic. And Hubby's laptop has had to go into 'computer hospital' which has also added to the pain of trying to get a blog updated.

Enough of the excuses and on with the baking! Today saw a return to the kitchen and I've managed to complete this month's Fresh From the Oven challenge (more on that later!) and a recipe I've stolen from Marie over at The English Kitchen . Marie posted this last month and it has taken me until now to try my hand at them, although in my defense the original idea was to bake these for next weekend's girlie trip to Haddington Food Market but the plans have altered slightly meaning there was no need to take food along with us.

I've altered the quantities of Marie's original recipe slightly (hope you don't mind Marie!) because I knew the cheese we have in the fridge at the moment isn't particularly mature tasting despite the packaging claiming otherwise! The finished product is delish, but next time I'm following Marie's advice and not using muffin cases, the cooked muffin just doesn't want to leave the wrapping behind. Check out Marie's original post for some truly mouth watering photos!

Ploughman's Muffins

55g butter, melted

1 duck egg

250ml milk

1 tbsp grainy mustard (I used Ale Grainy Mustard - mmmm)

75g chutney

170g strong cheddar cheese, grated

1 tbsp baking powder

310g plain flour

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 190C. Butter a 12 hole muffin tin and set aside. (Don't bother with using muffin cases as a washing up shortcut!)

Combine the butter, egg, milk, mustard and chutney in a bowl.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl. Stir in 140g of the grated cheese.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry all at once. Combine only until just mixed.

Spoon into the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over the top.

Bake for 15-20 mins until well risen, firm and golden. Leave in the pan to cool for 5 mins before placing on a wire rack to cool.

Serve warm or cold (I can highly recommend the warm option!)

Makes 12

Adapted from The English Kitchen (see above for links)

Chocolate Overload - Part I

As promised (for breaking my promise!) I'm making amends this weekend and going all out for the last two days of Chocolate Week. Today I've made itsy bitsy muffins and muesli bars and I'm in the process of making some 'truffles' for one of tomorrows recipes ~ I'm so looking forward to my kitchen time tomorrow, I've saved the best two recipes of the week for the last day ;0)

Anyhoo, back to today! The first recipe is for Mini Toblerone Muffins. This one wasn't a recipe I originally planned to make for Chocolate week but in my hast to get enough Toblerone for the cheesecake on Thursday night after work I grabbed the biggest bar I could lay my little hands on. Two recipes later and I still have half the bar left and it keeps calling my name from the cupboard I've had to wedge it in to because its too big to fit neatly. Think there will be some more Toblerone recipes being posted soon, if there isn't I'm pretty sure you'll be able to figure out what happened with the leftovers!

Mini Toblerone Muffins

1 cup plain flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

60g butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup milk

1 egg, lightly whisked

100g toblerone milk chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease 2 x 12 hole x 2 tbsp capacity mini muffin pans or line with paper cases.

Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in sugar. Make a well in the center.

Whisk butter, milk and egg in a jug. Pour into well. Add chocolate and gently fold until just combined. Three quarter fill muffin cases with mixture. Bake for 10-12 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand muffins in pan for 5 mins. Serve warm.

• To make regular sized muffins from this mix, bake in a 1/3 cup capacity muffin pan for 15 to 18 mins.

Makes 24-32 mini muffins

Taken from the Taste Website

I've been wanting to try out mini muffins for ages now. They just look so cute and I figure they would pretty much be guilt free as well seeing as they are so small. Hubby really liked these when he sampled one but the one I tried managed to not have any Toblerone in it ;0(

The next recipe, Chewy Seedy Oat and Apricot Bars, was also an attempt at a guilt free chocolate fix. I got part way through making the recipe and realised I was kidding myself. These muesli bars are very, very tasty though quite plain looking. I had planned to drizzle them in artistic zig zags of melted milk and white chocolate but after sampling a 'plain' one I thought they were probably sweet enough so I've left them naked.

I'd like to preempt the recipe by saying that usually I am far more organised with my kitchen supplies than my notes below imply!

Chewy Seedy Oat and Apricot Bars

300g porridge oats

50g pumpkin seeds (the original recipe says to use 100g or a mixture of pumpkin and sunflower seeds, I used just the one variety and used less so I could add the cocoa nibs)

50g cacao nibs

50g desiccated coconut

50g plain flour

200g butter

200g golden syrup

150g soft brown sugar (usually my preference is for the light brown variety because its not as overpowering as the dark version but I seem to have run out of the light so I had to use the later)

150g dried apricots, chopped (I ran out so topped the rest up with sultanas)

125g crunchy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven 10 160C/fan 140C. Line a 18x28cm swiss roll tin with non stick baking paper, leaving a little hanging over the edges for easy removal later.

Place the oats, seeds, cacao nibs, coconut and flour in a large bowl and mix together. Melt the butter with the golden syrup in a saucepan, then mix in the sugar, chopped apricots (ahem ~ and sultanas), peanut butter and vanilla extract. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Press into the tin and bake for 20-25 mins or until golden and slightly firm. Cool in the tin, then lift out on the paper and cut into 18 bars.

Makes about 18

Delicious Mag, October 2008

What are Cacao Nibs? According to Willie Harcourt Cooze in his cookbook they are "... cacao after its been fermented, roasted and winnowed ..." I'm not entirely sure what that means exactly but I can tell you that they are yummy ;0)

Word Of Mouth

It seems I'm starting to develop a bit if a reputation for myself at work. The 'leftovers' from all of the chocolate adventures this week have been making their way into the office everyday but because it wasn't possible to share yesterday's 'spares' my team were very disappointed this morning. Hubby's were too (have I already mentioned we work in the same office?) and with tomorrow being Friday I was asked to redeem myself by making a couple of treats for some of the different team meetings that are planned.

One of Hubby's staff members is moving into a different team on Monday (this happens a lot where we work!) so he requested the Chocolate Muffins with the Fudge Icing I made a couple of weeks ago. Apparently the staff member in question has been asking for them everyday since so he thought it would be nice to give her a batch for her moving team present. He did request that they be made exactly the same as the first time but I ran into a small obstacle with this, I ran out of cocoa powder, resulting in a less chocolaty looking muffin. Fingers crossed nobody notices! I also added some white chocolate decorations this time (so even if anybody does notice I'm hoping the pretty decorations will take their mind off it).

And then we arrive at Miss SD's desk (that would be my friend from the Not So Jammy Muffin post). She is having her team meeting tomorrow too and everyone is taking in a treat to share. Miss SD asked me to make the Toblerone Cheesecake and while I don't actually belong in the same team they are like a surrogate team to me so I was pleased to be asked ;0)

The only problem with making these items is that I did promise right at the very start of Chocolate Week that I would be making something I've never tried before each day. I was going to get around this by making a third chocolate item as well but to be honest, after a full day' work and making the muffins and frosting and the cheesecake and dinner I never got around to it, the couch and a cuppa was too appealing. Sorry. I promise to make it up by the end of chocolate week though.