White Chocolate Heaven Muffins

The weather has been awful over the past few days here with freezing fog and freezing moisture that resembles snow. Icicles hung from the shed roof outside and the garden looked as if it had been painted all over in white yesterday. The birds lined up to take it in turns to feed from a little bird feeder I have hanging in the tree, so all in all it’s been a bleak winters tale.

This leads me onto my bake for today; I thought I would go with a white theme from the weather we’ve had here and I came up with my “White Chocolate Heaven Muffins”. The texture I aimed for in this sponge was a light moist crumb and with the addition of buttermilk to my recipe, I am more than happy with the results. I thought a creamy white chocolate ganache would be perfect for the topping. Adding a few sugar flowers and sugar strand sprinkles for decoration. The little sugar flowers I made yesterday sat in my warm conservatory whilst also watching the birds queue for feeding outside.

White Chocolate Heaven Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
375g (13 oz) self-raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
225g (8 oz) caster sugar
100g (4 oz) good white chocolate – I used Green & Blacks
250ml tub of buttermilk
150g (5 oz) butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
White Chocolate Ganache
100g (4 oz) good white chocolate, chopped into small pieces
200ml (7 fl oz) double cream
25g (1 oz) butter

Decoration

A few decorations of sugar flowers, sugar strand sprinkles

You will need a 12-holed muffin tin and 12 paper muffin cases placed into each muffin hole.

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Melt the while chocolate over a heatproof bowl sat on top of just simmering water. When melted take off the heat and give the chocolate a good stir.

In a sieve over a large mixing bowl sift the flour and baking powder together, then add the sugar and mix through with a spoon making a well in the middle.

In a large jug add the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, cooled melted butter and whisk through to combine. Pour all this mixture into the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and then add the slightly cooled white melted chocolate. With a large metal spoon gently fold in the fluids to the flour mixture. Try not to overwork the mixture or the muffins will become tough when baked. Place equally amounts in each muffin case – they will be quite full but don’t worry.

Place into the preheated oven and bake for 25 – 35 minutes until the feel firm in the middle when pressed lightly with fingertips and light golden in colour. You can also test by inserting a skewer into the centre and if it comes out clean the muffins are ready.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the white chocolate ganache; In a large saucepan add the cream and butter and gently bring up to the boil take off the heat and the butter should have melted into the cream. Next add the chopped white chocolate and stir until melted (off the heat). Place the saucepan over a bowl of cold water and keep stirring until it firms up and thickens to a spreadable consistency. (Don’t let any of the water spill into the ganache).

Spread the white creamy chocolate ganche equally over the top of each muffin. Lastly sprinkle over sugar strands and place a sugar flower in the middle.

Note: if you are unable to find buttermilk use skimmed milk instead in this recipe.