Wednesday 30 November 2011

baking away from home

(the photos in this post appear faded and washed out, which is intentional...)
Nothing beats a nice, warm homemade muffin over a cup of hot coffee, especially in a cold, wintery afternoon.


These banana raisins muffins are the very first bakes I made in the tiny kitchen of this small service apartment that we will be staying for the next few weeks. The kitchen area is not more than 1.5m by 1.5m, but it is very well equipped. Besides the basic utensils, there is even a spatula and a stylish balloon whisk.


Knowing that I will miss baking for the entire period that we are away, I brought along my digital weighing scale, a small pack of caster sugar, and at the very last minute I stuff in a pack of flour into my luggage, just in case. I had reminded myself to bring along some disposable foil pans but had totally forgotten about muffin cups. Luckily, I manage to get some while shopping for groceries here, if not, I am sure my cyberfriend, VB would be more than eager to dispatch some over to me ;)


I have on hand some very rippped bananas, a small pack of raisins, eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, flour and baking powder. With just a few strokes, these basic ingredients was magically transformed into a batch of soft and fluffy muffins. I stood by the oven to watch how the muffins ballooned and domed…at the same time letting myself engulfed in the wonderful sweet aroma of banana muffins baking in the oven.


The oven in the apartment didn't disappoint me. I really like how these muffins turn out…the crust is a little crisp, yet the centre is very soft and moist. One of the simplest pleasures in my life…is to be able to sink my teeth into a delicious medley of fluffy crumbs, tiny chunks of bananas and sweet, plumped raisins. A simple cake is all I need to keep me very happy the whole day :)


Banana Raisin Muffins

Ingredients
(makes 7 muffins)

50g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten (about 50g without shells)
50g vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
2 large over ripped bananas, roughly mashed (about 210g)
150g cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
50g raisins

Method:
  1. Pre heat oven to 180degC.
  2. Soak raisins with some water or orange juice for about 10-15mins. Drain and pat dry. Lightly coat with a teaspoon of flour (extra), remove any excess flour.
  3. Sieve flour and baking powder, set aside.
  4. Roughly mash bananas with a fork.
  5. Place sugar, eggs in a mixing bowl. Whisk with a balloon whisk to combine.
  6. Add in oil, whisk to combine.
  7. Add in mashed banana, stir with a spatula to combine.
  8. Sieve over flour mixture, stir with spatula until just incorporated. DO NOT Overmix. The batter should appear lumpy.
  9. Spoon batter into paper muffin cups, fill to ¾ full.
  10. Bake at 180degC for 25mins until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack, leave to cool completely.

13 comments:

sherlyn said...

You have me as backup then. Let me know what you need and I can send over to you too. This is the least help that I can offer :).

Wow, 1.5 by 1.5 is indeed very small kitchen.

mj said...

It must b a wonderful and warm feeling to tuck into home made muffins even thou u r miles away fr hm, happy holidays!

Melanie said...

I have admired your beautiful, elegant creations for so long--I'm sorry not to have commented sooner! >.< I'm also a fellow baker cooking away from home, while I am living as an English teacher here in Japan. A homemade tart or muffin is always the comfort I need when I feel homesick :)

Unknown said...

I like your banana muffins. Moist although with little oil. Bookmarked. Wish you have a nice holiday! :)

Edith said...

lovely tea snack.

Min said...

I never baked away from home, but I think it's a good experience, hehe :) Long time didn't bake muffin already, will try this out!

Yamile said...

It looks delicious!!!

:)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the recipe! Has been trying to look for a nondairy good muffin recipe.

Yenny Chai said...

Dear HHB,

Thank you for sharing your great recipe, I made this yesterday, they turned out nicely, I like the texture so much.

Missing you posting new recipes, have a nice holiday and enjoy snowing.

Yenny Chai

Unknown said...

These look absolutely fabulous! I have yet to try to bake muffins but this definitely inspires me! Thank you.

Claudia Allen said...

Thank you for the recipe. Sounds delicious!

Amirah Waznah @ Jessica said...

i just did this muffins follow all the ingredients, turn out so yummy, not dry and very successful. the only thing is that i extend the baking time to another additional 20mins more due to my muffins not turning golden brown like yours. what is wrong here? the oven temperature is 180c. And also my muffins didn't rise like your muffin domes.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Amirah, thanks for trying this recipe, and I am glad you like it. I suspect your oven wasn't hot or preheated to 180degC when you put in the muffins. Did you preheat the oven? Do you use an oven thermometer to check that your oven has been preheated to the required temperature? It usually takes at least 20mins for the oven to preheat. In order for muffins to dome nicely, the oven has to be hot. You can try preheat to 190degC and let the muffins bake for the first 10mins, then turn down to 180degC. Hope this helps.