Fabulicious easy raspberry & blueberry muffins@cupcakes ^^

These are no muffins ^^!

They maybe called muffins by the originator of this recipe, but they're really mini cakes or cupcakes! Hence they taste absolutely, perfectly fabulicious, as a fluffy, moist cake should! And better! ^^

I always steer clear from muffins because of previous experiences with store bought ones ~ dry, dry, drier and dense! Maybe it's been sitting on the counter for too long, but most likely because of the low fat content, the use of veg oil and no-butter that puts me off.

This recipe uses butter ^^. The ratio of butter to flour and sugar is just like that of a butter cake.. and it uses the creaming method.. so I know these are no muffins! ^^

Raspberry & blueberry muffins (recipe shared by mel@melspantrykitchen, from jessie-cookingmoments)

~ makes 10 muffins

150g unsalted butter, softened

120g sugar (100g is good enough for me) 

2 eggs

60g cream (I replaced with milk)

zest of 1 lemon (or orange)

140g of cake flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder, sifted

a pinch of salt

40g almond meal

2 tbsp milk

65g raspberries 

65g blueberries (extras won't hurt ^^)

1. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

2. Add in eggs one at a time till well mixed. Add the cream (if using) and lemon zest.

3. Fold in the sifted flour, baking powder, salt and almond meal till well combined.

4. Add milk (+ the 60g milk here, if using) till well mixed, and add in the berries.

5. Bake in preheated oven of 160C for 30 minutes. 

This is the 2nd time I'm making this recipe. The 1st time I just used blueberries and made half the recipe.. and fatty hubby and I finished the 5 muffins in a blink! This time round, I'm not holding back. Since I had some over-ripe raspberries, I added them too. Both bakes were fabuliciously delicious! The texture was perfectly soft and oh-so moist and super-loaded with berries! However, I'm swaying a little to the ones with just blueberries in it ^^

And don't be put off by how pale my muffins look. They should be nicely golden brown, but mine turned out pale both times.They are however, yummylicious every time! Thanks, mel! This is a super-duper good bake! We can't stop eating it! Maybe it will last till breakfast since I made the full recipe ^^

Mini cakes disguised as muffins! We love! ^^ ^^ ^^

World's best cake ^^

Seriously? Can you hear "make me, make me, make me..!"? ^^ That's what I immediately wanted to do!

But after "rationally" thinking it over.. er, the sugar content was kind of a wake up call (!), I decided this cake needed the right occasion and person to justify making it! And it's my sweet lovin' chubby pig who gets to be my guinea pig this time round, hehe! He turns 12 today! ^^

World's best cake (recipe by sweet paul)
~ serves 8
10 1/2 tbsp (150g) butter, softened
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar (I reduced to 3/4 recipe ^^)
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
5 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup whole milk (greedy me used  1/2 cup)
1/4 cup sliced almonds (a little more won't hurt)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean or 1/ tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F / 180C. Line an 8x12-inch baking tin with parchment paper. Since I did not have a baking tin of that size, I made do with a 7x10 inch tin and a medium loaf tin.. maybe using a 9x13 tin would be better?

2. Beat butter and 2/3 (or 1/2) cup sugar till light and creamy, about 3 minutes.

3. Add sifted flour and baking powder, and mix well on low speed.

4. Mix in the egg yolks and milk.

5. Place the batter into the baking tin/s.

6. In a clean bowl, beat egg whites (if using pasteurised egg whites, do add some lemon juice or cream of tartar!) and the remaining sugar (3/4 cup) to soft peaks. Spread on top of cake batter and sprinkle almond slices over.

7. Bake for 30 minutes. When the meringue is golden brown and puffed, remove from oven and leave to cool.

8. When the cake is cool, prepare to whip the cream with the scraped vanilla seeds (discard pod). Beat to soft peaks, about 3 minutes.

9. To assemble the cake, cut the cake into half crosswise with a serrated knife. Place one half of the cake on a serving tray and cover with whipped cream. Place the other half, meringue side up, on top of it.

10. Leave to cool in the fridge/chiller for at least 1 hour before serving.

Yeah, yeah.. the cake should be in 2 layers, I know ^^|| But for chubby, I decided that a layer is good enough. I'm quite afraid a 2 layer cake won't withstand the drive to chubby's. I'm only sending it later in the evening when I can bear to go out. I do hope he likes it! ^^

And no, I haven't had any yet.. the weather's so unbelievably hot! hot! hot!, I want my cakes properly chilled and cold!!! ^^||||| I will give my verdict and update once I've had some.. just look out for it right at the end of this post! ^^

Happy birthday, chubby! xoxo world's best kuku ^^ ^^ ^^


Updated 24th June 2014:
Ho ho! This is a delicious cake! World's best? Definitely one of the best ^^ it's like having really good yellow cake with light fluffy frosting ~ the combination of cake, fluffy meringue, light whipped cream and toasted almond slices is totally perfect in the mouth! Yums! ^^

The only gripe I have with this cake is the meringue ~ i dislike the eggy taste/smell.. however, it's totally unnoticeable when you eat it with the cake, whipped cream and toasted almonds! I should have persisted with my pasteurized egg whites that wouldn't whip! I now know it's not impossible to do it, just have to add some lemon juice or cream of tartar, and continue beating madly, haha!

Well, this cake befits its title. Certainly one of the best tasting ^^ Perfect eaten chilled on a hot day!