Almond Muffins with White Chocolate and Cherry Frosting
Recipe for delicious muffins with almonds, white chocolate and cherry frosting.This recipe makes 14-16 muffins
Servings 14 muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- 200 g plain flour
- 200 g caster sugar
- 125 g butter
- 100 g white chocolate
- 100 g almonds
- 200 ml milk, preferably whole milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 lemon, finely grated zest only
Cherry frosting
- 200 g softened butter
- 270 g icing sugar
- 80 g white chocolate, melted
- 180 g fresh cherries
- 1/2-1 lemon, juice to taste
- Red food colouring (optional)
- Fresh cherries and freeze-dried berries, to decorate
Instructions
Muffins
- Blitz the almonds to a fine flour in a food processor.
- Warm the milk in a small saucepan and melt the butter and chocolate in it. Let the mixture cool slightly.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale, thick and fluffy, then fold in the ground almonds.
- Mix all the dry ingredients together with the lemon zest and fold half of them into the egg mixture, ideally sifting them in to avoid lumps.
- Fold the cooled butter mixture into the batter, then finish with the remaining dry ingredients. Fold everything thoroughly but gently, so you don't knock the air out of the batter.
- Line a metal muffin tin (or 2) with paper cases and divide the batter between them. I like to pour the batter into a piping bag, as it is quite runny and I find that the easiest way to control it – but do whatever you prefer.
- Bake the muffins in a preheated oven on the middle shelf for about 20 minutes at 180°C, conventional oven (top and bottom heat). Test with a thin skewer or similar – if no batter clings to it, the muffins are done.
- Lift the muffins out of the metal tin as soon as possible so they don't go soggy from the steam. Take care not to burn yourself.
- Let them cool before topping them with frosting.
Cherry frosting
- Remove the stalks and stones from the cherries and blitz them finely in a mini chopper or similar.
- Beat the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. At first it will look crumbly, as if there isn't enough butter, but keep beating – it will come together.
- Add the blended cherries and beat them well into the buttercream. At first it will look as though the buttercream is splitting – it isn't; just keep beating thoroughly until it is smooth and fluffy.
- Finally beat in the melted chocolate and add lemon juice to taste. Adjust the colour with a little food colouring if you like. If the buttercream is too soft, chill it until it firms up a little, or add a little more icing sugar. Bear in mind that the chocolate will also help it firm up.
- Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe it onto the muffins. Start at the outer edge of each muffin and work your way round in a spiral until you reach the centre.
- Keep the muffins in the fridge and take them out 20 minutes before serving. Decorate with a cherry or some freeze-dried berries if you like.