Recipe - Apricot, cardamom and yogurt muffins

Weirdly this was inspired by an ice cream flavour! There is a fabulously odd ice cream parlour (I think that's the correct term) on my street called Chez Chantal which has a pretty impressive selection of French style glace in every flavour from salted caramel (my favourite) and cherry bakewell through to most iterations of fruit sorbets you care to think of!  On one visit, and there have been a few, they had a special variety on display -  a deliciously rich Italian apricot and yogurt version. Creamy but light, and not too sweet, this was a winner with me and I was keen to apply the flavour combination to something else.  I was also intrigued with the idea of baking with yogurt and what effect that might have on taste and texture.  I had a scout around and found a base recipe to adapt - and found this one for a large cake from a delicious New Your blog: www.eatdrinkonewoman.com

So here goes! This makes 6 muffins. 

Ingredients
1/2 cup of apricots (no soak variety)
Orange Juice - I used the juice of 2 small oranges
1 cup plain flour
1 scant tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarb
3/4 tsp cardamom (ground, or if using whole pods - discard the husks and crush the seeds with a pestle and mortar - sieve to remove any remaining lumps)
1 egg
1/2 cup of Greek yogurt
1/6 cup of sunflower oil
1 tsp Vanilla paste

For the Icing
1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
1 pack of cream cheese, room temperature
2 - 3 cups of icing sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla paste

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 175 C
• Chop up the apricots into smallish dice and put in a small bowl, add enough orange juice to not quite cover the apricots.  Microwave on high for about 2 minutes.  Set aside to soak and cool.

•  Sieve together the flour, baking powder, bicarb and cardamon.  The cardamom smells amazing!
• If you aren't icing, and added the demerera before cooking - then you are done, or for a more moist finish you could spoon over any remaining of the soaking liguid from the apricots.  This gives a glaze finish a bit like on a lemon drizzle cake.
• Mix together the egg, sugar, oil, yogurt and vanilla.  I used a hand whisk to beat them together.

• Mix the wet and dry ingredients ingredients together to make your cake batter. Add the chopped apricots - if there is excess liquid - don't add this to the batter.  I tried 3 versions with the apricots - apricots on topped, a layer in the middle and finally with apricots stirred into mix.  The results are quite different!
• Distribute the mix between 6 muffin cases.

• Optional - sprinkle with demerera sugar if you dont intend to ice the finished muffins
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until the muffins have risen.  Test with a skewer if needs be, and they should be slightly golden on top.  Cool on a wire rack.

Icing your muffins

1. Make sure your butter and cream cheese are at room temperature.  Beat together, with the vanilla paste until very smooth - use an electric mixer if you have one.
2. Slowly add the the icing sugar, beating the mixture all the time.  For a very light american style frosting - you can whip the mixture with the whisk attachment instead of beating it with the paddle.
3. The amount of sugar listed is just a guide - you can use your judgement while you are mixing.  Generally the more sugar you add, the stiffer the icing mix will be, but obviously it will be sweeter too.  So test for sweetness and consistency as you go along until you find a balance that you like.
4. Use a spoon, palette knife or piping bag if your feeling fancy to apply your icing to your muffins

The finished muffins are very light and moist and not too sweet.  They have lovely spicy fragrant undertones from the cardamom and the apricots soaked in orange juice have a pleasant sharpness and texture.  The final muffins are changed totally by how you add the apricots and how you top them. My favourite version was with the apricots mixed through the batter and topped with demerera and that apricot soaking juice, but i love that icing too!  I'm definitely a fan of using yoghurt in the muffin mix and will be trying it out in other recipes coming up!

I've also learned that Cardamom ends in an "m" not an "n".  Who knew?

Enjoy!

Pomada Recipe

Pomada made with Xoriguer Mahon Gin

I've just got back from a lovely lazy holiday in Menorca.  The most northerly of the Balaeric Islands, I'd pretty much written it off as a gathering point for binge-drinking chavs until I was lucky enough to be invited to stay in a villa last year. There are quite a lot of Brits on the Island, (possibly a higher proportion of single hued tracksuits on the flight out than the national average)  but a lot of friendly families rather than the Jaegar-bombing 18-30s brigade intent upon screwing, drinking or burning themselves to death on their seven day package.

My prejudice proved unfounded as on both my visits I've been utterly charmed by the Island's landscape, history and culture and the people.  The food on the island is generally ok - standard Mediterranean fare on the whole but with a few stunning exceptions like the stunningly-located fish restaurant Cap Roig just outside Mahon.  But they do know about their booze.  There is nothing better for getting into the spirit of the place than making like the locals and sipping on an icy cool Pomada at every available opportunity.  Utterly ubiquitous on Menorca, this lemony concoction is available in virtually every single bar.

I've not been able to track down an authentic original recipe, but broadly - a Pomada is a hefty slug of the local Menorcan Gin with a fizzy lemon mixer and plenty of ice.  The only stipulation is that you use the authentic Menorcan Gin - Xoriguer Mahon Gin . It has a unique flavour that differs significantly than your traditional English or Northern European gins. 

Originally developed in the 18th Century to keep the marauding English sailors happy in Port (Nelson was famously stationed in Mahon): the Mahon Gin is based on grape alcohol rather than usual grain, and is infused with local herbs from the Island as well as the essential Juniper.  This combination seems to take away much of the harsh bitter flavour that you can get from an English gin, and is a great deal more fragrant and complex. Delicious!

Its not that easy to get in the UK, but if you aren't planning a trip to the Balearics, then you can get it from specialist booze retailers like TheDrinkShop.com

The most common - and easiest - version seems to use Lemon Fanta, which is generally bought in cans by the slab in the super market.  But one bar on Mahon harbour served up a variety that was much lighter and more refreshing - we decided that they must have used fresh lemonade rather than the canned stuff - and this is what I've recreated below:

Simple ingredients

Ingredients:

• 1 measure Xoriguer Mahon Gin
• 1 measure sugar syrup - sugar and water
• 1 measure fresh lemon juice
• Some lemon slices to serve
• Soda/sparkling water
• Lots of ice - cubes not crushed

Equipment:

• small saucepan if making your own syrup
• Spirit measure - I used a shot glass (cos I'm classy)
• tall glass such as highball or colllins
• long spoon or stirrer

 Make it:

1. If you're making the sugar syrup, then take equal measures of sugar and water and heat in a saucepan until all the sugar has disolved.  If you do around half a cup each, that should be enough syrup for several pomadas, or you can just store it for next time.  Set aside to cool.
2. Three quarters fill your glass with ice cubes (crushed ice melts too fast and will dilute too much)
3. Add equal quantities of the gin, fresh lemon juice and sugar syrup
4. Stir the mixture vigrously (helps to cool the mixture)
5. Top up with sparkling water and give it another stir.  Have a taste and see if you need to add any more of the 3 main flavours to give a balanced flavour. It shouldn't be overpoweringly sweet, sour or alcoholic.
6. Serve with a few slices of lemon and dream of sunshine and blue seas

For a variation - add a few mint leaves to  the mixture and bruise them as you mix with the ice.  Gives a fresher flavour and more fragrant finished article.

Pomada - Best served here

Enjoy!