Recommendations: Scrummy Swirly Marble Muffins

Never one to like waste and with a pack of 6 eggs that were about to expire, I decided to make our home-made recipe of chocolate and vanilla marble muffins yesterday. My mum is usually the perfector of these when she gets the time but recently I made a batch that actually excelled her little muffins in that they grew ginormously in the oven and overflowed onto the baking tray – my secret...put them in the main oven mum! Yes the piddley little thing on top has a light and saves from heating the bigger oven for one tray of cakes but they don’t cook as well, and everyone likes a big muffin top.


But instead of hoarding these beauties all to myself, I’m going to share with you our recipe so you can make your very own ‘Fordham Family Marble Muffins’. What an honour! Now I’m no cake or cooking expert but this recipe works wonders for us and if you’d like to try it, this is how I make them:

• I made a 12oz batch yesterday just because I had 6 eggs to use up and however many eggs you have, you double that amount to determine how much flour, sugar and butter to use. I usually do a 10oz so let’s base this recipe on that (however if you want to do more just remember – however many eggs you’re using, double that amount for the other ingredients. 10oz makes 12 muffins)
• PRE-COOKING – Pre-heat the MAIN oven to 180°C and place your muffin cases into a muffin cake tray (this is deeper than a fairy cake tin, don’t get the two mixed up)
• Sift 8oz of self-raising flour into a mixing bowl (it will become apparent why only 8 and not 10 at this point but basically it’s to leave room for the chocolate powder)
• Add 10oz of cooking butter
• Add 10oz of caster sugar
• And finally crack your 5 eggs in the bowl too (...I know usually you’re advised to cream together the butter and sugar first before adding other ingredients but this is just how we make them and it works very well, however alter as you may wish...they’re your cakies)
• Sprinkle in a teaspoon of baking powder and 4 drops of vanilla essence
• Use an electric mixer (and a bowl cover might be handy if you have one) and whisk it all together until it’s smooth, creamy and there are no visible bits of ingredients
• Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases but only filling them half way. Once this is done you should have, and need to have, half your cake mixture still in the bowl
• Then add 2oz of cocoa powder and mix together until the mixture has gone chocolatey
• Fill the other half of each muffin cases with the chocolate mix, filling them almost to the top, and using all your remaining mixture
• Then with the end of a teaspoon or a skewer, swirl each muffin case mixture slightly, just enough so that you can feel the two colours have entwined but that the top is still very much just chocolate, not vanilla


• Pop in the oven for 15mins (the bigger mix you do the longer it will need)
• You know when they are done because if a skewer is poked through them, it comes out clean, they are firm when shaken and springy when touched (when you take them out, if there have been any spillages onto the baking tray, try them, they are delicious especially as they’re still warm and crunchy from the oven!)
• Leave to cool for 30mins

IF YOU WANT TO MAKE CHOCOLATE BUTTER ICING FOR ON TOP OF THE MUFFINS FOLLOW THIS:


• Sift 6oz of icing sugar into a bowl (remember if you’re making a larger batch you may want to increase this amount)
• Add in 2oz of cocoa powder (sometimes I do a little less as this amount can make it quite a rich icing)
• Add in 3oz of cooking butter (however much icing sugar you choose to do, always half this amount for the butter)
• Cream together manually with a spoon – this can take a while and it looks as though there is too much powder for the butter to make creamy but trust me, persevere with it, it will come together so don’t add water or milk or more butter out of impatience...it makes a gooey mess!
•Once your butter icing looks like icing – fairly thick, creamy but perhaps slightly lumpy (don’t worry about the lumps) – it’s time to ice your muffins! Do this in whichever way takes your fancy. I usually just cover the entire muffin tops with no fancy decoration but then afterwards add chocolate drops, sprinkles or sweets...it’s completely up to you.


And hey presto! You have yourself 12 (maybe more) delicious marble muffins! When you eat them you’ll notice how the two different mixes entwine as they cooked to create a marble effect...so what are you waiting for, go and offer them round.


Ps, Let me know if you make them and how they turn out, I love receiving your comments. Would you like to see more recipes on here at all?

(Sorry for a long post today but you can't really make a recipe post short!)