Muffin madness

Two posts in one afternoon - you don't get that often! We rounded off our weekend with a little bit of baking fun. A fabulous idea, this one!

Strawberry cheesecake muffins (from 101 Cakes & Bakes, ed Mary Cadogan)
Makes 12


350g plain flour
1/1/2 tbsp baking powder
140g caster sugar
grated zest of 2 med oranges
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
250ml milk
85g melted butter

For the filling
175g half-fat soft cheese
3 tbsp caster sugar
6 small strawberries, halved

1. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, then stir in the sugar, zest and salt. Beat the eggs with the milk, stir in the butter and then mix into the dry ingredients. Don't stir too much!
2. Line a muffin tin with 12 cases.
3. Mix the sugar and cheese for the filling together. We did it in the same bowl into which we'd grated the zest and it added a real tangyness to the filling.
4. Half fill the cases with muffin mixture, then push half a strawberry into each one. Add a scoop of the sweet cheese and then top with more muffin mix.
5. Put in a preheated oven at 200C or Gas 6 for between 15 and 30 mins (ours took about 30, and we turned them around half way through).
6. Cool and enjoy!

Your mix should look something like this - don't worry, there will be lumps!

Squish in the strawberry halves

A dollop of sweet cheese

Make sure you cover all the cheese with more muffin mix

Two spoon technique, displayed beautifully...

Fresh out of the oven