The Baking Medic

Variation #2: Bakewell Muffins

Freedom! Well, freedom-ish.  I just had my midsemester exam yesterday… but that’s all I’m going to say about that. However, since my Easter break saw me working harder than I do in term time, I decided to take today off and play a round of golf.  It was a blustery day, but the sun was out and I was happy to be doing anything other than revision. And my best score yet!

This is the second variation on the original Pear & White Chocolate Muffins.  The first variation was the Jaffa Muffins, in which I substituted the pear and white chocolate chips for orange zest and chocolate chips.  In this variation, I experimented a bit more and replaced 1/2 cup of flour with a 1/2 cup of ground almonds.  I also added a dollop of jam in the centre. I’m sure you’ve guessed what the varation is (if the title of the post didn’t give it away anyway) — they’re Bakewell muffins!

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bakewell tart. :)

Today is quite a special day for two reasons.  Firstly, one of my very close friends is turning 20 today! Woo! So it’s time to say goodbye to using your teenage years as an excuse for ridiculous antics.  Unfortunately, I have also left my teen years behind and I have yet to come up with an adequate explanation for my own antics. O well. :)  I made this tart for her birthday as what’s a birthday without some sort of treat? Normally I’d opt for a cake, but I heard her talk about how much she liked bakewell tarts (albeit the ones with icing and cherries!) and I had some ground almonds which were itching to be used.

Secondly, today is also pi today! The day we celebrate that irrational number that we’re taught about in school and how those decimals just NEVER END.  Mind boggling stuff for an 11 year old.  Anyways, in honour of this mystic number, I made a pie! er. well technically it’s a tart, but they’re practically the same thing. So please, just work with me. lol.

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It seems my blog is running away from me again.  It’s probably been a week since I last posted, and I’ve got at least four things waiting to go up!  Still I suppose it is still better to have too many things to blog about than too few.

This post happens to be about a fresh peach and blueberry galette and my first solo venture into the world of pastry making.  You might think “solo venture” is an odd way to phrase it, but it’s the truth.  In the past, I’ve helped my Grandma make her famous apple pie (whose Grandma doesn’t make the most delicious apple pie you’ve ever tasted?) but I’ve always eschewed pastry making in favour of the more simple “throw everything into a bowl and stir” approach to baking. » Read the rest of this entry «

As promised, I brought in my Marbled Chocolate Almond Brownies to work this past Friday.  If I do say so myself, they were as good as I remembered them! ;) And the container, empty save a few crumbs, is one of my favourite sights. » Read the rest of this entry «

So for a while now I’ve been getting requests at work for a certain type of brownies I made a month or so — Marbled Chocolate Almond Brownies.  Almonds are really the star of these brownies: the almond butter in the batter, the hint of almond extract, and the chocolate almond spread that swirls gorgeously throughought it all.

Without a doubt, this recipe depends on the Chocolate Almond Spread in the marble.  Today, I’m posting the recipe just for the spread, which tastes great on toast too! In a few days, I’ll get around to posting the actual brownie recipe. » Read the rest of this entry «