Fresh Gooseberry and Elderflower Muffins

With muffins it’s always a good idea to have everything weighed out and ready before you start.

Begin by sifting the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, lifting the sieve up high to give the flour a good airing. Now, in another bowl whisk together the egg, sugar, milk,elderflower cordial and melted butter. Then return the dry ingredients to the sieve and sift them straight into the egg mixture. (This double sifting is crucial because we won’t be doing much mixing.)

What you now need to do is take a large metal spoon to fold the dry ingredients quickly into the wet ones – the key word here is quickly (i.e. in about 15 seconds). What you mustn’t do is beat or stir, just do the folding and ignore the uneven appearance of the mixture because it’s precisely this that makes the muffins really light. Over-mixing is where people go wrong. Next, quickly fold in the gooseberries – again no stirring. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases. Lightly press 3 of the extra gooseberries into the top of each muffin.

Sprinkle on the demerara sugar and bake just above the centre of the oven for 30 minutes until well-risen and golden brown. Remove the muffins from the oven, and transfer them straight away to a wire rack to cool.

Store in an airtight tin.

Watch our Cookery School Video for more muffin recipes.