Bank Holiday Monday, Toffee and Apple Sauce Muffin Recipe

I hope you are all having a lovely Bank Holiday Monday, I love Bank Holidays, I like to think of them as national home baking days. 

This brilliant muffin recipe is from a new cookbook, Home Bake Eric Lanlard.  Lanlard is the fabulous owner, of the even more fabulous Cake Boy patisserie in London.  I am already crazy for this book, this is the first recipe I have tried but I want to bake everything in it, all the recipes look and sound delicious. 

The book is packed with gorgeous photographs and handy tips, the chapters are titled sponge cakes, tarts, meringues, muffins and cupcakes, tray bakes, festive recipes, cheesecakes, puddings and pastries and biscuits.  I can't wait to try the Macarons, Fresh Fruit Tart, Double Chocolate Marshmallow Muffins and the Lemon Curd Squares.

I decided to make these muffins because firstly, apples and fudge are two of my favourite things and secondly this was Lanlard's description of the muffins in the book:

'These have to be my favourite of all the muffins we make at the patisserie.  The combination of the toffee, apple and rich cinnamon is just pure delight!'

He is not wrong.  These are by far the most delicious muffins I have ever made! Oh my God these are good, really, really good.  They smell like apple pie coming out of the oven and when eaten warm, they are, without doubt the most comforting, delightfully  flavoured muffin ever!

I love the combination so much I'm going to come up with a cupcake version for the Buttercream Bakery menu, maybe a fudgy apple sauce filled cuppie with fudge frosting and cinnamon sugar sprinkle.

My only note is that my butter and eggs did not combine in the slightest, the butter remained lumpy despite being very soft.  I proceeded regardless and the batter came together really well in the end, with very few lumps despite being combined very gently.

Toffee and Apple Sauce Muffins - Home Bake by Eric Lanlard

Makes 12 Large Muffins

For the Apple Sauce

300g (11oz) Bramley apples (about one large apple)

100g (3 1/2oz) soft light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2tsp Calvados

For the Muffins

275g (9 1/2 oz) plain flour

100g (3 1/2 oz) caster sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

75g (2 3/4oz) unsalted butter, softened

2 large eggs

125ml (4fl oz) full fat milk

100g (3 1/2oz) home-made or bought fudge,

chopped in to small chunks

2 tbsp cinnamon sugar

(2 tbsp soft light brown sugar

mixed with 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon)

icing sugar for dusting

To make the apple sauce: Peel and core the apples and cut into small cubes.  Place the diced apples in a saucepan with the sugar, cinnamon, Calvados and 1 teaspoon of water.  Cook over a low heat until the apples are tender but not mushy.  Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200C.  Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin papers.

Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.

Beat the butter  and eggs together, then add the milk.  Stir this mixture into the flour mixture along with the fudge, until just incorporated.  Don't over stir, it's fine if the mixture is a little lumpy.

Spoon half the mixture into the muffin cases, then spoon over 2/3 of the apple sauce.  (Ensure that the apple sauce is the same consistency as the batter so that it doesn't sink into the cakes).  Cover with the remaining muffin batter.  With a small spoon make a swirl of apple sauce in the top and dust with lots of cinnamon sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

Serve dusted with icing sugar. 

 They are also fantastic warm with the steamy apple sauce centre and melting fudge!

Next time your making muffins try these, you will not be disappointed.

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Bank Holiday Monday, Toffee and Apple Sauce Muffin Recipe