Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins

Don't you just love spring. Sometimes it seems forever coming, I spend weeks on wee forages into the garden looking for buds, checking the herbs for signs of new life and then eventually feeling the delight at finding those first tender stems of rhubarb poking through their big cabbage-like leaves.

Most of those early signs of life are snapped up by my boys for the traditional Scottish treat of raw rhubarb dipped in a pot of sugar but I managed to spirit a few away to try these muffins.

Green Apple Cafe is a week old now and the fresh food and home baking seems to be going down well with those who have ventured way out into the countryside to find us. This week we've been trying out all sorts of recipes: oatmeal biscuits, rocky road cookies, cupcakes, tray bakes and scones to name just a few but just for today I need to make the most of this meagre bounty from the garden. I started with rhubarb scones, then made rhubarb crumble cupcakes (definitely coming back to those) but my favourite of the day is rhubarb strawberry muffins. On sale with coffee tomorrow.


Rhubarb Strawberry Muffins

150 g rhubarb
1 tbsp sugar
280g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
85g caster sugar
1 egg
125 ml whole milk
150 ml strawberry yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2oz melted butter
5 strawberries

Chop the rhubarb and place the rhubarb and a tablespoon of sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add just enough water to cover. Cook gently for around 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool while you prepare the muffin batter.
Prepare the muffin tins. Preheat oven to 180C.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar.
In a seperate bowl, whisk the egg, milk, yogurt, butter and vanilla together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir to combine. The batter will be slightly lumpy.
Add the prepared rhubarb and stir through the muffin batter.
Top each muffin with half a strawberry.
Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes.