Fresh Gooseberry and Elderflower Muffins

30 minutes

Makes 6 large muffins

This recipe is from Delia's Cakes.

What’s good about changing seasons is looking forward to gooseberries, which only come once a year.

They can of course be frozen but they’re never quite as good, so once a year make these glorious and very special muffins.

The Delia Online Cookery School: Delia shows how easy it is to make Muffins. Click the image to play the video.

Got a question on Delia's recipes? Ask Lindsey

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Gooseberry Muffins without elderflower

Asked by: knitting49

Hello Lindsay, you helped me before, so thank you, I would appreciate your help again. My muffin tin has arrived today from Silverwood, and I am wondering about the recipe for gooseberry muffins. I must admit I dont think I like elderflower cordial. Is there anything else I could use please instead of that. Thanking you, Avril.

Answered by Lindsey: Hello Avril, If you omit the elderflower cordial I would increase the castor sugar to 75g and increase the milk to 120ml. Kind regards Lindsey

Method

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.

Ingredients

150g plain flour

1 level dessertspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

40g golden caster sugar

2 tablespoons milk

75ml elderflower cordial

50g block butter, melted and cooled slightly

225g gooseberries, topped and tailed

For the topping:

18 extra (approx. 100g) gooseberries, topped and tailed

1 heaped tablespoon demerara sugar

Equipment

You will need a Delia Online 6-cup Muffin Tray lined with 6 paper muffin cases generously brushed with melted butter. Click here for more details of the muffin cases

The Delia Online bakeware range is now available online, and you can buy our 6-cup Muffin Tray direct from Silverwood.

Click here for the muffin tray