Plum and hazelnuts muffins and cake

I had been given some more plums this time from a new plotholder who has been allocated Pear Tree Wullies plot. The Victoria plums where just falling off the tree, so she said to me to help myself. I took a punnets worth, not too many as I had enough of my own fruit and veg to be getting on with.

I made this plum and hazelnut cake which turned out quite nice with a cuppa tea, so D says. The following day I decided to experiment making some plum and hazelnut muffins. Instead of chopping the plums to pieces. I decided to poach some of the small whole plum inside the muffin batter. I think they turned out well. The poached plums are what keeps the muffin moist. I do think these are best eaten warm though.

I adapted a muffin recipe from the Joy of Muffins, that’s why the recipe (below) is in American cups.

Muffins are not the easiest to photograph as the fruit and goodness is really in the filling, for example look at my strawberry cheesecake muffins, as delicious as it was, it did not come over in the photography, which in itself is an art. The other thing I have noticed in relation to photography of muffins in cookery books is that there seems to be a lot of props around them. Go on, go and check out one of your cookbooks, to see if I am right or not, which may be the case.
Plum and hazelnut muffins
Makes 9
Ingredients
1/3 cup of softened butter
½ cup sugar
2 cups plain flour
2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon of salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
50g hazelnuts, freshly ground
12 small plums or 6 large plums, cut in half. I did a mixture of both
Method
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, stir in the sugar and walnuts. Whisk together egg, milk and melted butter. Make a well in the dry ingredients and ad the wet ingredients, mixing lightly but quickly. Fill muffin cases one-half full. Add the plum, covering lightly with batter. Bake until golden brown and tester comes out clean. Bake at Gas mark 5 for 30 – 35 minutes or until golden.

Plum and hazelnut cake

Serves 6 - 8
Ingredients
85g softened butter
85g sugar
150g organic white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoon milk
50g hazelnuts, chopped
About 6 plums
Method
Grease a 9 inch cake tin. Preheat oven to gas mark 4.
Beat the softened butter and sugar together well until light and creamy. Sift the flour, baking powder and pinch of salt into a bowl. Add the hazelnuts. Whisk the eggs and milk together in a bowl, and beat them into the flour mixture. Spoon into the cake tin. Halve and stone the plums, and arrange them cut side up in a concentric circle.Bake in oven for about an hour, test with a skewer, it should come out clean in the middle. Allow to cool before serving.