Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate muffins for New Year's Day.

I made these on the spur of the moment, and didn't follow a recipe as such (I've made them before). I used 250g of spelt flour, three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, a dessert spoonful of sunflower oil, six dessert spoonfuls of drinking chocolate powder, six teaspoonfuls of black treacle, a dash of nutmeg and half a teaspoonful of mixed spice. Plus two large eggs and two pinches of salt.

I added the eggs to 300 mls of cold water, the treacle, and the salt. Beaten thoroughly. Then I began to add the dry assemblage of the spelt, chocolate powder, baking powder, plus the nutmeg and the mixed spice. Beat thoroughly together along with the sunflower oil. Allow to stand for ten minutes or so.

The oven was preheated to 180 deg C. Add three dessert spoonfuls of the muffin mixture to each muffin case. Cook for thirty minutes, watching progress carefully.

Raspberry and Chocolate Framboise

This is a pretty decadent dish - Moroccan raspberries soused in some Gordon's gin, and Crème de Framboise syrup (it is a raspberry flavoured liqueur made near Dijon in Burgundy - "Lejay-Lagoute" brand). I kept the soused fruit in the fridge for three or four days before serving.

I chopped up some dark fruit and nut chocolate and added it to the serving dish, followed by the soused fruit and juices. Then I added two dessert spoonfuls of a Greek style yoghurt, and gave the contents of the dish a couple of gentle stirs.

Fabulous! Plain dark chocolate will do just as well for this dish, but I prefer my chocolate to be leavened with fruit and nut (hazelnut and raisins).