Jumbo Cappuccino and White Chocolate Muffins . . . .

By Mariealicerayner @MarieRynr

    

This is a recipe I have been eyeballing in a baking book for a while now.  The book is called Annie Bell's Baking Bible.  It's a really lovely book.  Everything I have made from it has turned out beautifully. 

Annie Bell’s Baking Bible is absolutely full of every delicious recipe you’ll ever need, as well as tons of intriguing recipes you’ll never have heard of or seen before, but once tried, will never be forgotten.  Recipes like these Cappucchino muffins here today.
 
I don't drink coffee, but I do like the flavor of it in baked goods.  I normally use Camp which is a British product, composed of water, sugar, 4% caffeine-free coffee essence, and 26% chicory essence.  It makes an excellent substitute for those who don't drink coffee.  I used about 1 TBS of it in these.

In the book Annie made baking paper tubes and lined her ramekins with those.  That just did not work for me, and so I crossed my fingers and just baked them in ramekins which I had buttered really well.  I also lined the bottoms with baking paper rounds.  Worked a charm.  I was really pleased.

I used Green and Blacks quality White Chocolate, cut into nice chunks.  You can see the flecks of vanilla in this chocolate.  It's the white chocolate which I like the best.  It worked beautifully in this recipe.
 
I also dusted mine with some sifted icing sugar to serve.  I did that for several reasons.  Number one I thought it would look really pretty, and number two, it enhanced the coffee/cappucchino flavor of them, with just a tiny bit of sweetness. You could also glaze them with a coffee flavoured drizzle which would be nice.  Look at that lovely chunk of white chocolate you can see there . . .  scrumdiddlyumptious!

They were beautifully moist as well.   We both really enjoyed these.  I also cut the recipe in half because there are only two of us.  That worked fine, no problemo.  If you are looking for a nice muffin recipe with moist muffins that are beautifully flavoured and textured, I highly recommend this recipe.  I hope you will give it a go. 
Oh yes, there is a brown sugar and butter mixture that you swirl into top of them prior to baking as well. It kind of sinks in and caramlizes.  Scrummo!

*Jumbo Cappuccino and White Chocolate Muffins*
Makes 8  large or 12 medium muffinsPrintable Recipe  



This recipe makes eight beautifully flavoured muffins. The sugar swirl in the top is a delightful surprise!
20g (1/4 cup) instant espresso coffee powder1 TBS boiling water310g (2 12 cups) self raising flour115g (1/2 cup) caster sugar2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten375ml (1 1/2 cups buttermilk)1 tsp vanilla extract150g (2/3 cup) melted butter100g (3/4 cup) chopped white chocolate2 TBS butter3 TBS soft light brown sugar
icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Preheat the oven to 200*C.400*F/ gas mark 6.   Butter 8 ramekins well.  Line the bottoms with baking paper.  Place onto a baking tray.  Alternately line a 12 cup medium muffin tin with cupcake papers, or butter really well.

Dissolve the coffee powder in 1 TBS boiling water.  Allow it to cool completely.  Sift the flour and sugar into a bowl.  Beat together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter.  Stir in the coffee mixture.  Add all at once to the dry ingredients.  Roughly mix together along with the chopped chocolate.  Divide between the muffin cases.
Heat the 2 TBS butter and soft brown sugar together, stirring to dissolve the sugar.   Spoon a portion of this mixture onto each muffin and then swirl it into the top of the muffin using a toothpick.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until well risen and the muffins test done.  A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. (If you are doing smaller muffins, they should only take 15 to 20 minutes, max.)
You may or may not dust these with icing sugar prior to serving.  It's up to you!