red currant muffins

         
           I consider myself to be quite lucky as it comes to my family's food preferences: they like the simplest foods the most, maybe because of how little time it takes to make them. Especially my brother isn't one to find joy in awaiting treats, and these muffins, photos of which I just stumbled upon, are, I believe, his favourite. They look so extremely plain that it might be difficult to want to make them, but it's worth a try.\

          They are really super easy and super simple to make, and if you don't have to collect the currants before, you don't need more than 10 minutes to make them (plus baking time). They don't grow, and are very buttery; to me, they taste like a cake we used to eat when we went to the seaside before my brother started school. Currants could be swapped for anything, maybe even nuts (I'll try that sometime soon and report on the results), but here in Italy, you can still buy fresh currants, so maybe you can get them in other places, too. 

Red currant muffins:

(makes 12, based on Nigel Slater's recipe)

Ingredients:

125 g flour

125 g sugar (I used brown sugar)

125 g soft butter

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs 

125 g red currants (or any other berries)

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups.

Put all the ingredients but fruit in a bowl, mix until smooth. If the batter is stiff, you can add a spoonful or two of milk (I never do that).

Using a spoon, mix in the currants.

Divide the batter between cups evenly. You can sprinkle brown sugar on top to get a crust, which I didn't do  with the photographed batch but I do at other times.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking doneness with a toothpick before turning the oven off.