Nigel Slater's recipes for breakfast muffins and kipper cakes with dill sauce
Few things stimulate the appetite quite like a walk before breakfast on a winter morning. Back home, newspaper and loaf of bread in hand, the hob is on, the coffee is on, and the kitchen table becomes the best place in the world. If there are guests, there will be something more than a bacon sandwich on our plates. Sometimes there may be the plump fish cupcakes I made this week. Crispy golden pillows of smoked fish and mashed potatoes, good for breakfast or dinner, eaten with a zappy jar of pickles on the side.
The recipe is helpful as long as you can make the night before, patting the cakes into rounds and leaving them in the fridge overnight. I use prepared fillets to avoid the tricky task of extracting the fine bones that hide on either side of a whole kipper. Time is saved, but I rather regret not seeing the golden, silver and black reflections of the splendid blooming smoked fish.
There can also be plain or boiled fruit , or maybe plump muffins with seeds and oats. The pairing of raspberries and oats is probably best enjoyed in a fall cranachan, where the two are layered in a wine glass with whipped cream and whiskey for dessert, but I know them best as breakfast partners.
On a gray winter morning, when apples and pears are welcome but have become ubiquitous, a patch of purple berries - though fresh from the freezer - is a cheerful sight in a bowl of Bircher muesli or studded in a ricotta pancake.
For the weekend, I threw in a handful of frozen berries in a batch of oatmeal muffins and, slipping into the hot breakfast cakes with their crisp crown of blue poppy seeds, I was pretty glad I had. We ate the rest of the batch, briefly reheated, to brighten up a parky Monday morning.
Breakfast muffinsIt's customary to let any cake settle and cool before eating, but I recommend that these little breakfast muffins be eaten as soon as they are cooked. Orange zest reveals the flavor of raspberries, poppy seeds add a welcome crunch. They are unsweetened, so if desired, add an extra tablespoon of sugar. I like to serve them with apricot jam. Serves 9
plain flour 275g baking powder 2 tbsp caster sugar 2 tbsp peggs 3 grated orange zest 2 tbsp kefir heaped 175ml apple 1 raspberry 125g (frozen or fresh) rolled oats 40g poppy seeds 1 tbsp
Set oven to 200C/thermostat 6. Line a nine-hole loaf or muffin pan with paper liners.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, then stir in the caster sugar. Crack the eggs into a small bowl, add the grated orange zest, then beat lightly to combine. Stir in the kefir.
Coarsely grate the apple. Fold the flour and egg mixture together slightly but completely, making sure there are no pockets of flour. Add grated apple, raspberries and all but 2 tablespoons oats, stirring gently.
Spoon batter into bread liners, sprinkle with poppy seeds and reserved oats, then bake for about 20-25 minutes until puffed. The tops should be springy when pressed with your finger. Allow to rest briefly before eating. Serve hot, with a little jam on the side.
Kipper cakes with dill sauce
Few things stimulate the appetite quite like a walk before breakfast on a winter morning. Back home, newspaper and loaf of bread in hand, the hob is on, the coffee is on, and the kitchen table becomes the best place in the world. If there are guests, there will be something more than a bacon sandwich on our plates. Sometimes there may be the plump fish cupcakes I made this week. Crispy golden pillows of smoked fish and mashed potatoes, good for breakfast or dinner, eaten with a zappy jar of pickles on the side.
The recipe is helpful as long as you can make the night before, patting the cakes into rounds and leaving them in the fridge overnight. I use prepared fillets to avoid the tricky task of extracting the fine bones that hide on either side of a whole kipper. Time is saved, but I rather regret not seeing the golden, silver and black reflections of the splendid blooming smoked fish.
There can also be plain or boiled fruit , or maybe plump muffins with seeds and oats. The pairing of raspberries and oats is probably best enjoyed in a fall cranachan, where the two are layered in a wine glass with whipped cream and whiskey for dessert, but I know them best as breakfast partners.
On a gray winter morning, when apples and pears are welcome but have become ubiquitous, a patch of purple berries - though fresh from the freezer - is a cheerful sight in a bowl of Bircher muesli or studded in a ricotta pancake.
For the weekend, I threw in a handful of frozen berries in a batch of oatmeal muffins and, slipping into the hot breakfast cakes with their crisp crown of blue poppy seeds, I was pretty glad I had. We ate the rest of the batch, briefly reheated, to brighten up a parky Monday morning.
Breakfast muffinsIt's customary to let any cake settle and cool before eating, but I recommend that these little breakfast muffins be eaten as soon as they are cooked. Orange zest reveals the flavor of raspberries, poppy seeds add a welcome crunch. They are unsweetened, so if desired, add an extra tablespoon of sugar. I like to serve them with apricot jam. Serves 9
plain flour 275g baking powder 2 tbsp caster sugar 2 tbsp peggs 3 grated orange zest 2 tbsp kefir heaped 175ml apple 1 raspberry 125g (frozen or fresh) rolled oats 40g poppy seeds 1 tbsp
Set oven to 200C/thermostat 6. Line a nine-hole loaf or muffin pan with paper liners.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, then stir in the caster sugar. Crack the eggs into a small bowl, add the grated orange zest, then beat lightly to combine. Stir in the kefir.
Coarsely grate the apple. Fold the flour and egg mixture together slightly but completely, making sure there are no pockets of flour. Add grated apple, raspberries and all but 2 tablespoons oats, stirring gently.
Spoon batter into bread liners, sprinkle with poppy seeds and reserved oats, then bake for about 20-25 minutes until puffed. The tops should be springy when pressed with your finger. Allow to rest briefly before eating. Serve hot, with a little jam on the side.
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