Le Cordon Bleu’s style Muffins

Lemon muffins

make 8 medium muffins

300g self-raising flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
125 caster sugar
2tbsp grated lemon rind
185ml buttermilk
1tsp vanilla extract or essence
2eggs, lightly beaten
110g unsalted butter, melted

Icing:
20g unsalted butter, softened
100g cream cheese
2tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

shreds of lemond rind, to decorate

preparation:

1. preheat the oven to moderately hot 200℃.
grease a 12-hole muffin tin with melted butter or oil, Sift the flour, baking powder and sugar into a large mixing bowl, stir in the lemon rind and make a well in the center.

2. Mix the buttermilk, vanilla and eggs together in a small jug.

3. add the butter and the egg mixture to the well in the dry ingredients. Using a metal spoon, stir until the mixture is just combined. Do not overmix -the mixture should be lumpy.

4. Spoon the mixture into eight holes of the muffin tin, filling each hole about the three-quarters full. bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before lifting out onto a wire rack to cool.

5. to make the icing, beat the butter and cream cheese with electric beaters until well mixed. add the icing sugar and lemon juice, and beat until thick and creamy. Spread the icing over the muffins when they are completely cold. Decorate with shreds of lemon rind.