Chocolate Bakewell Muffin (Free-From Dairy)

These may not be the quickest muffin recipe out there, but they sure are one of the best. Love pie? Love a muffin? Why not have the best of both: Presenting the chocolate bakewell muffin, and better yet it’s dairy-free too.

Makes: 12 muffins

Level of difficulty: Medium

Prep time: 30 mins
Bake time: 15-18 mins
Decorate time: 15 mins

Pastry ingredients:

175g self-raising flour

90g hard margarine

30g caster sugar

1 medium egg

3 tsp water

Sponge ingredients:

1 medium egg

125ml rice milk

75ml vegetable oil

100g caster sugar

150mg self-raising flour

80mg ground almond

1 large pinch of salt

1.5 tsp baking powder

50g grated plain dark chocolate (dairy-free)

(add more rice milk if not smooth enough)

Frosting ingredients:

80g hard margarine

320g icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

40ml rice milk (add more rice milk if needed)

Recipe:

First make the pastry:

1. Place the flour and margarine into the same bowl – rub together using just your fingertips until the mixture is like fine breadcrumbs. Tip: It’s easier if you cut the margarine into cubes.
2. Mix in the sugar.
3. In a separate bowl beat the egg, and then add it to the mixture. Kneading the pastry together it should form a soft, but tight ball. You may need to add some water to the mix if it’s too crumbly, but be careful not to make it wet – if you do, slowly add more flour till it becomes less tacky to the touch.
4. Clean a space on the worktop and dust it lightly with flour, this helps to prevent the pastry from sticking. Roll out the pastry till it’s just a few millimetres thick.
5. Then, using a pastry cutter, cut and place the pastry into each muffin mould. The pastry should just reach the rim. In this example I used a 3.5 inch (6cm) cutter. If the mould/tin has lost its non-stick, rub a bit of margarine inside before inserting the pastry.
6. Put aside for now.

Now the sponge:

7. Mix the egg, rice milk and vegetable oil together.
8. Next, add the sugar and mix well.
9. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, ground almond, salt and baking powder. Slowly pour the two mixes together, stirring all the while.
10. Grate the chocolate bar, and add to the mix – stir well.
11. If the mixture doesn’t drop off the spoon easily or/and it’s hard to stir, add more rice milk till it’s like thick honey.
12. Pour the mixture into the pastry cases till it’s just shy of the top.
13. Cook in a 180°C fan for 15-18 mins. The sponge should bounce back when touched at the top, and the pastry bottoms should be brown and firm to the touch.
14. Leave to cool.

Frosting:

1. Mix the margarine and icing sugar together, use a fork to start with as the mixture is hard.
2. Slowly add the vanilla essence and rice milk, till the icing sugar is softer than before, but holds its shape. If it’s too runny, add more icing sugar. If it’s too hard, slowly add a teaspoon of rice milk at a time.
3. Making sure the muffins are cool, apply the icing sugar – a sandwich bag with a small cut in the corner can act like a piping bag. Start from outside and make your way in.

You should now have 12 chocolate bakewell muffins