New blog, old favourite...

I wanted to start this new, all food blog with a very favourite book that transformed my enthusiasm for baking last year....paving the way for Baked later on. Now don't get me wrong...I adore, and I hope I always will adore, baking - cooking in all it's forms, really. But when it's your job, and you're trying to find ideas for something different 6 days a week...it can get a little repetetive. I'd been to Ottolenghi's Islington branch in London a few times and felt excited by the beautiful, fresh, vibrant colours & flavours of it's food...especially the salads & the gorgeous bakery offerings placed tantalisingly by the door. The decor, too ,was innovative...shiny ,white walls and surfaces that further enhanced the glowing bowls around me. This was a seriously different place to the usual french-inspired, scrubbed-wood-floor rusticity of so many cafes around today....although I love many of those too!

When the book was published, to a fanfare of fantastic reviews, I ordered it straight away - and I was entranced immediately! The colours, freshness & vivacity were now MINE! And the baking section at the back of the book made me turn my oven on, button up my kitchen coat & plunge in straight away!! The first recipe I made, is the first that I shall post here...and it tastes as spectacular as it looks. So beautiful & celebratory in these long days of Winter. And with their ruby syrup decoration, they'd be perfect for a Valentines Day brunch or tea I think...

Plum, Cinnamon & Marzipan Muffins

{from Ottolenghi the Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi}

Makes 10/12

480g plain (all purpose) flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1tsp ground cinnamon

pinch salt

200g caster(superfine) sugar

2 free-range eggs

110g unsalted butter, melted

280ml milk

grated zest of 2 oranges

120g marzipan (almond paste) -preferably natural & organic

icing (confectioners) sugar to dust

Plum Compote

700g ripe, red plums, stoned & quartered

60g caster (superfine) sugar

1 cinnamon stick

Make the compote first. Preheat oven to 170 degrees /Gas Mark 3. Place the plums in a shallow baking dish, add the sugar & cinnamon stick & mix. Place in the hot oven & bake for 10-20 mins until the plums are very soft & the skins are starting to separate from the flesh. Remove from the oven & set aside to cool.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon & salt into a bowl. Put the sugar & eggs in a large mixing bowl & whisk together. Add the milk & butter (make sure it isn't too hot) and whisk to combine.

Grate the marzipan on the coarse side of a grater (I have also just pulled small bits off with my hands!) and add to the batter, together with the orange zest. Now add 80g of the plum compote - flesh & juice - and stir to combine, setting the remaining compote aside for later.

Using a rubber spatula (or fork), gently fold the flour mixture into the batter until just combined. DON'T overmix - if there are a few lumpy or floury bits, that's what you want!

Line muffin tin with paper liners & spoon in the mixture, filling all the way to the top. Bake 25/30 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean. When cool enough to handle, remove from tin & leave to cool on a wire rack. Just before serving, dust with a little icing (confectioner's) sugar & top with the reserved cooked plums.

I especially love them slightly still warm...the flavours are divine, with the sweet almond paste & the slightly sharp contrast of the syrupy plums.

Gorgeous! Enjoy xoxo