Dark chocolate & raspberry muffins

Muffins are hard to photograph. They're not inherently pretty in the same way layered cakes, individual tarts, and cupcakes are. Muffins are kind of messy and don't have a singular defining visual feature - or at least mine don't.

Nevertheless, what they lack in visual beauty they often make up for in taste.These muffins aren't elegant or stunning but they are amazingly tasty. They're packed full of raspberries and chocolate, two things that never fail disappoint me.

When I making these I honestly doubted that I would be able to fit all the raspberries in but I could and I did. Each muffin has around eight raspberries and a whole bunch of chocolate. Eight doesn't sound like that many raspberries but bear in mind that these are cooked in a standard muffin tin.

I used demerara sugar to sand the tops of these though, if you don't have any on hand, you can use raw sugar as suggested by the original recipe. I prefer the taste of demerara sugar and I think the large grains are quite beautiful. My muffins had quite a crisp top, I imagine raw sugar would give a similiar texture.

Truthfully, I don't really have much else to say about these muffins. They speak for them-self.

Dark chocolate & raspberry muffins

(adapted from Bourke Street Bakery by Paul Allam & David McGuinness)
makes 10 standard muffins

265g (1 + 3/4 cups) plain flour
1 + 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
200g (1 cup) caster sugar
205 (7.2 oz) butter
320ml (1 + 1/3 cups) buttermilk
2 eggs
150g (5 oz) dark chocolate, roughly chopped
140g (5 oz) raspberries, fresh or frozen
55g (1/4 cup) demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Line a 12-hole standard muffin tin with paper cases.

Place the flour, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl and whisk well to combine.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat, then remove from the heat and stir in the buttermilk. Using a whisk, stir in the eggs, one at a time, whisking to combine. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the dry ingredients and whisk to combine, using a large spoon, gently fold through the chocolate.

Using a 1/4 cup spoon mixture into prepared muffin tins. Cover each muffin with raspberries, pressing them into the batter slightly. Spoon remaining batter over the raspberries. Sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C (350°F) and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the muffins are well risen and firm.

Remove muffins from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before eating. Muffins are best served warm.