Chocolate muffins

Gemma is usually the muffin mistress in our house. (I've always had a liking for alliteration.) However, in the re-run of Carmela's birthday I got the job. This recipe is adapted from Muffins: Fast and fantastic.



Ingredients
250g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
110g caster sugar
1 egg
225 ml milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
30 ml vegetable oil
100 g of dark chocolate

Method

1. Prepare your muffin cases, and heat the oven to 190oC. (This recipe makes 20 small muffins, and 12 larger ones.) In a large bowl, Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and sugar. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in a bain mairie.
2. Beat the egg, and add the milk, vanilla and oil. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture, mix well and add the melted chocolate.
3. Fill the muffin cases about three-quarters full and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Leave to cool for a few minutes before removing from the cases.

The photo below has nothing to do with chocolate muffins (other than being taken from my balcony while waiting for the muffins to cool). However, it's not often that a Colombian man dressed as a parrot and wearing stilts skates down my street, and that seemed like a good enough reason to include him here. (Yes, stilts AND skates.)