Quick and Easy lemon Curd Muffins..

I added a Lemon Curd Muffin recipe to Eating for Ireland a couple of weeks ago, and a very good recipe it was too. However, I found I wanted a quicker, easier version, and so my searches brought me to this one, which after – may I say – extensive – testing has now become my go-to Lemon Curd Muffin recipe. I’d love it if you’d try for yourself, and let me know how these work for you. After making this recipe, you’ll find that throwing it together at short notice becomes almost second nature!

As regards the Lemon Curd used for the delicious ‘surprise’ zingy bite in the middle, I can do no better than recommend my own homemade lemon Curd recipe – always easy, always delicious, and such a well-received gift for friend or family.. However, if you’re really pushed for time, a good shop-bought would do well.

https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/home-made-lemon-curd/

EQUIPMENT:

•  A 12-hole Muffin tray, lined with muffin cases, or well buttered.
• 1 large bowl
• 1 medium sized bowl, with a sieve sitting over it
• A balloon whisk
• A measuring jug
• A spatula

INGREDIENTS:

• 250g Self-raising flour
• 1½ teaspoons of baking powder
• The finely grated zest of 1-2 lemons
• 50mls Lemon juice, from the zested lemons
• 2 large eggs
• 60mls of Sunflower or other light oil
• 125g whole milk
• 125g Golden caster sugar
• 1/2 a teaspoon of salt
• A jar of lemon curd – you won’t need all of it.

METHOD:

• Heat the oven to 170° Fan.
• Zest the lemons, squeeze the juice, and leave to one side
• Sift the flour and baking powder together into the medium-sized bowl and leave to one side.
• Crack the eggs into the large bowl, and using the whisk, beat well for several minutes until they’re completely broken up and a slightly paler colour.  This took me about 3-4 minutes of moderately vigorous whisking..

• Add the oil, and whisk it in.
• Add the lemon juice, and whisk
• Add the milk, and – yes, you’ve guessed it – whisk
• Add the caster sugar and lemon zest, and keep whisking. The mixture comes together really quickly, and is a pale lemon colour.
• Add the flour/baking powder all in one go, and using a spatula, mix it all together quickly. Don’t over mix, as that makes the muffins go a bit tough.
• Mentally divide the Muffin mixture in 2 – I just run the spatula through the middle of the bowl.  This helps to make sure that you’ll have enough Muffin mixture left to top off the muffins.
• Put a dessertspoonful of Muffin mixture into each paper case.

• Add a decent-sized teaspoon of Lemon Curd to each one
• Top it off with another dessertspoon of muffin mixture. Don’t bother trying to tidy it up – the oven will do that for you.
• Pop into the oven for about 20 minutes, until risen and golden.
• Cool in the tray for 10 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.

• These are best served fully cooled. That’s not to say that I personally waited until they were cold.. 😉 but, you know, do what I say, etc.. 

NOTES:

Most of the notes were added as I wrote the recipe.

• However, for anyone anxious about hand whisking, I didn’t find this difficult at all.  Rather than whisking in a circular movement, I whisked back and forth, turning the bowl every now and then, and it worked really well.