Very Berry Breakfast Muffins

These Very Berry Breakfast Muffins are nothing less than an experiment in how much summer fruit it is possible to cram into a muffin and still maintain structural integrity! (About 300g as it turns out.)

The summer fruits are cropping heavily with cherries, raspberries, strawberries all ready now and the blueberries soon to ripen (confession: some bought blueberries went in here too!)

I am the furthest thing away from a morning person it is possible to be so easy, quick to ‘grab and go’ breakfasts are a must for me. These are packed full of homegrown fruit and the oats add a nice breakfasty touch too! You can whip them up in about 30 minutes start to finish too, which is always nice!

Makes 8

50g dark muscoavdo sugar
125ml milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
40g butter, melted and cooled
150g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
~300g mixed summer fruits (can use frozen if fresh not available!)

8tsp porridge oats

8tsp Demerara sugar

– Heat the oven to gas mark 6/200°C and prepare 8 holes of a muffin tin with paper cases. 
– Beat together the sugar, milk, egg and vanilla essence then add the butter and beat again. 
– Add the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixture.
– Fold in gently. 
– Add the fruits and stir in to the mixture to evenly distribute.  
– Divide the mixture evenly between the cases. 

⁃ Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a teaspoon each of oats and Demerara sugar.
– Bake for 25 minutes. (Check after 20)
– Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little in the tin then place on a wire rack to cool completely or serve warm. These will be much less stable when warm but the berries taste amazing!

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Wild Garlic Salt

I love wild garlic! It’s such a lovely, seasonal, easy to forage ingredient. But it has a relatively short season so I’m all about ways to preserve this fabulous flavour. This year I’ve made wild garlic salt and oh my goodness it is a game changer! Making this couldn’t be simpler, it just takes time to dehydrate the salt once the garlic is combined.

500g rock salt

Large bunch wild garlic

– First off, clean your garlic of any bugs or non garlicky bits.

– Put half of your salt and all of your garlic in a food processor and blitz until the garlic is finely ground into a paste with the salt.

– Add the rest of the salt and pulse until all evenly combined and browns down to your favoured consistency for salt.

– Spread evenly over dehydrator sheets.

– Leave to dehydrate overnight.

– Crumble up and store in airtight jars until needed.

Wild Garlic Spring Soup

This quick and simple spring soup makes use of the wild garlic found in plentiful supply around the uk. You can easily identify a patch from the smell! I keep a small patch in my own garden for ease of harvesting.

The vibrant green is perfect for early spring and Easter themed meals. The creaminess comes from the courgette and as ever a good slip is built on a good stock! A stock cube is just fine but make sure it’s a good one!

1 large bunch wild garlic leaves, roughly torn

1 courgette, roughly chopped

1 small leek, sliced

1 cup frozen petit pois

1 vegetable stock cube

1 clove garlic, crushed

Salt and pepper to taste

– Heat a table spoon of olive oil in a large pan.

– Add the courgette, leek, garlic leaves and peas and cook over a medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the courgette is soft.

– Add half a litre of boiling water.

– Add your stock cube and garlic.

– Remove from the heat and blend with a stick blender until all the chunks are gone.

– Return to the heat and bring to a simmer. Season to taste.

– If you want to adjust the thickness you can add more water if necessary or simmer on a low heat to reduce further.

– Serve with a garnish of thinly sliced wild garlic leaves and a dollop of sour cream.