Jamie Oliver has been living in my Sky+ box for the last few months, not the fat-lipped Cockney Cherub himself but his “Jamie At Home” TV show. It must have been the start of the summer when I saw him make Butternut Squash muffins and thought “Hey, they might be nice! The kids will love them”. I saved the show and forgot about it as we all enjoyed frolicking in the sunshine and staying up late.
Autumn came and the poor fella remained in Sky+ limbo so it was time to make a call: Bake or Delete. Thing is I don’t bake. Never have. I fry, flame, flambe, grill, char, roast, sear, slice and lots of other manly things but I don’t bake. I don’t have the tools. I don’t know what the difference between Bread Soda, Baking Soda and Baking Powder are. I asked my kids and they didn’t know either (how will they ever get men?). I didn’t ask my wife because she’s bad enough with the mess I create after making soup. If, while pushing an imaginary crumb around the table with my finger, I casually mooted that I may be about to bake and I may get the kids involved, it would be over. All those loving years would be done faster than you can say Dyson.
Last Saturday the opportunity presented itself. Mum was heading to Dublin. The girls and I dropped her to the airport and once we were sure the plane had physically left the ground off we scooted to Woodies to buy a weighing scales. Reassured by the assistant that none of them come with WiFi we secured an expensive Digital Scales and returned home to consult Google. We needed to know if Bread Soda was the same as Baking Soda (it is). Of course if the scales had Wifi we’d have known this on the spot, this is a missed opportunity in the world of scales making. After gathering the rest of our ingredients we were off. We were baking.
The girls were mad excited and immediately fought over who got what spoon, the fact the spoons were identical in no way detracted from the ferocity of the engagement. The conflict was quickly resolved when I managed to drop the box of eggs on the floor. Hilarity ensued. Eggs on the floor and an irate dad united the girls in amusement and after a cooling off period we were all back on an even keel with the added bonus of the girls having learned yet another swear word. By the time the mixing was finished the place looked like the scene from Turner and Hooch where the dog is left in the house when Tom Hanks is at work. Anyway, we did it! It actually turned out very well. The muffins are pretty easy to make and the frosty lemon topping is really unusual and nice.
This is Jamie’s recipe, it’s not mine, I haven’t made any changes so I’ll just give you the link below for you to try. I recommend you do. Dame Edna once said never eat food prepared by somebody who can’t keep his tongue in his mouth but she’s wrong. His stuff always comes up trumps when I try it and this is no exception. I love the way he tries to make things just a bit better e.g. Olive Oil instead of butter, Butternut squash in the cakes, unrefined sugar instead of processed. Only comment I thought was they benefited from day or so to firm up, I found them a bit soft to begin with but maybe I made them wrong. I don’t bake.
Next weekend we’re off the buy a Magi-Mix. I hope it has WiFi.
Butternut Squash Muffins with Frosty Topping
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