How to make Colm O'Gorman's easy cranberry and orange muffins

Christmas Day food is all about indulgence. Given the amount of cooking to come later in the day, I generally try to keep breakfast simple, but it as to be delicious, and yes, indulgent. 

We usually have scrambled eggs and smoked salmon served on toasted croissants. 

A mimosa or two made with prosecco and some fresh orange juice is also usually in order. 

We will not sit down to eat again until we have Christmas dinner, and as we usually eat sometime mid-afternoon, a substantial breakfast is in order. 

A sweet breakfast treat of some kind to follow the eggs and salmon works perfectly.

This year I am going to make my cranberry and orange muffins. These are fabulous. 

Freshly baked, soft and bursting with fruit, the tartness of the cranberries means they are not overly sweet, and the orange and cranberry glaze gives the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness.

Fresh cranberries work best for this recipe and are readily available in the shops at this time of year. Frozen cranberries will also work, but do not use dried berries. 

Colm O'Gorman's easy cranberry and orange muffins

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

If you do not like cranberries, you can substitute raspberries instead. If you do, reduce the amount of sugar for the glaze by half as they are much sweeter than cranberries.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 225g plain flour

• 70g caster sugar

• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

• A little fresh grated nutmeg

• 1 beaten egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

• 125 ml milk

• 80g melted butter

• Juice and zest of an orange

• 200g fresh cranberries

• Glaze:

• 100g fresh cranberries

• 50g caster sugar

• Juice of half an orange

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 195 Celsius. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Try to use freshly grated nutmeg as the flavour is so much better than ground nutmeg. Use just a little, around a quarter of a teaspoon is plenty.

2. Grate the zest from the orange, and then juice it. Melt the butter. I just cut it into chunks and pop it in the microwave for forty-five seconds, but you can melt it in a small pan on the hob if you wish.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg. Now add the milk, the vanilla essence, the zest, and juice of the orange, along with the melted butter and mix well.

4. Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and combine them with a spoon. You do not need a mixer to make this batter, mixing by spoon in a big bowl is fast and easy. Do not over mix the batter, it is fine if it has just a few little lumps in it.

5. Rinse the cranberries under running at in a colander and drain them thoroughly. Add 200g of the cranberries to the batter, folding them in using a big spoon or a spatula until they are well distributed throughout. Set the rest of the cranberries aside for now, you will use them later to make a glaze to finish the muffins.

6. Spoon the batter into muffin trays, making sure to get fairly even distribution of cranberries for each individual muffin. This recipe will yield ten to twelve muffins depending upon the size of your trays. I like to use silicone muffin trays as they give me a consistently great result, and do not need to be lined or greased. The muffins will simply pop out of the trays once they have cooled a little. If you are using metal muffin trays, line them with paper, or butter the insides well before adding your batter. The last thing you want is your muffins sticking like glue to your tray.

7. Pop your trays into the preheated oven and bake for about fifteen to seventeen minutes until the muffins are beautifully risen, golden brown and firm to the touch. While they are baking, make the glaze.

8. You do not have to add the glaze, but it is worth the little bit of extra effort it requires. It adds a real punch of flavour to the finished muffins and is wonderfully sticky and sweet.

9. To make the glaze, pop the remaining one hundred grams of cranberries into a small saucepan along with 50g of caster sugar and the juice of half an orange. Bring to a soft boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook the fruit down over a low to medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it has a jam like consistency. The cranberries will pop open as they cook, just give the pot an occasional stir to help break them down. You want a little texture to the glaze, so do not break down the cranberries completely. The glaze will take about eight to ten minutes to cook once you get it to a simmer.

10. When your muffins are baked, let them cool in their baking trays for about five minutes. Then remove them from the trays and transfer the muffins to a wire rack. Use a citrus zester to remove some strips of zest from an orange. Spoon a little of the glaze over each muffin, and finish with a little of the orange zest. Serve the muffins warm on a platter and let everyone help themselves.