Rhubarb and orange crumble muffins

Method

1. Wash and trim the rhubarb. Cut the stalks in half lengthways and then chop those into one-centimetre chunks. Put the chopped rhubarb into a bowl along with 50g of the caster sugar and stir to combine well. Set it aside and let it stand for fifteen minutes. Heat your oven to 195 Celsius.

2. Make the crumble topping. Cut the butter into small chunks. Combine the soft brown sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon in a bowl then rub them together with your fingertips you get a nice clumpy crumb. Mix in the flaked almonds and set to one side for now.

3. Combine all the dry ingredients for the muffins, that is the flour, the remaining 75g of caster sugar and the baking powder, together in a large bowl.

4. Zest the orange and juice one half of it. Melt the butter. Lightly beat the egg in a bowl, and then add the milk, melted butter, orange juice and zest and the vanilla essence, and whisk them a little to combine them thoroughly.

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix both together using a spoon. Do not over-mix the batter. It is fine if it is a little lumpy and not too smooth. If you over-mix the batter your muffins will be tough and may not bake evenly. Now add the rhubarb, folding it onto the batter. Again, do not over-mix it, just fold in the rhubarb to spread it throughout the batter.

6. Spoon the batter into muffin trays. I use silicone muffin trays that work brilliantly for me. My muffins never stick and bake very evenly. If you are using metal trays, line them with paper, or butter the insides before adding the batter.

7. Finally, spoon some of the crumble over each muffin, and pop them in the oven. Bake at 195 Celsius for eighteen minutes until the muffins have risen, are firm to the touch and the crumble is crisp and golden.

8. When you take them out of the oven, let the muffins cool for ten minutes before removing them from the trays. Then, if you can resist tearing into them straight away, let them cool for another twenty minutes on a wire rack. These muffins taste even better once they have cooled down a little as this will allow all the flavour of the fruit to come through. Serve immediately.