Coffee Cappuccino Muffin

Muffins, this delicacy originally from the United States are decidedly now everywhere to be found around the planet, for the very pleasure of consumers and cafe goers. Is this the result of globalisation? I would think so. This sweet, soft and moist spongy snack can now be purchased in an infinite kind of flavours even so that every single day of the week could get its special dedicated flavour.
Because of its size, shape and texture the popular muffin can be carried around everywhere, ideal for a welcome hunger break while travelling around the country or in the middle of a traffic jam in the city. But most welcome while sipping a hot drink in the corner coffee shop while on date or even in meeting.

So the familiar muffin is the subject of this article.The chosen flavour for today is coffee cappuccino or more precisely coffee and cream muffin.Please find below the list of ingredients needed followed by the method of preparation and baking last but not least!

The quantity below should be enough for around 15 muffins at 100g each:

Eggs: 210g (around 4 big eggs)
Castor sugar: 345g
Salt: 2.5g
Unsalted Butter: 260g
Plain Yogurt: 55g
Fresh cream: 140g
Drinking water: 60g
Instant coffee: 10g
Cake plain flour: 485g
Baking powder: 21g

Method:

There are usually 2 main methods used to make muffins, one of them is what we call the pound cake method, where we mix up first the softened butter and sugar together and add the eggs slowly.
Then there is also the sponge method, where we mix up first the eggs and sugar like a sponge. This is the sponge method that we are going to use today as I noticed the result was slightly better using this method.

As usual the first thing to do is to turn on the oven and for this recipe we adjust the temperature dial to 220ºC (428ºF). This is for a deck oven, so with a different kind of oven temperature may differ.
First boil the water then dissolve the instant coffee in it like for a normal coffee. Otherwise if you have some very strong espresso coffee on hand it is possible to use it instead. Place it in the fridge to cool down.
Sift the flour together with the baking powder and mix thoroughly.

Melt the butter slowly, preferably on a water bath as the butter should absolutely not boil. When completely melted leave it to cool down on the table at room temperature as we need to use it this way cooled down but not set.
Now whisk the eggs, sugar and salt together with an electric mixer on top gear until light and fluffy as for a sponge. That could take around 7 to 10 minutes depending of the quantities.
While waiting, when the coffee is already cold mix it with the cream and yogurt slowly with a spatula.
When the egg mix is ready, turn down the mixer to first gear and pour in the melted butter first, followed up by the coffee cream mixture slowly as well. Mix until the mixture look smooth, do not over mix
Then take the bowl off the mixer and fold in the sifted flour and baking powder mixing delicately with a spatula or even by hand (if you feel like it). Mix until smooth.

Now I will give you a good trick: If you want a better result and bigger muffing just give the mix a good rest for at least 1 hour in the fridge. So cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 1 hour or more. The result is quite significant this way, with muffins bigger in size after baking.

This gives you time to prepare your muffin trays. If you use the standard size trays there should be 12 cups per tray. Of course if you have some, you can also use individual muffin moulds instead.
Grease-spray the trays or moulds first and then insert a paper cup in each of them. Prepare a piping bag for the filling process or you can instead use a spoon.

After the hour has passed you can start filling the muffin cups. Usually the muffins that we see in the coffee shops are around 100g to 150g, even bigger sometimes, and then they are really mega muffins. A reasonable size I would say is between 100g to 130g each, always depending of the size of the mould, as we do not want to overfill and see the dough coming out of the cups in the oven. A good rule of thumb is to fill the mould flat up to the rim.
Once you have all your cups filled with the muffin mix, they are ready to bake.
But before, if you feel like it, you can still add some garnish on the top, which will render the muffins even more attractive. Something like a few crunched nuts or sesame seeds or chocolate chips or anything else you think will look good, will do the job.
Then it is time to insert the trays inside the hot oven and adjust the temperature down to 200ºC (392ºF).

Bake for 25minutes to 30 minutes or until a small knife inserted in the muffins comes out clean.
If your oven has a ventilation duct, keep it closed during the 1st half of the baking and then open it for the 2nd half.

When the muffins are baked, take them out of the oven and let them cool down 5 minutes as they are on the tray.
Then take them out of the moulds and place them upside down back on top of (not inside) the moulds until they are completely cold, this is a way to stop them becoming dry on the top.

Now your muffins are ready, please enjoy! I really hope you enjoyed this coffee cappuccino muffin recipe. If you need more information about other recipes do not hesitate to contact me.

This recipe was first plublished in this Coffee Cappuccino Muffin Article.