My life as a chef provides me with many moments and experiences that are inextricably linked to my biography, but also to meals, smells and flavours. Carrot muffins are one such example. During my time as a young chef at the prestigious Claridge’s hotel in London, these muffins were made fresh every morning and the smell would come wafting through from the patisserie. The muffins were an integral part of the hotel’s breakfast buffet.
On the way to my post, I would always drop by my colleagues in the patisserie and take one of these muffins with me. They were sweet and yet savoury, and gave me the energy boost I needed to get me through the long days in the hotel kitchen.
I have held on to the carrot muffins and the memories of those days, and used them to create my own recipe. It’s so easy as the ingredients are simply mixed together and then baked – there are no time-consuming techniques involved. The muffins can be made the night before and still taste fabulous the following morning. Alternatively, you can make the muffin mixture in advance and leave it to rest in the fridge overnight.
Here’s how you make them: Mix together 150 g grated carrots, 150 g ground almonds, 50 g rolled oats, 35 g corn starch, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of nutmeg, 2 eggs, 100 ml rapeseed oil, 100 g runny honey, 70 g raisins and 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger. Transfer the mixture to a muffin tin lined with paper cases. Bake for 25 mins. at 190 °C (top and bottom heat) and these delicious carrot muffins are good to go!