CHOCOLATE and RASPBERRY MUFFINS

We’ve had our chocolate and raspberry muffin in store since day one — we make and bake it every day, year in, year out. It’s become known as ‘the old favourite muffin’. The old muffin recipe once had buttermilk in it; however, the fat content and thickness of the buttermilk kept changing, so we swapped over to yoghurt, which was a little more expensive, but gave us a better and more consistent product. We vary the other muffins depending on the season and what fruits are available at the market. Shown is our mixed berry muffin, which has also been on for a long, long time. We did try to take it off once and received a deluge of cranky emails, so we put it back on.

Instead of the fruit listed for these three muffins, experiment with the same weight of another fruit — rhubarb and apple, banana and blueberry, plum and peach, poached quince and white chocolate.… let your creative juices flow!

Makes 12

400 g (14 oz/2²/₃ cups) self-raising flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

300 g (10½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar

250 g (9 oz/1 cup) plain yoghurt

250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) milk

310 g (11 oz) unsalted butter

3 eggs, lightly whisked

260 g (9¼ oz) raspberries

260 g (9¼ oz) dark chocolate (55% cocoa), roughly chopped

50 g (1¾ oz/ ¼ cup) raw (demerara) sugar, for sprinkling

icing sugar mixture, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line two large 6-hole (250 ml/9 fl oz/1 cup capacity) muffin tins with paper cases.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the sugar, mixing well to combine. Place the yoghurt and milk in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, then remove from the heat and stir in the yoghurt mix and the eggs. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix with your hands or a spatula until just combined — don’t worry if there are still some lumps. Use a large spoon to gently fold the raspberries and chocolate through.

Spoon the batter into the paper cases. Sprinkle the tops with raw sugar and bake for 30–35 minutes. To test if the muffins are done, press the top of one gently to feel if it is firm, then turn it out of the tray to check that the bottom has coloured.

Cool in the tin for 5–10 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

These muffins are best enjoyed the same day. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature.