Like most of the baking on my website, these Muffins were not my idea (wish they were though!). They came straight out of the latest edition of Delicious Magazine, which is a regular source of inspiration for me. These were gorgeously fragrant and light and the whipped ricotta and honey topper sprinkled with toasted walnuts, sesame seeds, cinnamon and dried apple was simply a master stroke. I did actually change it up a bit and replaced the cashews in the recipe with walnuts and I added extra buttermilk and oil to really moisten these babies up. Thanks @deliciousaus, you and your contributors are my heroes!
I bought these groovy little cafe style muffin cases at Coles in the cake section. I like using muffin cases as it means you don’t need to worry about greasing a muffin pan. If you prefer, lightly grease a muffin tray before filling with the mixture.
Prep time: 20 Minutes Cooking time: 20 Minutes $$ Medium Budget
Makes 12
2 cups of self raising flour, sifted
3/4 cup of caster sugar
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground ginger
1/2 tsp of ground cloves
1/2 tsp of ground cardamom
1 egg
2/3 cup of buttermilk
1/3 cup of sunflower oil (you could use vegetable)
1/2 cup of smooth ricotta
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 cup of dried apple, finely chopped
For the Topper:
11/2 cups of smooth ricotta (you will need 500gm all up)
2 tbs of good runny honey
2 tbs of toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup of toasted walnuts, chopped finely
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 cup of dried apple, finely chopped
Pre heat the oven to 200°C.
In a large mixing bowl combine the sifted flour, sugar, spices and dried apple. In a measuring jug or smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and oil. Add it to the dry mixture and fold through the mixture lightly before folding through 1/2 a cup of ricotta and the vanilla extract.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases or lightly greased pan and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the centre. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before topping with the ricotta.
To make the ricotta, mix the ricotta and honey together with a whisk until light and fluffy. Combine the toasted nuts, sesame seeds, dried apple and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
I placed the ricotta in a sandwich sized zip lock bag, cut a tiny bit off the corner and piped the mixture onto the muffins but you can just dollop on with a spoon if you prefer. Sprinkle over the Dukkah mixture and serve. I liked these chilled as the ricotta set beautifully but they could be served at room temperature……