Syrupy vanilla muffins

Thomas Land is a regular haunt of the Bell family. No princesses and ballet lessons for me. It’s all about trains and knights in this house. The first time we visited the train wonder that is Thomas Land, we’d only been on site for half an hour and I was already plotting how to convert my day pass to a season ticket, such is the train love in our family. The boys pester to ride Thomas, Diesel and Jeremy. I pester for the syrupy muffins in the café located by the zoo. So often I buy a muffin and am disappointed at their dry and often tasteless state. Not at Thomas Land, which should be renamed Land of Syrupy Muffins as far as I’m concerned.

INGREDIENTS

50g dark muscovado sugar

65g caster sugar

115g salted butter

230g golden syrup, plus an extra 60 g for drizzling

2 tablespoons custard powder

210g self-raising flour

150ml whole or semi-skimmed milk

1 large egg, at room temperature

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a 12-hole muffin tray with cases. Melt the sugars, butter and the 230 g of syrup in a large saucepan over a low heat until everything has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Use a wooden spoon to beat the custard powder and flour into the melted sugar mixture, then beat in the milk. Beat in the egg until the mixture is smooth and well combined – it should be very runny. Pour the mixture into the muffin cases (using a jug if it is easier) until half to three-quarters filled. Bake for about 45 minutes until they’re golden and a skewer comes out of the centre of the muffin clean.

Whilst the muffins are still warm spoon 1 teaspoon of golden syrup over the top of each. Remove from the tray and leave to cool on a wire rack.

#normalmum #muscovadosugar #vanilla #muffin