Age is Just a Number {lemon poppy seed scones}

Today is my birthday.

Not just any birthday, my thirtieth. See I wrote it out as it looks better then in-your-face numbers.

Honestly though I am not overly bothered about turning thirty. I knew it was going to happen one day. Next year will probably make me freak out a little, but that's a whole year away!

I need to focus on today and tomorrow. Today while you read this I will be baking with Eric Lanlard in his Spring Baking Mad course. Thanks to my Mom & Dad! I can't wait to share my experience with you! And on my way back to Berkshire I plan to stop at Outsider Tart with my amazing friend Lauren, who is picking me up!

Then Friday, I have family and friends coming round for drinks and snacks and drinks. Should be a good night. It will be even better if it doesn't rain all day like predicted. So, I made these Lemon and Poppy Seed scones as an offering to the Sun God(s). That is if there are any left to offer. 

I will let you know if it works, as soon as these were out of the oven the sun shone through the clouds! I used John Whaites recipe from his new book!

I probably will be absent from social media the next few days as I'm off having a fun birthday weekend! But follow me on Twitter (@unitedcakedom) on Sunday May 19th as I will be baking and tweeting live my Banana CinnaMuffins (level10) for World Baking Day!

notes: Happy Birthday to me! Eric Lanlard's cooking school; Outsider Tart; Sun God(s); my review of John Whaites Bakes; World Baking Day check out the site for recipes and Bake Brave this Sunday May 19th!

Pineapple Muffins!! (low-fat)

I made a very yummy sweet and sour stir-fry for dinner last night; the point of me telling you this is that it had fresh pineapple in it. The reason for me stating this is- I didn’t need a whole pineapple.

I remembered this recipe that I pulled out of the YOU magazine (4 March 2012) that comes every Sunday in the Daily Mail. These are made without butter and egg yolks so they are semi-healthy for you!! Do I dare call them low fat?

They are very moist and dense and will keep for a couple days according to the article. My Mini-Baker didn’t really like them because they do have a different texture. I really enjoyed them though, even if they can only be eaten one at a time! This recipe makes 10 ‘buns.’ Enjoy!!

200g plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

100g golden caster sugar

200g trimmed and diced pineapple flesh

100ml apple juice

3 medium egg whites (large in the US)

1 tsp vanilla extract

finely grated zest of one lemon (I left this step out as my husband is citrus intolerant)

50g of dried sour cherries or raisins

vegetable oil for brushing (I used sunflower oil)

125g apricot jam

poppy seeds for sprinkles

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and prepare your muffin tin
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar together in a large bowl.
3. Mash the pineapple in a food processor or as I did with my stick blender thing that I used to make baby purees’- it shouldn’t be liquid but a puree with texture.
4. Add all the wet ingredients to the dry. Pineapple, juice, egg whites, vanilla, and zest. Stir until just combined.
5. Fold in the cherries or raisins.
6. The mixture is very sloppy so you will need to brush the inside of your paper cases with a little veggie oil.
7. Carefully spoon the mixture into the cases. I used an ice cream scoop. You can fill them up (not to the top) because they won’t raise much.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are a light golden brown and they are slightly raised.
9. While they are cooling- gently heat the jam in a saucepan and once loosened sieve into a bowl. Then brush the tops of each bun with the jam to glaze them.
10. Sprinkle the poppy seeds over the tops and leave to set for 30 minutes to allow the glaze to set.