Mrs. MC's Magic Muffins

Mrs MC has discovered a recipe for these delicious muffins. They are so good they have reduced our oldest to a life of thievery. Actually she was just really happy to eat them. They are pretty healthy and full of good ingredients. So here is how they are made. 

1 1/2 cups of White flour (we use unbleached)

3/4 cup Whole wheat flour

3/4 cup oat Bran

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Baking soda

1 teaspoon of Baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoons of Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon  Nutmeg

3 Eggs

1/2 cup Vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsweetened Applesauce

1 cup Plain yogurt

3/4 cup Sugar

3/4 cup Honey

2 teaspoons Vanilla extract

1 cup shredded Zucchini (drained after shredding)

1 cup shredded Carrots

1/2 cup Raisins

Thats quite a list of ingredients but it is worth it. 

So, oven at 400 defrees F. Muffin cups as you wish, we use a silicone muffin pan. This recipie makes quite a few dozen. 

In a bowl sift together all the dry ingredients. We like our nutmeg fresh so we grate it ourselves like this. 

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, oils, applesauce, yogurt, sugar, honey and vanilla. Combine the two bowls and mix, then gently fold in the remaining ingredients. Scoop into the muffin pans and bake for 18-20 minutes. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean. We usually dump these out over a towel and start scarfing. Enjoy. 

Don't Trifle with Peace

So Mrs. MC is preggers and was craving trifle of all things. I make my trifle in the Scottish Mormon style. That means no liquor and a spongy jelly (jello) base. Mrs MC actually made this following my guidance. I did the final decorating, hence the title. So the basic parts of a trifle are the Jello layer, the Custard layer and the cream layer. You can embellish the top however you desire. Here is how we made ours. 

First place Lady Fingers in the bottom of a bowl. These are sometimes tricky to find so I buy a big package when I find them. They are like dried sponge cake. I have used the Little Debbie strawberry cake rolls in a bind but nothing compares to the real deal. 

Mix up a package of your favorite Jello. I usually use Strawberry but I have seen all sorts of flavors even chocolate. Pour the hot Jello over your ladyfingers and place bowl into the fridge to set. 

The next layer is the Custard layer and by custard I mean custard. You can use Pudding but it is really too sweet to get the authentic Scottish taste. Trifle is typically British in that it is not deadly sweet like most American goodies. It is more rich and fattening. 

Here is our recipe for homemade custard. You can use Bird's custard powder if you like or there are other custard recipes that don't use cornstarch online. Ours seems to work good. 

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup of Sugar

2 tbls. corn starch

2 cups of Milk

1 tsp of vanilla

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together and beat until well blended. In a saucepan, dissolve the corn starch in 1/2 cup of the Milk. Add the rest of the milk and vanilla and bring to a boil slowly, stirring constantly. Once the milk has barley started to boil temper it into the egg mixture. This is done by mixing small amounts (about 1/8 cup at a time) to the egg mixture and stirring it in. This allows the eggs to come to temperature without curdling. Once about half them  milk is in you can then add the eggs into the main pot. Return to heat and boil, slowly again until the mixture thickens, about two minutes. Pour into a cool bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the custard to keep a skin from forming. Cool in refrigerator until firm. 

Once the Jello is set and the custard is cool it is time to assemble your trifle. Do yourself a favor and whip up real whip cream. I have never had cool whip on a trifle but I can imagine that it is disgusting. I only add a small amount of powdered sugar in keeping with the less sweet British theme. Carefully add the custard on top of your Jello layer, then the cream. Thats it and it is amazing. 

Cheerio the noo.