It’s raspberry time! – Orto di Casa Cecconi

I have not written for a while about the allotment, as Kew is taking up most of my time, energies and generally most of my thoughts… However, although it is the case that I am not doing as much as I would like to (isn’t that the case every year?!?), I am growing, picking and weeding as much as any other time, and I have quite a few crops at different stages of growth.

And – I want to mention – I am particularly grateful to self-seeders this year: tree spinach (Chenopodium giganteum), some of last year’s potatoes, chamomile (Matricaria recutita) which are providing me with unexpected and much welcomed extra crops.

But, back to my reason for writing: it’s raspberry time again. That time of the year when you cannot keep up with picking them, every couple of days you get four punnets and cannot take any more… because you have:

eaten them raw,
frozen them (they do freeze well: rinse, pat dry and place on a freezer tray one by one, then once they are frozen they can go in a tupperware for later use);
made compote (I do not feel like making jam at the moment, too time consuming, but compote is easier: rinsed fruits, sugar – not as much as for jam – some lemon juice and cook until soft, then put in a jar in the fridge) and spread it on homemade bread.

Then I got an inspiration: put them into my muffins, of which I eat two a day for breakfast, to keep my gardening going.

So here is my usual muffin recipe, adapted for raspberries. Makes 6-10 depending on the size of your moulds (I use silicone ones).

Raspberry and coconut muffins

Dry mix

400 gr plain flour (I sometime mix plain flour with up to 150 gr of wholewheat or whole spelt)

3 tsp dried yeast

3 gr bicarbonate of soda

75 g dessicated coconut

Wet mix

2 medium eggs, lightly beaten

300 ml double cream (sometimes I use a 225 ml tub then add more olive oil)/greek yogurt is an alternative

a glug of olive oil

1/2 tin coconut milk

250 g sugar

Prepare the dry and wet mix separately, then pour them together and stir well. If the dough is too dry, you can add a splash of whole milk. Add enough raspberries (maybe 200-250 gr, enough to get them in all muffins, but not too many that would get the muffin soggy) and fold them in, taking care not to squash them.

Pour in the moulds and bake at 180C (no fan) for 45-50 mins.

Enjoy!

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