Under the Blue Gum tree

Last Friday @danlepard tweeted a link to this article on doughnuts which left me salivating for the rest of the afternoon. Can there truly be anything more enjoyable than a fresh jam doughnut with its crisp, sugary exterior and oozy, jammy interior? It seems that doughnuts may be this year’s cupcakes and are rather in vogue at the moment. Indeed, Dan has a recipe for the sugary treats in “Short and Sweet” whilst Henry and Tom Herbert devote no less than four pages to them in their new book “The Fabulous Baker Brothers.”

One day I definitely plan to try making doughnuts from scratch but if you don’t fancy messing around with boiling oil, then this recipe from the January edition of BBC Good Food Magazine hits the spot surprisingly well. A doughnut cleverly disguised in muffin form, it hits all the key elements of a good doughnut with its sugary coating, soft fluffy crumb and sticky jammyness. The muffin’s doughnut impersonation is strongest when freshly baked and still slightly warm from the oven. However, if any do dodge sticky fingers and last until the following day, you will find that they have morphed into more of a Victoria sandwich taste-a-like which is certainly no bad thing. Best of all, they take a matter of minutes to prepare and as they are baked, not fried, they could almost be declared healthy.

Doughnut muffins (adapted from BBC Good Food Magazine, January 2012)

• 140g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 200g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 small carton of natural yoghurt (about 150g)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ½ tsp vanilla paste
• 140g butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 12 tsp of good quality raspberry jam

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas mark 5 and grease a 12 hole muffin tin. Mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl and mix all the wet ingredients (except the jam) in a separate bowl. Tip the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold quickly together with a spatula or metal spoon.

2. Distribute two-thirds of the batter between the twelve muffin holes. Place a teaspoon of jam on top of each portion of batter then cover with the remaining mixture. Don’t worry if a little jam oozes out the sides. The muffins will miraculously seal themselves during baking. Cook in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

3. Rest the muffins in the tin for 5-10 minutes then turn out. Pour a little caster sugar on to a baking tray or plate and, whilst still warm, roll the muffins in the sugar to coat. Eat immediately.