Buttermilk & Spice Muffins ~ Muffins aux épices & babeurre

Books are an important part of my life! I love reading and it is good to see how some books can become our companions for some time or even for a life time! There are a few books that I keep on reading and re-reading and re-re-reading… It is then no wonder, that I love buying cooking books, too… In our kitchen, they have a whole bookcase devoted to them, and it is only because of space restriction that there is not one or two more! Very often I choose to buy a cooking  because of one recipe that I want to cook or when I absolutely want to learn about the cuisine of one particular country, but my main reason of buying a cooking book is because of  its beautiful pictures…

One or two years ago, I had bought a beautiful book called “The Cupcake Book” written by Susanna Tee. The pink cover is so pretty, that I could not resist it!

Until now, I had not tried any recipe from this book, so when I came across Champa‘s event called: ‘Baking from a Book: Breakfast‘,   I decided it was time to try some muffins from this book…

These spice and buttermilk were perfect for a breakfast, as they are not heavy. I found them delicious eaten with some banana and strawberries and topped with some whipped cream!

Ingredients for about 15 cupcakes
300g flour
1teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon mixed spices
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
180g butter, softened
200g brown sugar
2 large eggs
200 ml buttermilk
icing sugar for dusting

Method:
Preheat the oven at 180C.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda and the spices.
Put the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl and whisk until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Using a large metal spoon, fold in the flour mixture, then fold in the buttermilk.
Fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and firm to touch. Leave the cupcakes in the cups for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dust with sifted icing sugar, just before serving, to decorate.
(I added some whipped cream and a strawberry to match the book cover!!)