Lactofree Raspberry, Poppy Seed and White Chocolate Muffins
One of the fun things I got to do on my recent visit to London was to eat breakfast and make brunch with Tom Aikens using lactofree products at L’etalier des Chefs near St Pauls. Tom Aikens is well known for being the youngest chef to earn two Michelin stars at the tender age of 26. He is also known for his talent and creativity. I found him to be friendly, knowledgable and helpful.
Lactofree was a knew one on me, but as a big fan of dairy, I thought it was a fantastic idea for dairy enthusiasts who are unfortunate enough to be lactose intolerant. There is quite a range of products including, milk, cream, yogurt, spreadable butter, cream cheese and cheddar. I don’t entirely understand the process of extracting the lactose which is done by some sort of filtration, but all the products I tried tasted just as they should. Tom was a fan of the cream in particular as it can be used for cooking without splitting, unlike many dairy free products.
The masterclass comprised a demo on how to make Tom’s poppy seed and raspberry muffins and a demo of his recipe for mushroom ragout on toast with chervil and sorrel; this was followed by a hands on cooking session replicating the mushroom dish. The muffins used the spreadable butter and raspberry yogurt from the lactofree range and the mushrooms were cooked with the spreadable butter and cream. We took home some of Tom’s muffins; the mushrooms we ate on grilled wholemeal sourdough as soon as we’d cooked them. They were scrumptious, although I’m sure a little grating of 100% chocolate would not have gone amiss.
As we’d started the morning with muesli and yogurt, I was feeling quite replete by the end of the morning and certainly didn’t need lunch. It was fun to meet and cook with other food bloggers and to see a part of London I wasn’t very familiar with. The event was even more enjoyable as I was able to invite along the friend I was staying with. She was delighted by the mushroom recipe in particular as she’d never really known what to do with this most glorious of fungi. Tom’s muffins kept me going on the long train journey back home to Cornwall. Poor CT didn’t get a look in.
Whilst we were in the vicinity, we took a rather scary glass elevator trip up to the top of One New Change, a shopping centre with an open rooftop offering an impressive view of the London skyline. This was probably the best view of St Paul’s I’ve ever had and my friend pointed out a number of new buildings I hadn’t seen before including the Shard.
As it’s World Baking Day today, I decided to make Tom’s muffins but add my own twist of white chocolate and thus use less sugar. I also used my usual flour mix of half wholemeal, half white. The recipe was a little odd regarding quantities. For example, we were asked to use 230ml of raspberry yogurt, but the pots came in 125g sizes. So the measures I used may not reflect the original recipe. I also realised, after the event, I was meant to cream half of the sugar and add the other half to the egg whites – oh well!
This is how I made:
Lacto Free Raspberry, Poppy Seed and White Chocolate Muffins
- Creamed 115g spreadable butter with 200g vanilla sugar (golden caster) until light and fluffy.
- Separated 5 eggs, adding the yolks to the butter, putting 2 whites in the fridge for later use and adding 3 whites to a clean bowl.
- Beat in the egg yolks into the butter mixture together with 2 tsp of vanilla extract.
- Beat in two 125 ml tubs of raspberry yogurt and 35g poppy seeds.
- Whisked the three egg whites with a pinch of cream of tarter until stiff peaks formed.
- Stirred ⅓ of this into the yogurt mixture, then folded in the remainder.
- Sifted in 315g flour (half organic wholemeal, half organic white), 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and ½ tsp baking powder.
- Folded this in as gently as possible followed by 50g of white chocolate chips and 170g fresh raspberries.
- Divided between 15 muffin cases, which was a mistake – I overfilled them. The recipe said 16 and I should have taken note.
- Baked at 180℃ for 23 minutes. Left to cool for a few minutes then turned out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Took some over to my mother’s for tea.
The muffins are really good, but not as good as Tom’s. I suspect that the recipe we were given was not quite the same as the one he used on the day; mine taste slightly bicarby I think. They are also very rich and again I’m not sure that Tom used all five egg whites or just the three specified. The cakes rose well and have a lovely firm but light texture with a nice crunch of poppy seeds. The raspberry flavour is a good one. The raspberries adding little bursts of tart fruitiness and the white chocolate gave punctuating sweetness. I did find the recipe a bit of a faffy one and ended up with more washing up than I’d normally expect from a simple muffin recipe. I think next time I make it, I will not bother separating the eggs and perhaps use four whole eggs instead of five yolks and three whites.
Although this is really a raspberry muffin, there is a lot of vanilla in here and the flavour really comes through, so I am entering it into this month’s The Spice Trail where vanilla is the choice. It’s being hosted by Solange of Pebble Soup who should recognise these muffins as she was also there at the Lactofree event. Vanesther of Bangers & Mash is the creator.
As I suspect this might become a bit of a favourite, I’m entering them into Favourite Recipes where the theme is sweets and snacks. It’s being hosted over at My Kitchen Odyssey on behalf of Zesty South Indian Kitchen.
Treate Petite is also celebrating World Baking Day, so this is a particularly apt entry. Hosted this month by Baking Explorer and Cakeyboi on alternate months.
Thanks to Lactofree for this fun masterclass and the bag of products we were given to take home with us. I was not required to write a positive review and as always, all opinions are my own.
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Harmony Marsh
18th May 2014
I’ve always wanted to use yogurt for a cake recipe. And by the way, they look delicious! You saying they were rich makes me want one hehe
Choclette
19th May 2014
Thanks Harmony. I use yogurt a lot in cakes as it works so well, but this is the first time I’ve used a fruit one – usually it’s plain.
Laura Denman
18th May 2014
Your trip definitely sounded fun. I know this probably sounds odd but I actually think the lactose free milk, from this brand at least, might taste a little bit better than normal milk – my nephew has to have it and some was left behind after a visit once so I used it up. And I actually prefer the cream cheese too. I still favour good old proper milk chocolate though!
Choclette
19th May 2014
Haha Laura and why not? I haven’t tried the cheese yet so it will be interesting to see what we think.
Librarian Lavender
18th May 2014
That looks really, really lovely! It sounds like a wonderful recipe! I love trying different kinds of milk and I often bake for people who are allergic, so I’m definitely going to try this one!
Choclette
19th May 2014
Thanks LL. It’s really useful to know these products exist as there seem to be quite a few people who are lactose intolerant.
Louise Smith
19th May 2014
I didn’t know it was baking day yesterday! I did make a Victoria Sponge and some cupcakes though so I unintentionally took part lol. Your muffins look divine – I will have to give this recipe a whirl myself 🙂
Choclette
19th May 2014
Thanks Louise adding fruit yogurts to cakes is a simple but delicious way of flavouring them.
Deena Kakaya
19th May 2014
I love zest with poppy seeds and your addition of choc makes it irresistible! Very useful recipe for one of my lactose intolerant friends, she’s always bringing me treats and I rarely have anything suitable for her x
Choclette
19th May 2014
Thanks Deena – it’s a range that is very useful to know about.
Jane Sarchet
19th May 2014
Great looking recipe Choclette, I need to investigate more about the lactofree range!
Janie x
Choclette
19th May 2014
Janie, telling you about these products was on my list of things to do. In theory, you should be able to use them. They are available in all the big supermarkets – so I’m told!
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry
19th May 2014
Sounds like you had a fab trip. I love poppy seeds in cakes so def a I would love to make one day recipe.
Choclette
19th May 2014
Thanks Bintu, poppy seeds give a lovely crunch to make sponges a bit more interesting.
Ren Behan
19th May 2014
Love poppy seeds – one of my favorite Eastern European baking ingredients and I’m a fan of the Lacto free products, too, so a must-try 🙂
Choclette
19th May 2014
Oh interesting that you are already aware of these products Ren, they were completely new to me. I also didn’t know that poppy seeds were a favourite in Poland.
Janelle Shank
19th May 2014
this looks yummy!
Choclette
19th May 2014
Thank you, yummy they most certainly are.
Pebble Soup
19th May 2014
Thank you very much for entering #TheSpiceTrail. These muffins are delicious and they didn’t last very long at Pebble Soup HQ.
Choclette
19th May 2014
Hehe Solange, their aren’t very many of these ones left now either.
Kate Hackworthy
19th May 2014
Wow – what a great experience cooking with Tom Aikens!
Choclette
19th May 2014
I know, wasn’t I lucky Kate 🙂
Jennifer Ferris
19th May 2014
I like to substitute yogurt in my baking. These look delicious!
Choclette
19th May 2014
Thanks Jennifer, I often use yogurt in baking too – it normally works a treat.
Kate Glutenfreealchemist
19th May 2014
The day sounds like a lot of fun. I love the flavour combo in your muffins and the raspberries look so beautiful nestled in the sponge…….. Gorgeous colour!
Choclette
20th May 2014
Thank you Kate, it was good to have an overall raspberry flavour and then have actual raspberries in there too.
Aunt Bee
20th May 2014
Those muffins look and sound AMAZING!!! I love the flavor combination! Looks like you had such a great time!! <3
Choclette
21st May 2014
Thanks Aunt Bee – I had a lovely time.
bangers-and-mash.com
20th May 2014
Oh yum! These look so good. Thanks for sharing in this month’s Spice Trail challenge.
Choclette
21st May 2014
My pleasure Vanesther 🙂
belleau kitchen
20th May 2014
Wow. I love these. They look so wonderfully light and fluffy.. So sorry we couldn’t hook up last week it would have been lovely to see you. Looks like you had a wonderful time anyway x
Choclette
21st May 2014
Thanks Dom. My fault for not thinking about it earlier – always think of you at Belleau Cottage rather than London. Next time maybe.
My Kitchen Antics
3rd June 2014
it was great meeting you and cooking with you at the event. Those muffins were really good werent they? Hopefully we’ll bump into each other at other events 🙂
Choclette
4th June 2014
Thank you, it was lovely to meet you too – you made a great cooking partner. I don’t get up to London very often, but who knows!
Sathya Priya
13th June 2014
oh i cant take my eyes off the cake.They look so so wonderful .Thanks for linking it to favourite recipes event .
Anonymous
13th June 2014
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