Raspberry & White Chocolate Muffins

I made these for my friend Pete's 30th birthday the other day, and took them in a neatly packed bag to the pub where a crowd was gathered to celebrate. Very appreciative he was too - for a few minutes - but once the others got wind of the contents of the bag they were promptly devoured in about five minutes flat. I hope Pete managed to keep at least one for himself! Who can blame the others, though: these are quite probably one of the best things I've ever baked. (Well, it just so happened that a couple of the muffins broke as I was removing them from the tin, and it would have been a shame to waste them...)


Makes 12-14 large muffins for very appreciative friends

Ingredients:
450g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
225g golden caster sugar (preferably Fair Trade)
1 large egg
1.5 tsp vanilla extraxt
330ml milk
75g butter, melted
about 150g raspberries (frozen ones will keep their shape better)
about 150g white chocolate, chopped into chunks

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200 C/ gas mark 6
2. Sift flour and baking powder into large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar.
3. Crack the egg into a separate bowl, and whisk in the milk, vanilla and melted butter.
4. Stir the liquid into the flour mixture, mix well.
5. Carefully fold in the raspberries and chocolate, stirring as little as possible to avoid damaging the berries.
6. Spoon mixture into muffin tray (using muffin cases if you like) and bake for 30 minutes until firm and golden. Allow to cool slightly then remove from tin and indulge.

Best eaten warm - not that they'll last long once friends find out about them.