Dom and I spent the day yesterday plastering a wall in the living room, and now my body ACHES. Who knew that plastering was such intense physical work?!
Let me rewind a little and fill you in. Dom and I decided that we would spend lockdown no.3 in Marshside house, our place up in the Lake District in Cumbria, UK. It’s such a lovely house and we are thoroughly blessed to have it. It provides a wonderful rural retreat for times when global pandemics are sweeping the nation and we want to escape to the middle of nowhere. There’s a beautiful beach just out front and glorious rolling hills behind us. That’s not the point though. Wallpaper is the point. And photos.
A month or two ago, Dom decided it would be nice for us to print a few of my pictures and hang them on the walls at Marshside house. It was a really lovely idea. Cumbria has so many beautiful landscapes to photograph and the walls here are pretty bare right now. So, we set to work and got one of my photos printed as a test sample, and, dare I say, it looked pretty good.
Two Saturdays ago, Dom walked into the living room and asked me where I wanted to hang the photo.
Now, before I continue, I must explain something. When Marshside house was purchased, it was covered head to toe in rose-textured white wallpaper. Every room has the same wallpaper. Every Room. Well, except the bathroom which has wallpaper on the ceiling instead, and was, even more bizarrely, carpeted. The bathroom carpet, thankfully, has long gone. The textured wallpaper, however, remains.
So, let me continue. Dom lifted the framed print onto the wall, and…it looked out of place. The frame and the photo were too modern and too colourful for the twee, textured wallpaper behind. In fact, it didn’t fit in with the style of any of the furnishings in the room.
I think you can see where this is going now.
I decided that the wallpaper had to go.
I was suddenly struck with wild excitement at the though of ripping the wallpaper off (I must admit, I’ve long wanted to get stuck in). Dom, however, was more than a little concerned about what might lie beneath. To be fair to him, Marshside House was built in the late 1600s, so there is definitely cause for concern with regard to the state of the walls; the wallpaper is likely disguising all manner of sins. I however, at that moment in time, would have attempted to carve Michelangelo’s David if it meant I could redecorate the living room. So, I convinced Dom that we would have great fun learning to plaster. After all, how hard could it be?!
This has resulted in us having a lot of fun planning “project living room” in the midst of a lockdown, and an hour away from the nearest DIY store (B&Q, I’m looking at you). Thank the Lord for home deliveries!
Fast forward to today and we are plastering the walls. Thankfully they aren’t in as bad a state as they could have been. Mostly, we just need to apply a finishing coat to smooth the walls over, only a few areas have needed more intensive repairs. For two people who have never plastered before, I believe we are doing a pretty decent job, but boy, is it tiring work. We've also pulled off the skirting boards and have new ones being delivered - that'll be an adventure for another day.
So far we’ve done one large wall and a third of a second wall. The next few days are going to be long and I’m going to need more snacks to get me through. Cue these muffins! I made some the other day as I just love having homemade snacks around the house. I’d forgotten how wholesome and delicious muffins are but now I want them again! Does anyone else go through phases like that, where they consistently crave the exact same food, until they get utterly sick of it?
Anyway. These muffins are a delight. They are from a recipe I originally took from the incredible Broma bakery and have slowly adapted to make somewhat my own. If you have a spare moment, please go and check out Broma bakery, their food is incredible and I’m such a huge fan!
Obviously, I adapted these muffins to make them gluten free, and I also reduced the dairy content by altering the type of yoghurt used. I often find that muffins made with gluten free flour end up crumbly and dry. These muffins however, are soft and spongey, and, with the addition of juicy bursts of blueberry, they are an utter delight!
Tips
These are best eaten when they are just out of the oven and cooled slightly (you don’t want to burn yourself!). However, you can basically recreate that “just out of the oven” experience by popping a muffin in the microwave for a few seconds before enjoying it.
Feel free to swap out the fruit in these for any other kind of fruit you fancy. My personal favourite fruity filling is strawberries - but that is a recipe for another day! If you dislike fruit in baked goods, I get you, I really do. Muffins are one of the few fruity treats I enjoy. However, if even that is too far for you, I recommend adding chocolate chips instead.
In my recipe I use coconut yoghurt, but you can really use any plain yoghurt that you fancy.
Super soft, juicy gluten-free cinnamon blueberry muffins (adapted from the Broma Bakery blueberry muffin recipe)
Makes 10-12
35 mins (including baking time)
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
180ml coconut yoghurt (or other plain yoghurt of your choosing)
1 tablespoon gluten free baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups plain gluten-free flour, plus a little extra for dusting the berries
2 cups blueberries, ideally fresh but frozen works too
Optional, granulated sugar or granola to top the muffins
Method
1.) Preheat the oven to 220°c (or 200°c fan oven) and prepare your muffin tin. I use muffin cases, but if you happen to be missing these in your store cupboard, you can also just line them using big squares of baking paper!
2.) Beat together the sugar with the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time.
3.) Add the coconut yoghurt (or your preferred substitute) and the vanilla extract, mix until combined.
4.) Add the gf flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Mix this until the batter is just coming together. Do not mix it too much else the muffins won’t be soft and fluffy.
5.) Sprinkle the blueberries with flour and coat them, then gently fold them into the mixture.
6.) Fill the muffin cases 3/4 full with the muffin batter. Don’t overfill them! Then, if you would like, sprinkle the top of the muffins with sugar or granola.
7.) Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 220°c (or 200°c fan oven), then reduce the oven temperature to 190°c (170°c fan oven) and continue to bake for 15-17 minutes. The muffins should be springy to the touch when they are ready.
8.) When the muffins are done, take them out and let them cool for half an hour or so, then dig in!
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