muffin of holy delicousness

'Parsnip Muffin'

Could anything sound less appetising? (Okay, maybe if you watched the Survivor food challenge this sounds kinda tasty - sea slug smoothie anyone?)

It's not like I've anything against parsnips per se. I've tasted some delicious parsnips in my time but then they were grown in frost, drenched in honey and roasted to perfection by my English auntie. Parsnips in sunny South Africa are ... dull. And not an ingredient I'd think worthy of baking.

But I've a bit of an instant gratification issue when it comes to food. I find a recipe which gets my taste-buds excited and I just have to make it, like right now.

And so it came to pass that my taste-buds lit upon this one in the Sunday Times on the weekend and yesterday ... I made them.

Except not with parsnips. Blergh.

I substituted carrots (as suggested in the recipe, I can't claim original thought on this) but what really hooked me on the concept of these muffins was the diabolical instruction to melt the sugar (treacle or demerera) in the butter. Can you say carameltoffeefudgeohyeahbaby?
This is a whole other dimension of carrot cake y'all.

Go forth and bake. Seriously.

Notes ~
1. I'd use 150g of butter instead of the suggested 200g. My only criticism is that they're a leetle oily.
2. Recipe suggests cream cheese icing, I'll do that if (when!) I make them for a party but they really don't need it.
3. Sub naartjie for any other sweet citrus if you live north of the Limpopo.
4. Don't bugger around with the slice of naartjie at the base, unless you're all fancy. I'm not.
5. Seriously. Make them now.