Mandarin Orange Muffin

This lunar new year my home is flooded with mandarin oranges... from J's business associates, suppliers, etc. Even after all the give-aways, we are still stuck with 2 small crate... and I now have to think how to bake off before it deteriorates to the point of no return!

Last year I thumbed thru my cookbooks for a suitable recipe but there ain't any. Strange. Then I realised that it is becos this cousin of orange ain't exactly common in the west. Rachel said what they get in the supermarket are canned.

Ok, so I improvised my own using the same old muffin recipe. Simple. Yet failproof. So far.

Step 1: I removed the rind and white pith. Segments are separated with all the albedo and membranes removed.
The is the most troublesome step.

200g Self Rising Flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda
80g soft light brown sugar
100g grapeseed oil (or any veg oil that you have)
100g milk
40g juice from mandarin oranges.
100g prepared mandarin oranges (see step 1)

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Prepare muffin pan or cup.
2. Sift the flour and baking soda together in a big mixing bowl.
   Add brown sugar. Stir to combine well.
   
3. Add the oil, buttermilk, Kahlua & banana essence in a measuring cup. Mix well
   Make a well in the flour mixture and pour (3) into it.
4. Stir briefly to moisten the mixture. It's ok for the mixture to be lumpy.
5. Gently fold in the m.oranges.
6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan/cup.
7. Bake for 18~20 min until the skewer comes out clean when inserted into the muffin.
8. Cool on the wire rack for 10min.
   

To be honest, the texture ain't quite what I expected. The crumbs is a bit too moist to a point of being watery. This was arising from the fact that I tried to use up the balance cake flour instead of AP or SR flour that gives better result. Perhaps a few minutes in the oven will solve the problem. Well... anyway...

Anyway, these were packed up for Sheen to bring to school tomorrow!

I love baking for kids - they never complain!