Recipe: Rhubarb & Custard Muffins

Okay, so these aren't the most photogenic things I've ever baked, but they taste pretty good so that makes up for it right? When this month's Degustabox* arrived on my doorstep, one of the first things that caught my eye was the Dr Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Grinder. This is such a nifty idea for a product as it means you get the taste of real vanilla without having to faff around with vanilla pods, and you don't waste any as you can just use as much as you need rather than a whole pod. I decided I wanted to make some creamy vanilla custard with this, and of course the best accompaniment for that is rhubarb! After a little bit of Googling and amalgamating a couple of recipes, I decided to try my hand at rhubarb and custard muffins.

You Will Need (Makes Approx 10 Small Muffins):
For the muffins:
200g rhubarb
75g brown sugar
35ml vegetable oil
150ml soured cream
1 egg
150g self raising flour

For the custard:
150ml milk
1 egg (yolk only)
1-2 tablespoons caster sugar
Vanilla, to taste (I used about 15 turns of the Dr Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Grinder)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Chop the rhubarb into pieces about 2-3cm long and place on a baking tray. Sprinkle over a couple of spoonfuls of the brown sugar and then mix together to coat the rhubarb. Roast in the oven for around 15-20 until the rhubarb has softened but still keeps its shape.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the rest of the brown sugar, oil and egg, then stir in the flour and soured cream. Once the rhubarb has finished roasting, gently mix that in too.
3. Add the mixture to paper cases in a muffin/cupcake tin and bake for around 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
4. Meanwhile, make your custard by gently heating the milk and vanilla together in a pan over a low heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and sugar.
5. One the milk is almost at boiling point, pour it into the bowl with the egg and sugar and whisk to quickly mix it all together.
6. Return the mixture to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens. Do this over a very low heat - don't be tempted to turn it up otherwise you'll end up with scrambled eggs! It should take around 5 minutes of continuous stirring for the custard to thicken. Then remove from the heat and decant into a bowl or jug.
7. Once you're ready to serve the muffins, make a small cut in the top of each one and add in a couple of spoonfuls of the custard.

Yum! These didn't rise quite as much as I'd have liked (thanks mostly to my terrible oven, I suspect) but they taste great and are so moissssst. They're also (relatively) healthy as they've got no butter and not too much sugar in them. This, paired with the soured cream and the tartness of the rhubarb, stops them from being too sweet so the vanilla custard adds the perfect amount of sweetness without making them too sickly.

Are you a fan of rhubarb and custard?

Gillian x