Vanilla Fudgies to celebrate Ollie's 1st Birthday!!

Today my gorgeous Ollie celebrated his 1st birthday, a day we didn’t think he would see! Many of my followers will know that back in February Ollie was diagnosed with FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis), with the diagnosis being bleak for him. Despite the vet not giving him much time, he has defied the odds and is doing well. He does have his bad days where it’s a struggle to eat and those days are hard for me to get through. Ollie having his 1st birthday gives me hope for his future but we take each day as a blessing, he's my little fighter!! I couldn’t go today without marking this special occasion and incorporating my other love…baking! I choose these Vanilla Fudgies as the colouring and their name remind me of Ollie and his distinctive cream colour. Fudge was one of the names in my top five list before we settled on Ollie. The muffins were super easy to make, with the chopping of the fudge being the only time-consuming task. These are light and fluffy, with a lovely vanilla flavour studded with melted nuggets of glorious golden fudge. Eat these while they’re still warm to really enjoy the squidgy, soft fudge chunks at their best but they are equally nice once cooled. Be warned these are very moreish!

Vanilla Fudgies

Makes 12

Ingredients
300g/10oz/2 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
115g/4oz/ ½ cup caster sugar
100g/3½oz fudge, cut into pieces (any type of fudge you like – vanilla, chocolate, raisin, clotted)
125ml/4fl oz/ ½ cup milk
100ml/3 ½ fl oz/ scant ½ cup half-fat crème fraiche
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g/2o butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 200oC/180oC fan/400oF/Gas 6. Grease or line a 12-hole muffin pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder and sugar and sift into a large bowl, then scatter the fudge on top.

In a separate bowl or jug, lightly beat the milk, crème fraiche, egg and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the butter. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix together until just combined, then spoon big dollops of the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.

Bake for about 20 minutes until risen and golden. Leave to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

This muffin recipe comes courtesy from my latest new book, Muffin Magic!