Quick, easy and so so fluffy, what more can you want.
The scout hut
I started the bakery in the back of my family kitchen, once i got an industrial fridge which no one could hear their voice over i soon realised it was time to go. I looked at business parks and storage containers, although practical, they just didn’t feel right. Then one day i walked past the scout hut. What was once a lively meeting place for the boy scouts was now an abandoned shell of a building. After enquiries and late night meetings we were able to strike a deal with the local club to rent out the hut. We restored as much as we could then built a ‘room inside the room’ to be our bakery. I’ve been there ever since, it’s become my second home.
Light and buttery these cacio e pepe muffins have become my latest baking obsession…..they might become yours to.
Ingredients
350g strong white bread flour
7g fast action yeast
7g salt
15g caster sugar
15g soft butter
1 egg
170ml warm milk
Heavy handful of grated pecorino or parmesan
2 tsp ground black pepper
Semolina for dusting
Method
Pour milk and yeast into a large mixing bowl, let sit for 5 minutes (to get to know one another). Then pour in your flour, sugar, salt, egg and butter. Either by hand or in a stand mixer, knead the ingredients for 5 minutes until the mixture has formed a rough dough, then add your black pepper and cheese. Knead for another 5 minutes, before scooping into an oiled bowl. Pop a cloth over the top and proof for one hour or until doubled in size.
Tip the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut into 7-8 chunks. Lightly dust two baking trays with half of the semolina. Pinch the corners of each chunk into the centre and roll into a tight ball, place seam side down onto your baking trays.
Leave to prove for another 30 minutes.
Preheat the hot plate or a heavy-based frying pan on the hob to a very low heat. Sprinkle some more semolina on the pan. Griddle the muffins for approximately 7-8 minutes, then flip over and griddle for another 7-8 minutes on the other side. Eat fresh with butter and whatever you fancy.