Magog Muffins - Ethical Good Taste

Rabbit rabbit rabbit rabbit....

2011-04-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter 2011 offering from Magog Muffins is lemon & poppyseed - light and lemony like the Spring. The eggs we use are from Gog Magog Hills Farm Shop - huge, free-range woodland creations that challenge the carrying capacity of a standard egg box.

Also with a spring in her step today is the Easter Bunny - but all out of chocolate having spread it around a bit. What's with all these eggs and rabbits and why Easter? The link seems to be in the time of year... the emergence of Spring in Europe. Eggs and rabbits are both symbols of fertility - check out rabbits and "superfetation". The tradition of coloured eggs left by a "spring hare" emerged in Germany in the 1500s, moving with German immigrants into the US in the 1700s.

This is of course their year - the Chinese Year of the Metal Rabbit which has a special significance for the head chef at Magog Muffins. Anyone coming across this metal rabbit is welcome to steer it in this direction - any metal egg will do... gold, silver, anything really.

Muffins in Manhattan

2011-01-15T12:31:00.001-08:00

No resting on laurels at Magog Muffins. "Around the world in 80 muffins" is the story of our quest for perfection beyond the boundaries of Cambridgeshire and into competitor territory. "Spying" if you will. First, we take Manhattan.....

.... and the breakfast tray at the Harvard Club of New York left us speechless. A fresh plate of perfect fruit and a newly-baked blueberry muffin that awakened all the right taste buds. Pity about the coffee - never good out of metal - but the muffin scored on all counts:

Looks 4/5 Classic, simple, elegant. Topping 4/5 Unadorned but lightly crisp. Texture 4/5 Warm, crumbly but intact Taste 5/5 No artifice here. Plenty of fresh blueberries too Aftertaste 5/5. None - did they even use raising agent?

Of course we had to snoop further - and the fruity carrot version was a triumph - just look at this texture. Fresh-baked in the club kitchens every morning so it must be chef Angelo Ljubicic to whom the accolade belongs. Sadly we couldn't find him to check out the palm oil credentials but if he'd like to reassure us the address is MagogMuffins@gmail.com. For now these Harvard Club muffins are a contender for "Ms Muffin World". Onward into the Big Apple ....

Coalition Muffins!

2010-05-18T03:52:00.000-07:00

Well, our election muffin poll did not quite reflect the UK election results, but we are now all out of election muffins, and are offering mixed packs of "Coalition muffins" instead. They contain some voter favourites with a sprinkling of new varieties and work well together, nestling side-by-side in their tissue-lined postal box (no bitter aftertaste with Magog Muffins...).

Election Muffins - YOU decide!

2010-04-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

We had to do it, didn't we? Magog Muffins of course is non-partisan but, beset by election fever, could not help coming up with partisan treats:

In the red corner is our "Crunchy cranberry with smashed hazelnut topping";

In the orange corner is our "Adversarial apricot with flakey almond topping"

In the blue corner is our "Blistering blueberry with no toffing" and

In the green corner we offer "Astringent apple with fairly traded pistachio topping"

We tried to come up with a UKIP variety but they were totally without taste and instead of rising with applied heat they deflated and sank without trace.

For the next 9 days (ending on Sunday 9th with the post-election parties) we are offering these varieties as election specials. In true free and fair spirit (fair, anyway) you choose the percentages of each colour - contact magogmuffins@gmail.com with details of what you would like to order and we will tailor them individually to your needs:

To arrive in time for the election, last orders by Tuesday 4th May (6pm) for posting first class on Wednesday 5th.

DIRECT DELIVERY (Cambridge area) Any number at £1 per muffin

Minimum order 10. £2 delivery charge per order but free for orders of 20 or over.

We will also deliver free any order with more than 50% green variety muffins, or to a household displaying a green party sticker. Although we remain non-partisan (really!) we greatly admire Tony Juniper who is standing for Cambridge and feel that whatever colour of government we end up with on Friday, he would be a valuable voice within it

Enjoy your muffins and, whatever your colour preference - vote, vote, vote!

Morning Muffin - your wake up call

2010-02-13T03:21:00.000-08:00

Giving up chocolate for Lent? So are we, but here's the antidote to brains and bodies suffering from serotonin deprivation (see "chocolate on the brain). Munchable Midi Morning Muffins crumble beside your coffee, kick-start your day and don't sabotage any diet aspirations.

The body of this bountiful offering brims with fruity chunks of apricot, the odd nuggest of walnut, a smidgeon of toasted oats and a heartbeat of honey. Heaven for healthy hearts.

The spirit of our rising beauty is the topping of crunchy mixed seeds - pumpkin, sesame and friends. Oh, and a sprinkling of oats and almond flakes for good measure.

So healthy in fact, that we feel they should be prescribed - especially for those seeking to restore hearts to health in the wake of Valentines excesses, or to friends and family undertaking charity miles or marathons. This can be done (see below) . Meanwhile, good luck with that no-chocolate plan!

While waiting for our website and new payment mechanism to be finalised, we are offering a pack of 8 for £15 including post and packing. Just use the paypal link in the valentines post below or contact MagogMuffins@gmail.com for bespoke packs of other flavours.

Ms February - my sunny valentine

2010-01-30T11:32:00.000-08:00

"My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with all my heart
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable (!?)
Yet you're my favourite work of art"*

Our February Valentine had to be sweet, smooth white chocolate set against fruitful, feisty cranberry. Purists will not allow the word chocolate to apply to the white stuff. But the white chocolate we cut into these muffins is so good it has to be hidden from the family to have a chance of making it into the mix. Made with cocoa butter (not a hint of palm oil in these babies) it fades into the muffin mixture creating a luxurious texture to set against the palate-teasing cranberry (with which ladies have a particular affiliation). Maybe a little sweeter than most of our muffins but, hey, Valentine's day is a treat for loved ones.

Order between now and mid-day on the 11th Feb, for your muffins to be delivered in time for Valentine's Day.

*My sunny valentine, according to Sylvia Aprile

For tailored treats (Mr November is a good foil for Ms February) contact MagogMuffins@gmail.com

Do you take sugar?

2010-01-21T07:47:00.000-08:00

"White death!" my father used to exclaim as he sprinkled granulated white sugar on his cereal. As a surgeon he saw the impact of excess sugar on the human body - and had long since cut down other areas of sugar intake. This came to mind when, as part of our research on postal delivery, we ordered cupcakes by post the other day. The supplier's web site was appetising and easy to use, but we are not naming them as our disappointment is clear:

Looks: 2/5 Classic cupcake - cheap and cheerful (except at £20 for 6, not cheap).
Topping: 1/5 Pure sugar with artificial colouring.
Texture: 4/5 Sponge was light and moist, as promised.
Taste: 1/5 . Not the "zesty lemon" also promised. Artificial flavour and everything subsumed by the icing sugar wadge.
Aftertaste: 0/5 Sugar does create a desire for more. Fight your sugar-craving brain!

In short, we would only recommend them to Norwich City football fans for whom the yellow and green colours, that startled us as we opened the box, might generate more positive emotions.

Are muffins just naked cupcakes then, without sugary frosting? One of the bake debates, that... start asking what the difference is between cupcakes and muffins and you unearth a war of deeply divided advocates almost religious in their zeal. We started Magog Muffins with the ambition to create healthy, guilt-free treats and have found that you can make delicious muffins with very little sugar but with sweetness lurking in bursts of fruit or chocolate (and 85% dark chocolate will not translate into muffin tops). Sometimes we swish a sweeter shine across a freshly baked variety (e.g. lemon tea muffins) but the only one we were tempted to frost was cappuccino - possibly allowing a cupcake in disguise into our fold.

So, we stand behind the magical muffin. An independent being, secure in its body, without need for a smothering of sugary make-up to face the world. "Naked cupcakes" rule, O.K.?

P.S. And, before you ask, yes, we did eat all of the cupcakes that we rip into above! Testing the limits of that sugar craving, of course - and we are anyway quite shameless. If frosting is your thing, and if you really like sugary cupcakes, fine. Thank you again to all the cupcake eaters who contributed to the Haiti appeal below...

Help, health and Haiti (+update 21 Jan)

2010-01-14T07:20:00.000-08:00

A friend of ours, struck by the desperation that led improverished Haitians to eat mudcakes , is rounding up home bakers and sending the proceeds of cake sales direct to Oxfam for their Haiti earthquake appeal. Feeling rather helpless in the face of Haiti's challenges the Magog Muffins team have decided to work only for this cause for the rest of the month - 100% of income will go to Oxfam, with the only limit being our production capacity. The full cost of any muffins purchased will be given to the Haiti appeal. Recognising the spirit of Haitians, and the many influences permeating Haitian cuisine, we will feature spice & fruit - dark choc & chilli, stem ginger, banana & cinnamon. Three ways of participating in this:
(1) Paypal below (a stop gap until our web site and alternative payment mechanism is available)
(2) contact MagogMuffins@gmail.com or
(3) just e-mail a copy of your receipt and a postal address if you donate directly to the Oxfam appeal.
Thank you.

UPDATE 21st Jan. Cupcake sale in Cambridge offices raised £382 ....

Good effort from Rachel, Amy, Liesje, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Helen & friends who helped them ..... and still rest of this month to make Magog Muffins bake only for the Haiti appeal.

Then, realising that the needs in Haiti will continue, we are planning to join the "International day of cakes for Haiti" fundraising effort that Janet Mohapi-Banks in Epsom is setting up for 26th March. We will post updates here once the web site for that is up and running. If you are on twitter you can follow the hashtag #cakesforhaiti http://janetmohapibanks.com

Warming up to 2010

2010-01-09T01:20:00.000-08:00

A quartet of hot drinks to warm up the chilly start to the year - hot ginger, warm lemon tea with honey, chunky cappucino and our new flavour - hot dark chocolate with a hint of chilli. If you have never tried chilli with chocolate, give this a go. The slightly delayed "nip" just amplifies the chocolate hit. Naughty and nice, but not really new - the ancient Aztecs and Mayans were the first known civilizations to serve hot chocolate, flavoured not with sugar, but with chilli pepper. A real multi-tasker that chilli.... flavoursome, fiery and fabulous. For in-depth chilli Magog Muffins enjoys "Nagachilli"'s blog (and twitter @nagachilli) where we found this Aztec offering for hot choc drink:

One and two thirds cups milk, half a vanilla bean, split lengthwise, one red chili pepper, split with seeds removed, one cinnamon stick of around three to four inches, half an ounce of chocolate (bittersweet) . Simmer milk in a saucepan with vanilla bean, cinnamon and chili. Heat through for about a minute. Whisk in grated chocolate, and continue to simmer until melted. Remove from heat and let ’steep’ for another 10 minutes. Strain out the spices and serve. For maximum impact drink with a choc/chilli muffin......

And the Royal Mail is still getting them through, despite the snow. Until our new website and payment mechanism is up and running you can still order by e-mail or PayPal - see post "Magog Muffins on the Move" or MagogMuffins@gmail.com.

Ms January 2010 - stem ginger.

2010-01-04T07:33:00.001-08:00

Ms January is Hot! Hot! Hot!

Little chunks of our own preserved stem ginger tantalise the tastebuds as you munch into this minx. This flavour has had rave reviews and been one of our most popular so we are including it in all our mixed muffin packs, and also offering it as a standalone.

You can of course also argue that scoffing this muffin is part of your new year resolution to eat healthily.... ginger has an amazing list of benefits to body and soul.

Happy New Year!

Sacrifice of a muffin

2009-12-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

We couldn't resist borrowing this beagle puppy called Muffin to pose with our own little beauty. Model 1 - 8 weeks old. Model 2 - 8 minutes old.

Of course, we had to sacrifice the muffin, and help was on hand in the snowy garden (the evidence is in the snow on the lower chops...).

We are taking a break through Boxing Day but for orders from 27th and over the turn of the year, please contact MagogMuffins@gmail.com

Meanwhile, a happy festive season from MagogMuffins and friends.

Whats on the menu?

2009-12-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Theo Bosanquet who e-mailed MagogMuffins@gmail.com with his winning suggestion of "Midwinter Muffin" - which has now joined "Cranberry & Orange" in our Christmas boxes. Midwinter Muffin (anything but bleak) contrasts spice & lemon imbued nuggets of Granny Smith apples against the sweet essence of mince pies. We also enjoyed the suggestions from "movewithease" and Chris Thorpe in the comments below and hope they enjoy the muffin samples winging their way to them via Royal Mail.

Theo shared his prize with the team at the Whatsonstage.com office and fed back to us this review....

"The muffins were an utter, unadulterated delight. A definite 5 stars from the Whatsonstage.com team"

Magog Muffins on the Move

2009-12-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

Warm greetings to all those who have asked where you can find Magog Muffins. Well, they are on the move and coming to you.

Our snazzy new web site will be coming online in January, and will be more interactive for orders and payments. In the interim, through the festive season we are offering the following for delivery by post in the U.K:

Postal packs (anywhere in the U.K) Full of seasonal goodness, these feature our two Christmas specials along with some of our best regular offerings. The Magog Muffins team, full of seasonal goodwill, are also offering special prices, including postage and packing, of £10 for a 4 muffin pack, £15 for an 8 muffin pack or £30 for a large box of 20 muffins. Packs will be posted first class, and we can include your message on a handwritten Christmas card with the 20 muffin packs at no extra charge.

Please contact us directly by e-mail with any questions at MagogMuffins@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you and satisfying your muffin desires!

(For those in the Cambridge area, in January we will also be running a promotion at our neighbouring Gog Magog Hills Farm Shop and Delicatessen, and may be at the Saturday Farmers Fayres - more on this early in 2010).

Ms December - Orange & Cranberry

2009-11-30T16:22:00.001-08:00

Ms December is our Christmas offering. The surprising goodness of cranberries embelished with a touch of orange and distant hint of spice. A flavour combination that is suggestive of traditional Panetone, but with our own twist.

Now it's your turn:

We would like another special for the Christmas season that would complement this one in our festive packs. What flavour combination would you suggest? The one we pick receives the first of our mega-boxes of 20 muffins-by-post, including your winning selection.

You can post your ideas as comments below, or e-mail to MagogMuffins@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you - come on creatives!

Travel bag - Kenya

2009-11-24T05:56:00.000-08:00

When Magog Muffin has to travel, the sturdy Gog Magog Hills Farm Shop bag goes too, swapping its usual cargo of local goodies for laptop, files and the odd refugee item from an overstuffed suitcase. Thus it sometimes finds itself on the horns of a dilemma or hanging about at the equator.

Magog Muffin does not expend carbon easily, but when it is unavoidable adds on as much value as she can. So an overnight in Nairobi with family came up with some Kenya varieties of savoury muffins (of which more anon). Meanwhile, "safari mzuri" or words to that effect.

Muffin doin' ...

2009-11-22T13:23:00.000-08:00

After the TV bunfight on Friday Magog Muffins are doing a one-off special for Children in Need. We are offering a mid-week muffin pack on Wednesday 25th November with all proceeds to Pudsey. Packs of 15 midi-muffins will be mixed flavours but will include a few of our special Pudsey recipe "Spot the Bear". This is a particularly health conscious fruity mixture with apricot (low fat sweetness), a sprinkling of sour cherry (apparently good for circulation) and a smidgeon of goji berries (good for everything else!).

Contact MagogMuffins@gmail.com by Tuesday mid-day for delivery (sorry but we can only offer this in the local Cambridge area) on Wednesday morning. (Watch out also for more specials - and a competition - over the festive season).

Princely fare is fair for forests

2009-11-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

Respect to HRH Prince Charles. Not only is he busy using his 'pulling power' to save the rainforests but he is making sure his guests do their bit. Only sustainably-sourced palm oil in the Sainsbury's biscuits (clearly clear out of Duchy Originals), according to the notices in little silver card holders beside the plates. Good.

Have to hand it to HRH Organic champion - the food was delicious. Several guests, stand up do, but not a cold, miniscule, over-worked canope in sight. Just delectable, piping-hot individual cottage pies followed by warm apple crumble and cream. It was, I admit, an up-market crumble scattered over finely chopped spiced apple chunks, rather than the usual squadgy-sitting-in-the-oven-sunday-lunch version. Magog Muffins approved.

Mr November - dark chocolate chunk

2009-11-05T07:53:00.000-08:00

Well, we just felt it was chocolate time. Apparently today is the grumpiest day of the year, for which chocolate was invented. Of course, it has to be fairly-traded dark chocolate with not a smidgeon of added palm oil. We chop our own choc so the chips are more like chunks. Introducing then, our choice for Mr. November - your very own Dark Chocolate Chunk.

(posted today to warm up @BugJemm and other chilled out tea-drinking twitterers)

Magog Traditions

2009-10-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

This colourful 16th Century parchment apparently depicts Alexander (with a bit of help!) building a wall against Gog and Magog. Variously giants or tyrants, Gog and Magog appear in numerous texts and mythologies.

For us, they are the names attached to the local "hills" (I know, I know, mere pimples on the landscape for real mountain people, but all that the flatlands of East Anglia have to offer...). We are, however, attaching a new tradition to the Magog name, one of ethical good taste, and we are guarding it jealously.

But here's some more food for thought. Could these same hills be the real site of Troy and gazed upon by fair Helen of Troy?
Iman Wilkens in the book "Where Troy once stood" argues that Troy was located on the Gog Magog Downs here in Cambridgeshire. Hmmmm.

Mobile Muffins

2009-10-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

It is a chilly, grey Monday morning. You struggle in to work and contemplate the week ahead. Maybe a coffee will help .... and there beside the kettle is a lovely surprise basket of Magog Muffins.

If you would like to spring a treat like this on your friends or colleagues contact us at MagogMuffins@googlemail.com and we'll see what we can do. With postal strikes upon us we are considering trialling direct delivery in Cambridge on Monday mornings.

And on the subject of mobile muffins - many, many thanks to the lovely lady who found one of our mobile phones in pieces on the path while out walking her dog today, then took the trouble to put it together and phone us. Hope you enjoy your muffins.

Red muffin day

2009-10-16T13:17:00.001-07:00

How many muffins is enough?

Testing mixed packs of a 'baker's dozen' as relief for office overload.
So far so stress-relieving!

Two minutes to midnight feast

2009-10-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

At Magog Muffins we signed up to Blog Action Day - bloggers around the world drawing attention to climate change as the world tries to decide what we need to do about it. We have timed this at two minutes to midnight on blog action day, as the climate clock is ticking and we are, metaphorically speaking, already at two minutes to midnight.

Our contribution is muffins with a low carbon footprint. Eggs produced within a few hundred yards of our kitchen. Flour grown and ground in our county. Butter from cows grazed in the county. Apples, carrots and whatever else is in season grown and picked from our own garden or those of friends. And where we can't source them locally our ingredients are organic and fairly traded. So enjoy your midnight muffin feast - guilt-free.

Cappuccino caressssssssssssssssss

2009-10-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, are we pleased with this one. Not absolutely neccessary to combine with a creamy cappuccino, but it does make the perfect complement. A warm burst of coffee muffin, topped with a smidgeon of fragile frosting and sprinkled with a few slivers of dark chocolate.

We are confident of course in the credentials of the chocolate - dark, fairly traded and not a hint of palm oil. Confidence in the coffee was a touch more troubling - until we discovered the Coffee and Conservation blog which keeps us up to date on everything our ethical sensibilities need to know. A taster (from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, First Sustainable Coffee Congress overview paper - imagine, a whole conference on sustainable coffee!):

"Sustainable coffee is produced on a farm with high biological diversity and low chemical inputs. It conserves resources, protects the environment, produces efficiently, competes commercially and enhances the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole."

So, guilt free pleasure is possible..... but don't get too comfortable on your caffeine cloud. Checkout how much caffeine would be 'enough' (For Magog Muffin Maestro it came out at 111.10 cups of brewed coffee taken all at once. Hmmmm, safe for now.... maybe the cappuccino muffins soften the impact anyway).

Oh, and watch out for our 'beverage beauties' planned for November.... a pack of Lemon Tea, Hot Chocolate (with traces of chilli) and Cappuccino to chase away the winter blues......

Muffin Poetry Award for Palm oil free campaigner

2009-10-10T00:33:00.000-07:00

The forest on the left in the north of Sumatra Island is storing carbon and other ecosystem services, providing habitat for orang utans and other creatures, as well as livelihoods for people living nearby. The palm oil plantation on the right has knocked out this biodiversity, destroyed the ecoystem services and slewed the local economy.

Haiku competition panel have awarded the Muffin prize to twitterer @kusasi for his ethical content - congratulations Neil (and his palm-oil-free website)

paper overflows
sweet sponge chocolate or fruit
palm oil free goodness

Runner up is the double Haiku offered by twitterer @miametro (and her lovely photography)

you should take flavour
suggestions - PB&J
definitely yum!

or maybe perhaps
a bit more traditional
cherry almond, NOM.

Magog Muffins is struggling slightly with the concept of peanut butter and jelly flavour........ but thinking of trying this for a Fourth of July offering or in celebration of Barak Obama's Nobel Peace Prize. All flavour suggestions very welcome here in our ecokitchen - please use comment form (or tell us on twitter @MagogMuffins). If we take any up we will gladly send you a sample from the first batch out of the oven.

And that guest judge? He declined to be named this time around, but might reveal himself if we run another competition next National Poetry Day (perhaps combine with a tweet up eat up?)

Muffin haiku

2009-10-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

National Poetry Day Haiku:

Luscious summer muse
I yearn for your sensation
sweetly on my lips.

Go on then - only 17 syllables - send us your
muffin-inspired haikus.

Free muffin for the best, as selected by Magog Muffins
plus a specialist guest judge (to be announced).

Happy National Poetry Day UK from Magog Muffins.

Ms October - Apricot & Almond

2009-10-07T02:32:00.001-07:00

As autumnal breezes brushed away the hazy, lazy heat of the Provencal summer, Ms. October packed her bags and headed home. Ground almonds and squadgy apricots, topped with a toasted flake or two, help keep the spirit of summer alive and the encroaching winter at bay. Available to taste this week at Gog Magog Hills - together with the even hotter Stem Ginger, currently under consideration for the Ms. November title.

Nice buns? Skinny muffins? Chain stores head to head.

2009-10-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

Goes against the grain to buy a store muffin in this household but we thought we should pit our Davids against the Goliaths and have done some selective sleuthing.

First up - "Nice Buns" (sic) 'Toffee and Banana'.

Looks: 5/5 If you like obvious & puffy.
Topping: 1/5 Toppings looked better on other varieties.
Texture: 2/5 Soft, bit dry. Crust cracks like dried mud on rugby boots.
Taste: 1/5 1st bite a surge of toffee; second bite toffee. Not a lot of banana.
Aftertaste: 0/5 Rather chemical. Think they must use artificial flavouring.

Next up - classic Starbucks 'Banana & Nut'

Looks: 4/5 Pretty much like a muffin should, but veering towards mushroom.
Topping: 1/5 A few indeterminate nuts & one slice hard, sugary dried banana.
Texture: 4/5 Lovely, crumbly, moist.
Taste: 3/5 What nuts are these?
Aftertaste: 2/5 Just a touch too much raising agent.

Web search yielded little on the composition of the 'Nice Buns', but we were anyway unconvinced. A mouthwatering display for tired drivers on the motorway, and a real sweet rush at first taste, but after that soft cardboard would give them a run for their money. (Next time will yield to son and try the chocolate varieties in case they are better and will report back).

The Starbucks mega-muffins are worth a go though. Their web site argues that they have recently responded to public pressure and gone all natural and ethical with flavourings (although we might challenge what they mean by natural and also on embedded palm oil). In the interests of research we have tried some other flavours; the breakfast muffin is all topping, but tasty; the skinny ginger looked drab but was delicious. There is a sting in the tail though - to its credit, the company provides a detailed table of nutritional content. 'Skinny muffins' are substantively lower in fat but still in the hundreds for calories and what they lose in fat they make up in sugars. One classic muffin is over 500 cals - buyer beware.

Magog Muffins at Gog Magog Hills

2009-09-30T02:19:00.001-07:00

"Magog Muffins at Gog Magog Hills" - bit of a tongue-twisting mouthful to say but more of a munchable mouthful to taste. The first muffins are available from today at Gog Magog Hills Farm Delicatessan

We are profiling the "healthy option" muffins - although a few chocolate varieties will likely force their way on to the menu over the next few weeks, as is their wont (especially "chocolate orange" which is currently steaming in the kitchen). Let us know what you would like to try as you sup that luscious coffee in the delicatessan. Available today are Carrot & Poppyseed and Apple Streudel.

Feedback welcome. (If you are on twitter we would love to see you @MagogMuffins)

Muffin Art - Apricot & Almond

2009-09-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

Sweetness and Bright

2009-09-27T17:27:00.001-07:00

Almost shocked by the sweetness of East Anglian Carrots at the moment - so fresh, so crisp, so scrumptious. Low carbon footprint too, with such a short time and distance from harvest to home.

Combined in a muffin with a sprinkle of blue poppyseed they are September sweetness personified. These guys don't need cream cheese or vanilla to feel complete. They laugh in the face of sugar.

(Buy extra carrots though, as they seem to disappear between front door and kitchen, running the gauntlet of friends and family. The Beagle is complaining too - they are even munching down the carrot tops that are normally her perogative).

No orang utans were harmed in the making of these muffins....

2009-09-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

No, the orang utan is not munching a Magog Muffin but neither are the muffins metaphorically munching orang utans. The eponymous seed of the 'Oil palm' is finding its way into so much of our diet and orang utan forest is being chomped up by acres of oil palm plantations, beating out the biodiversity. To make sure no palm oil gets into the goodies that we pack into the muffins we monitor the "no palm oil" site (follow on twitter @kusasi) and check concerns on any ingredients back with manufacturers. One of the main culprits is chocolate so we are watching that closely and enjoying palm-oil free enterprise such as the Chokolit Company. So 'Double chocolate' muffin, although not calorie-free can at least be conscience-free. Ethical eating and happy orang utans is what we mean by ethical good taste.

(Thanks to @AvelingArtworks for permission to use this painting of "Riang" - a name which means 'happy' in Bahasa Indonesia)

Introducing.... Midi Muffins

2009-09-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

A maxi-muffin is a meal in itself. Mini-muffins just touch down on your taste buds. Our solution would make Goldilocks squeal with delight - the Magog midi-muffin is moist, munchable and "just right".

Enclosed in our hand-crafted 'petal' wrappings, these 'Apple streudel' muffins contrast the tartness of Granny Smiths with a honey and oatmeal crunchy topping. All grown within an apple's throw of Gog Magog Hills Farm Shop and Delicatessen. Fall treats in store. Shortly to be in store anyway.

Guess the taste...

2009-09-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

.... a fresh batch of tasty muffins, brushed with a tangy topping. But which type of muffin are they?

First correct guess qualifies for a free muffin.... (except you @houndpup)

And are there muffins still for tea ...?

2009-09-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

On reflection, the muffins started appearing more regularly at Sunday tea as an affordable treat in the recession. It was a comforting recollection of village life that John Betjamen conjoured up with ".. stands the church clock at ten to three, and is there honey still for tea?" With us it was muffins.

Then they started to impose individual personalities. 'Lemon Tea' was at once sweet and astringent; 'Double Ginger' was infused with crunchy chunks of spicy pleasure; 'Your very good health' offered a winter immunity boost with chewy apricots and revitalising goji berries. The elegant 'Cambridge Blue', bursting with blueberries and poppy seeds, represented the spires on the horizon.

Soon they insisted on moving beyond the confines of the family table. Trademarked as "Magog Muffins - ethical good taste' they are guarding their credentials, insisting all ingredients are organic, fairly traded and as locally-sourced as possible. With that pedigree they have found a friendly niche at Gog Magog Farm Shop and Delicatessen and you can catch up with them in the cafe there from next month. We'll try to keep up with their story so check back here to see what's new in the life of mouthwatering Magog Muffins.