Lemon poppy seed muffins...don't eat too many!

Ok so there is nothing like a lovely muffin to kick start your day. I saw some lemons lying in the fruit bowl and thought I'd make some muffins to have ready in the morning. As I was browsing the Internet for inspiration I saw some muffins that had poppy seeds in them and how well they seemed to pair with lemon. So, why not? My dad came back from the local supermarket with blue poppy seeds! Blue? Yes indeed. The poppy it would seem comes in many shades and sizes. So I did a bit of a google in the hope of finding that the blue variety were perfectly acceptable ingredients in a muffin. Well, not only did I find that the blue hued poppy seed is fine in baked foods, I found something far more interesting...

Although the drug opium is produced by "milking" latex from the unripe fruits ("seed pods") rather than from the seeds, all parts of the plant can contain or carry the opium alkaloids, especially morphine and codeine. This means that eating foods (e.g., muffins) that contain poppy seeds can result in a false positive for opiates in a drug test. However the results provided will not be the same for someone who abuses opiates.

Well, 'phew' to that, is all I can say! But, how interesting too! I wonder if I ate all 12 muffins if I would test wickedly high on the opiate scale. So fascinating that something that tiny could be so potent. Of course, I clicked here and there and was fascinated by the studies done on the mere poppy seed. It's actually banned in some countries! 

Anyway, I digress, the muffin was delicious (or was that the morphine talking?). With Greek yoghurt in the recipe, it made the muffin incredibly moist. 

I did the drizzle on the top as the muffin itself had a lovely strong lemon flavour and wasn't too sweet so the drizzle just added an extra zing. When I cut into it, those blue poppy seeds looked fabulous dotting the muffin here and there.

They didn't overpower the muffin and instead I found gave it an 'earthy' taste which I really liked. During my research, I discovered that poppy seeds aid sleep. So I ate my muffin and did my taste test before heading to bed. So here's to a good nights sleep. Maybe we can rearrange the world view so muffins can be a supper snack instead...just make sure you don't forget to go heavy on the poppy seeds!

White Toblerone Bundt cake...

So, what do you do when you get given one of those massive Toblerone bars? You instantly go in search of a way to turn it into something even more divine like a Bundt cake. I do like Toblerone but I must admit that I find the white chocolate a bit sickly and sweet on its own. However, when it becomes the base for a Bundt cake it becomes transformational. This cake was so moist and soft. It melted in your mouth. The intense sweetness of the chocolate had gone and instead it made the cake rich and flavourful. There was 200g of Toblerone in this, which was half of one of those giant bars. I could easily have just sat and sliced another five slices of this and gobbled them down. Self-restraint is not easily accomplished around this cake. Make at your own waistlines risk!

White chocolate Toblerone Bundt cake

Melt in a double boiler :
250g butter
200g white Toblerone
1 cup milk
1 cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Leave to cool. Once cool add 2 cups plain flour, 2 and half tsps baking powder and 3 beaten eggs.

Pop in the Bundt pan and bake for about 40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes though. You don't want to overcook and lose that lovely moistness. Cool completely on a wire rack before turning out onto a cake stand. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Devour shamelessly!