ENGLISH MUM IN IRELAND HAS MOVED! FIND ME AT ENGLISHMUM.COM

Well, some of the longlists are out for the Irish Blog Awards 2008 and bugger me with a fish fork if I haven’t actually been picked for something! I was always picked last in games (childbearing hips - my own personal cross to bear) so this means a lot. I’m in the ‘Best Personal Blog’ category, along with some very tough competition: the wondrous Grandad, lovely Flirty, Annie, Nats and Conortje to name a few, I’m also in ‘Best Food and Wine Blog’ along with Wee Jen and Manuel the Waiter. My mates Isitjustme and 73man have been nominated for Best Newcomer, and the lovely Annie Rhiannon is in the ‘Best Designed Blog’ too! Lovely Fat Mammy Cat got about a squillion nominations in lots of different categories and is bound to clean up. Well done y’all. Go us, eh? Champers! Pass the champers!!

PS: Just seen I’m in the list for Best Blog too! (along with 135 others, but hey, at least I’m there!)

PPS: If Fat Mammy Cat’s post on fox hunting doesn’t win the Best Blog Post award, then I’m a monkey’s uncle (and I’m not. I checked.)

On Sunday, I made Bill Granger’s banana and butterscotch pudding. Okay, so I admit, I left out the ‘banana and’ bit when I was telling #2 what it was, but he sussed right away. As I was making the custard I was mulling over what gorgeous stuff custard powder is. Remember those yummy rhubarb and custard sweets? So then last night, as I was lying in bed (I know, I know…) I thought ooh, I wonder if you could make rhubarb and custard muffins? But not having any rhubarb handy, I settled on pears. And the result is pretty darn good, even if I say so myself.

So remember, as usual, the Golden Muffin Rule: get your ingredients ready before you start, and don’t over mix. If you can still see a teeny bit of flour, it’s just right.

8 oz plain flour
2 tablespoons custard powder (not instant custard!)
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 oz caster sugar
2 oz brown sugar
6 fl oz milk
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 egg, beaten
4 oz butter, melted
1 large ripe pear: peeled, cored and diced into teeny squares.

Sieve the flour, custard powder, baking powder and salt, then add the sugars (as usual you can use any sugar you like, I like the toffeeness of brown sugar in it). Just melt your butter in a jug in the microwave, then mix in the milk, vanilla and beaten egg and stir into the dry stuff. Don’t forget to add in your diced pear here (remember the GMR – a lighter hand gives a lighter result). The smell of the custard powder when you’re mixing is just gorgeous. Divide into 12 large muffin cases. It’s also quite nice if you sprinkle the tops with crunchy sugar, but I forgot.

Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes, depending on the size, at 200 degrees, then serve warm to fully appreciate the moist custardy interior studded with little pearly bits of pear….mmmmmmm.