Steamed Muffins with Raspberries and Strawberries

Muffins are one of the quintessential delicious desserts. They offer endless variations (always delicious), are quick and easy to make, convenient to eat and transport, and loved by both adults and children. They can be flavored with anything, from classic combinations like apple and cinnamon to more indulgent chocolate and hazelnuts, or even versions with berries.

Muffins are quick and easy to make : they cook in about half an hour and require only mixing the dry and liquid ingredients and then combining them. They're delicious, single-serving cakes, making them ideal for picnics and day trips; mini-muffin versions are perfect as small desserts and snacks for kids.

Naturally, choosing the right ingredients is crucial to creating delicious and balanced desserts, free from refined products and excessive fats. Therefore, we won't use the highly refined "00" flour, but whole and semi-whole wheat flours (preferably from ancient grains), which provide the dough with fiber, germ proteins, minerals, and exceptional flavor. We'll also include oil and almonds as fatty ingredients, which are rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Finally, we'll use dried fruit, apple juice, and rice malt instead of sugar, for a more interesting and healthier sweetener, with natural foods that, in addition to their sweet flavor, also provide fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

So, are we ready to bake? Not really, today we're steaming our muffins! I've already talked about steaming for making sourdough bread, but we can use it in other contexts as well. Steaming is a lighter and gentler cooking method; the temperature never exceeds 100°C, so foods retain many of their properties and certain aromatic compounds that can be harmful aren't formed. The foods stay softer, are more digestible, and their flavor is more intense.

• 125g Gentil Rosso Type 2 Flour
• 35g Wholemeal barley flour
• 35g Almond flour
• 35g Corn Flour
• 1/2 sachet of baking powder cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of baking soda
• 1 grated lemon zest
• ½ lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons corn oil (35g)
• 24g raisins
• 24g dried apricots
• 24g dates
• 30g apple juice
• 2 tablespoons of rice malt (44g)
• 180g soy milk
• 50g raspberries
• 5 strawberries
• Almonds for decoration

• Prepare the ingredients (1) and sift the flours and other powders into a large bowl.
• In a blender, combine the dried fruit and apple juice and blend until creamy.
• Pour the oil, lemon zest and juice, the other liquids and the dried fruit cream into a measuring cup. Emulsify with the hand blender and add to the dry ingredients (2) .
• Mix with a spatula, incorporating air, until you obtain a smooth but not too liquid mixture (3) . If it is too compact, add a little milk.

• Add the fruit cut into pieces (4) , keep aside a few pieces of raspberry to decorate.
• Fill the muffin cups with the mixture, decorate with raspberries (5) or almonds (6).

• Place the muffins inside the bamboo steaming basket. Add two fingers of water to a pan with the same diameter as the basket, place the basket inside and cover with its lid (7) .
• Cook for about 30-35 min.
• Once cooked (8) , transfer to a surface, leave to dry and cool (9) .

• If you prefer traditional baking, bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool.