Rh UBARB CRUMBl E MUFFINS

from Bersted In Focus April 2023

by InFocus

Clubs, Classes and Events

Preparation time: 25 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes Makes 12 muffins

22 Bersted in Focus ingredients

For the muffin mix

• 175g caster sugar

• 175g rhubarb, halved lengthways then diced

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil

• 1 egg

Method

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 125ml buttermilk

• 200g plain flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• Preheat the oven to 220C / 200C fan /gas mark 7. Fill a 12-hole muffin tray with paper muffin cases.

• Mix the sugar and rhubarb together and set on one side.

• To make the crumble topping mix together the muscovado sugar with the flour, oats and cinnamon. Rub the butter into the mixture until it comes together into crumbly clumps.

• Beat the oil and the egg lightly together, then stir in the vanilla and buttermilk. Pour the mixture over the sugar-coated rhubarb. Add the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and mix well.

For the crumble topping

• 50g light muscovado sugar

• 50g plain flour

• 25g porridge oats

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 50g butter

• Spoon the mixture into the cases, then cover each one with a thick layer of the crumble mixture. Bake for 15-18 mins until golden and a skewer poked into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. leave to cool on a wire rack.

ST G EORGE’S DAy

By SARAh DAvEy

Sunday April 23rd is St George’s Day. It’s actually a designated feast day for St George, the patron saint of England. The origins of his legend can be traced back to the veneration of saints in the early Christian church.

St George was a real person, born in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey) in the 3rd century. According to his legend, he was a Roman soldier who refused to renounce his Christian faith and was subsequently tortured and executed. As a result of this he became a martyr, revered as a symbol of bravery and courage, and his story spread throughout Europe.

St George is known for fighting a dragon. The alleged encounter occurred in libya. The dragon is said to have set up a den by a freshwater spring and terrorised the townsfolk, who could not collect water unless they pacified it by feeding it to their sheep. Eventually they ran out of livestock so decided to offer a maiden instead, but, just at the moment the dragon was about to eat her, George is said to have galloped in on a white stallion and killed the beast with his sword. As dragons are mythical creatures it is more likely that George killed some sort of animal, or even a man, if he killed anyone at all. The story may simply be a fictional allegory for his bravery.

And in the Middle Ages, St George became particularly popular in England, where he was seen as a symbol of the country’s struggle against foreign invaders. In the 14th-Century, King Edward III made him the patron saint of the Order of the Garter, the highest order of chivalry in England. he was given a major feast day which was marked with religious services, parades, and other public celebrations. Nowadays St George’s Day is no longer a public holiday, and although there have been some calls to revive it in England, in the same way that St Andrew’s Day is in Scotland, and St Patrick’s Day is in Ireland, this seems unlikely to happen.