Cappuccino Muffins

It seems that half of the food blogosphere is moving, and I am, too. Soon I'm going to leave this little apartment I lived in for two and a half years.

After thinking and talking about it for some time, I decided to move in with my boyfriend. It's exciting, I'm a bit nervous, but so looking forward to it. The new apartment will be less dark, with beautiful hardwood floor in the two bedrooms, a bigger kitchen, an even smaller fridge.

To celebrate, I brought you these Cappuccino Muffins. They could also be called Irish Coffee Muffins, if you decide to pour some whisky over the tops of the muffins. Then they would be totally appropriate to eat today, St. Patrick's Day. But really, make them any day of the year, not just today, and celebrate love with me. Because I am really happy today. (And so close to crying right now, I don't know what happens with me, I'm becoming more and more sentimental it seems)

Cappuccino Muffins

Note: You have to make two different batters for these muffins, but they were still rather easy to make. Measure out all the ingredients before you start mixing, you don't want to have one batter ready and notice you don't have enough sugar or flour.

Dark layer:
250g all purpose flour (you can also use part whole-wheat for the dark layer)
130g brown sugar
3 tbsp neutral oil (I use canola oil)
1/4 l coffee
1 tsp baking soda
2-3 tbsp chocolate powder

White layer:
100g butter
200ml milk
2 eggs, separated
120g sugar
240g white all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. I have a muffin pan with silicone cups, they make it really easy to remove the muffins without using liners. If you don't have one of these, butter and flour the tins or use white liners.

Prepare the dark batter: Measure out all the ingredients and mix them together in a mixing bowl. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, it should be enough to fill 12 half way up. Pre bake them for 2-3 minutes when you finish the white batter.

In a mixing bowl, mix the butter, flour and sugar until the mixture is crumbly without big lumps. Add the baking powder and the salt. Whisk together the milk and the egg yolks. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Pour the liquid into the mixing bowl and stir until just incorporated. Spoon the stiff egg whites into the mixing bowl and carefully fold them in.
Remove the muffin pan from the oven (it should only bake for 2-3 minutes before adding the top layer). Spoon the white batter on top of the coffee layer. I had some batter left and baked that in a small bundt cake form.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a tester inserted comes out clean and the tops are golden.
Let them cool down and sprinkle with some chocolate powder.

Makes 12 muffins.