I found out recently that with most of the couples I know, there’s always one person who does the cooking more (and with more enthusiasm) then the other. Quite a revelation on my part, honestly. Not that I don’t encourage it when the significant other (whether male or female) takes on the pots and pans more often, don’t get me wrong. I would love to see my significant other behind the stove more (yes, we are also that kind of couple), even if it means eating ready-from-the box meals

When they see the look on my face (you can read a lot of my face apparently) their excuse is almost always: Yeah, but I can’t cook and he (she) is much better at it then I am. And: I don’t like to cook.

I’ve been thinking about it and have come to the conclusion that my cooking skills weren’t all that much when I left my parental home. I knew the basic stuff; cooking potatoes/pasta/rice, baking an omelet, making sauce from a box/packet, making a simple one pot meal etc. It wasn’t until I moved out and being responsible for my own meals (and having to eat it ) that I learned to make a proper meal. I could’ve easily given up, I lived above a cafeteria so I didn’t have to starve at all although I would’ve been 40 lbs heavier.

I was surprised to learn that most of them didn’t learn the basics to begin with! They couldn’t cook an egg to save their lives. While the ones that did learn how to do the basics (in this case the partners) more or less turned into great cooks.

This analogy, like any analogy, eventually breaks down. I only need to look at my husband and his brother to know this. My husband doesn’t cook (only if he reeeaaaally has to, because I’m sick or not at home which hardly ever happens) but his brother does (his wife on the other hand hardly…). Two people from the same nest, one is a cook and the other one isn’t.

My brother and I learned the same basic stuff (no difference between boy or girl in our house) and, lo and behold, we’re both great cooks.

I admit, there has to be some kind of interest. But you can grow interest! How?

Teach ‘m while they’re young:

I don’t know if they become good cooks, but they’re having so much fun

I love muffins.. Plain muffins, apple muffins, blueberry muffins, chocolate muffins. I mean the list goes on and on…

Today I craved for a tasty apple muffin with crumble on top. So I began gathering all the ingredients until I came to a rather crucial part of muffin baking. The paper cups….I couldn’t find the cups! I searched everywhere but no cups..

Allright….time for plan B.

I have thought about doing this before, but, because I allways (!) have enough paper cups there was never a real reason to try this. I’m baking a Mega Muffin!

So instead of the paper cups I got out the round cake tin lined it with some parchment paper and poured the muffin batter (with apple) in the big tin. I usually leave the muffins in the oven for about 20 min (or until golden) but this time I left it for another 10 min (30 min total) and checked with a toothpick if it came out dry.

Oh my…doesn’t this look like a delicious Mega Muffin? Okay, I think we need a close-up…

Does your mouth water allready? I know mine is… This is what it looks like when eaten.

RECIPE

Batter:

• 200 gr flour
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 2 tsp bakingpowder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 125 gr sugar
• 1 egg
• 50 gr melted butter
• 125 ml milk
• 2 large apples

Crumble:

• 4 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tbs flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbs butter (melted)

For non-metric people: gram conversion calculator

Batter:
Peel and de-core apples and cut them up into cubes. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl, mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Pour the wet mix in with the dry mix and stir with a fork (don’t try to get it smooth there can be some little lumbs). Fold in the apple cubes.

Crumble:
Mix all the ingredients with a fork.

Line a tin with parchment paper and grease lightly. Pour the batter into tin and sprinkle the crumble on top. Bake for approx. 30 min in a preheated oven at 175-200˚C (350-490 F) until golden. Stick a toothpick in it to check if it comes out clean.

Now for the hard part: let it cool for just a little while, because you will burn yourself trying to eat it right out of the oven (ask me how I know).

Enjoy!