Tana Ramsay's picnic recipes

Tana's third book, Tana's Kitchen Secrets, reveals her simple yet effective foodie secrets from the Ramsay kitchen - and you can imagine she's got a hard act to follow.

With summer in full swing, here are two easy nibbles that are perfect for taking along to a picnic.

Apple & raspberry crumble muffins

The perfect companion for any picnic basket, these tasty muffins go down nicely with homemade lemonade in the sunshine.

You'll need a 12-hole muffin tin (which has deeper holes than a fairy-cake tin) and, ideally, some paper muffin cases. The apple keeps these muffins very moist and this recipe is a handy way to use up those that are past their best.

Makes 12 muffins

• Preparation time 15 minutes
• Cooking time 30–35 minutes
• Can be made in advance

Ingredients

3 free-range eggs
180g (6oz) crème fraîche
250g (9oz) caster sugar
200g (7oz) plain flour, sifted
1½ tsp baking powder
1 apple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
150g (5½oz) raspberries

For the crumble topping

55g (2oz) unsalted butter, diced
55g (2oz) plain flour
25g (1oz) light muscovado sugar
1 tbsp roasted, chopped hazelnuts

1) Preheat the oven to 170ºC/340ºF/gas mark 3.

2) First make the crumble topping using the butter
and flour.

Be sure to use cold butter. Add it to the flour and rub together very lightly with your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and all the large lumps of butter have dispersed evenly.

The warmth of your hands will soften the butter enough to blend with the flour. Stir in the muscovado sugar and hazelnuts. Don’t overwork the topping, or it will be heavy and clumpy. Set aside.

3) Place the eggs, crème fraîche, caster sugar, flour and baking powder into a bowl and mix together until smooth. Add the apple and half the raspberries and stir through, taking care not to crush the raspberries.

4) Place the paper cases into a muffin tin and half fill with the batter. Stir the remaining raspberries into the crumble topping and spoon this evenly on top.

5) Bake the muffins for 30–35 minutes, until golden and cooked through. When ready, they should spring back to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. These keep very well for a couple of days in an airtight container – the apple helps to keep the sponge really moist.

See more recipes in Tana's book Tana's kitchen secrets.

See more delicious family recipes including lots created by MadeForMums mums!