Lemon Crumble Muffins

Happy New Year and welcome back to Sweet Things! We’ve had quite a number of you join over the last month or so and it’s a pleasure to have you here. As we jump into 2026, you can expect plenty more cakes, pies, puddings and cookies, more round ups of my favourite London bakeries and restaurants and a few hints of a new project I’m working on. All very exciting!

2026 feels momentous on many fronts. It marks 10 years since being on The Great British Bake Off and forging a career in the world of food. In that time, I’ve written three cookbooks, developed hundreds and hundreds of recipes, hosted supperclubs and events, taught classes, spent countless hours creating content for social media, worked with dream brands, launched this newsletter and connected with so many of you from around the world. There’s lots to look back on and even more to look forward to; I’ve started thinking about fun ways to mark this milestone, suggestions welcome!

Until then, I’m easing us in with a simple, low key recipe to start the year. Whilst January is typically a month of restraint for many, I’m firmly in the camp that believes cake is still very much necessary. January is a long month! And I don’t think we should make it more difficult than it needs to be so lets make the first few weeks of the year just that little bit sweeter.

These lemon crumble muffins are a breeze to put together and require very little effort. It’s a classic method of wet ingredients into dry and then they’re topped generously with some buttery crumble that stays beautifully crunchy after baking. Lemon muffins often aren’t lemony enough so to amp up the citrus vibes, I pipe some curd in the middle; you can make your own like me but a jar of shop bought would also be great.

As always, it’s such a joy to have you all here and I’m excited to create more delicious things in 2026. If there are any recipes in particular you’d like to see this year, leave a comment below or drop a message in the Substack chat.

Enjoy!

Benjamina x

I typically only make muffins in small batches as it’s rare I’ll ever need 12. This recipe makes five which might feel like a random number, but I found it gives the perfect amount of batter per muffin to get that overflowing domed top that we all love. If you need to work in even numbers, by all means go ahead, they’ll just be a little more conservative.

The curd recipe will a bit more than you need but if I’m going to go to the trouble of making it myself, I always want some extra to use for yoghurts and porridge.

These are best eaten on the day they’re made.

makes 5
equipment: 6 or 12 hole muffin tray

1. To make the curd, add the eggs, sugar, zest and lemon juice to a bowl and whisk to combine.

2. Pour the mixture into a saucepan along with the butter and heat gently whilst stirring constantly. Cook the curd for about 5-8 minutes until it thickens to the consistency of custard.

3. Pour the mixture through a sieve and into a clean jar or airtight container.

4. Let the curd cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge until you’re ready to use.

5. Preheat the oven to 190c fan/200c.

6. To make the crumble, mix the flour, sugar and salt together in a bowl. Pour in melted butter and mix until you have a thick dough. Place it in the fridge to chill.

7. For the muffins, add the sugar and zest to a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar until it looks like wet sand.

8. Add in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well to combine.

9. In a separate jug, whisk together the sour cream, egg and oil.

10. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the sour cream mix and the melted butter.

11. Stir gently until there are no more dry bits of flour. The batter will be very thick but be careful not to over mix. Set the batter aside to rest for 5 minutes.

12. Line a muffin tin with 5 paper cases. If you’re using a 12-hole tin, leave spaces between each muffin to give room for them to spread.

13. Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to split the mixture evenly between the cases - they will be quite full! Top generously with the crumble mix.

14. Bake for 10 minutes and then turn the temperature down to 160c. Bake for another 12-15 minutes until the tops are well risen and lightly browned.

15. Set them aside to cool completely.

16. Once cool, use a small sharp knife to make a slit in the top of the muffins. Fill a small piping bag with curd and pipe some inside. You won’t need to use all of the curd.

17. Dust with icing sugar if you like and serve.