‘The Botanical Kitchen’ cookbook: Recipes from banana muffins to baked brie

Mix up your baking with Elly McCausland’s exciting take on a classic, along with an indulgent starter and a light summery salad

These tahini-glazed muffins are the best thing since banana bread

Banana, tahini and white chocolate muffins

These are inspired by the tahini and white chocolate babka from Honey & Spice in London. To be frank, that babka is probably the best thing I have ever eaten. Its oozing core of molten tahini and white chocolate surrounded by a buttery brioche crust sees me making ridiculous detours every time I visit London just so I can pass by the deli and grab one (OK, three) pieces. As I don’t live near London and I don’t always have time to make bread, I had to come up with an alternative so I could get my fix on a regular basis. Introducing banana and cardamom to that already indulgent mixture of ingredients proved an excellent idea, resulting in a highly addictive sweet-savoury combination. These muffins are an excellent way to use up overripe bananas – the blacker the better.

Makes 12