About the book
Muffins have enjoyed immense popularity in Canada and the United States over the past couple of decades. This comes as no surprise: muffins are simple enough for the novice to bake successfully, and healthy enough to enjoy without guilt!
Soon after moving from Canada to Britain in 1993, I noticed there was a new and growing interest in muffins here, but muffin recipes at that time were scarce. I heard of various attempts by friends to import recipes from North America but always with disappointing results. From my own experience, I knew that flour and measures differ significantly on either side of the Atlantic, so I was not surprised.
As I sorted out these trans-Atlantic problems for my own baking, I set out to develop fail-proof, delicious muffin recipes using British measures and ingredients. As my recipes progressed, I thought it would be fun to produce a small ‘introduction to muffins’ booklet that could at least be used for fund-raising even if it never saw the inside of a bookshop! And so, Muffins Fast and Fantastic was born.
From its humble beginnings, Muffins grew by astounding leaps and bounds (and yes, it did make it into the bookshops, as well as kitchenware shops!). After 50,000 copies were sold, a second edition was launched in 1999 to include several new recipes and information for adapting muffins to special diets.
In the spring of 2001, as sales exceeded 120,000 copies, I decided Muffins deserved a complete makeover, with new design layout and full colour photography throughout. There was also the hard decision to change from wire spiral binding to a glued binding. This became necessary due to recurrent problems with the spiral binding process.
One other important change is the addition of a gluten-free section. Pressure from relatives and friends regarding gluten-free and wheat-free muffins led me to do research and experimentation in this area. I'm very pleased with the final results, and hope this will prove useful to many families. And now, Muffins has found its way to over 225,000 homes!
— Susan Reimer