Prepare the oven
Preheat the oven to 190°C, 375°F or gas mark 5.

Mix the dry ingredients
Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and the salt into a bowl and mix them together well.

Mix the other ingredients
Take a separate bowl and pour in the milk. Add the melted butter, orange zest, vanilla essence and then break in the egg. Stir together thoroughly.

Combine all the ingredients
Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and briefly stir them together. Don't over mix it as you want to keep the batter fluffy.

TIP!
If you want to make more elaborate muffins then now's the time to add the other ingredients. The options are endless from bananas to chocolate chips. For an example, try adding 175g of blueberries to create an authentic American recipe.

Pour into the muffin cups
Arrange the cups on a baking tray and then add about three generous spoonfuls of the muffin mixture to each one. Don't fill them completely as they will rise.

TIP!
If you use aluminium cups, then just before adding the mixture you'll have to brush them with butter and dust with a little flour.

Bake the muffins
Place the baking tray in the centre of the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Test, remove and serve
When you see that the muffins have risen and turned golden brown in colour, insert a toothpick to check they are done; if it's clean when you take it out then they're ready to remove.

Take the muffins out of the cups, dust them with a little icing sugar and serve while warm with a cup of freshly brewed tea or coffee.