fresh strawberry scones

05/10/2009 By

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What’s fun about going through phases with certain foods, like my recent scone phase, is that it gives you a chance to really explore that category. I’ve made all sorts of scones in the past few months – cream scones, scones made with lighter dairy but more butter, scones filled with fresh fruit and with nuts. So far I’ve avoided scones with dried fruit, even though it’s traditional.

Instead, I tried scones with one of the juiciest fruits. Katie’s recipe for strawberry scones closely resembles most other scone recipes, with butter cut into the dry ingredients before dairy is gently stirred in. The recipe includes yogurt and milk instead of the richer cream often called for in scones.

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The recipe was a little tricky for me. Because strawberries vary so much in water content, Katie recommends a range of flour. I knew my early season berries weren’t at their juicy peak, so I kept to the lower end of the range. However, I still needed far more liquid than the original recipe requires before the dough would come together. Kelsey indicated that she had a similar problem. Fortunately, it was easy enough to increase the milk until all of the flour was evenly moistened.

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I’ve found that I generally prefer cream scones for their rich tender crumb that has no trace of dryness. These scones were a little different, and my first instinct was to prefer the cream scones that I’m used to, but then I realized that these were every bit as good. Because of the higher amount of butter compared to flour, the scones had crisper edges, especially the bottom, but it was good, almost like a flaky pie crust. And you know how scones are so good topped with jam? Putting strawberries right in the scone is ten times better.

One year ago: Peanut Butter Torte

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Strawberry Scones (adapted from Good Things Catered)

When I make scones, I almost always prepare them up to just before baking (through step 5 in this recipe), then freeze the shaped dough. The scones can be baked straight from the freezer, with just a few minutes added to the baking time.

2¼ cups (10.8 ounces) all purpose flour
¼ cups (1.75 ounces) granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 egg
¼ cup plain yogurt
½ cup milk
1 teaspoons orange zest
1 cup diced fresh strawberries

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

2. In a small bowl, combine the egg, yogurt, milk and zest and whisk to thoroughly combine. Set aside.

3. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine (or mix with a whisk in a large bowl). Add the cubes of butter and pulse several times, until the butter pieces are all smaller than pea-sized (or cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or two knives). Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

4. Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and toss to coat. Add the wet ingredients and fold them into the dry ingredients, mixing just until the dough comes together and all of the flour is hydrated.

5. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and pat it into a large ball. Cut the ball in half, and shape each half into a flat disk about ½-inch thick. Cut the discs into 8 wedges.

6. Place the wedges on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle sugar on top. Bake until slightly browned on top, about 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the scones cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. The scones are best served when still slightly warm.

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Filed Under: bread, breakfast, freezer friendly, fruit, quick bread, spring

orange-oatmeal-currant cookies

05/03/2009 By

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Is it possible to have a cookbook crush? I received Tartine in the mail three weeks ago, and I’ve hardly put it down since. I heard about the book when Mark recommended it, so I flipped through it one day in the bookstore. I flip through a lot of the books in the bookstore, but I can usually resist buying. I didn’t buy Tartine immediately, but after my initial look-through, I couldn’t put it out of my mind. The croissants! The shortbread! The banana cream pie!

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There are a number of reasons to be excited about this book. The photography is beautiful. The desserts are garnished elegantly.  The author, Elisabeth Pruett (with her husband Chad Robertson) sets a friendly tone and provides plenty of helpful tips.

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But as with any cookbook, it all comes down to the recipes. What I love about Tartine’s recipes is that they’re classics – lemon bars, clafoutis, gingerbread cookies – but they’re taken up a notch. The banana cream pie has a thin layer of chocolate on the bottom crust to keep it crisp. The croissant dough is built from a sponge and then a slow rise. The lemon bars have a crust made from browned butter that’s topped with an extra thick layer of curd.

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You do have to work for those extra steps, so this book won’t be for everyone. But for someone like me, who enjoys the process as much as the result, the book is a perfect fit. There isn’t one recipe in the book that I’m not eager to make.

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The first recipe I made was the Banana Date Tea Cake, which isn’t something that would normally sound good to me, but that’s what’s special about this book – everything sounds good. And the tea cake was delicious, with a moist, cinnamon-scented crumb that was just a little crisp at the edges. This is definitely one of my favorite banana breads. I have two old bananas sitting around right now, and I’m kicking myself for not buying dates.

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miniature banana date tea cake

And these cookies honestly might be my new favorite (well…maybe not), and they’re certainly the best oatmeal cookie I’ve eaten. The method is mostly traditional – the butter and sugar are creamed, eggs are beaten in, and the dry ingredients are stirred in just until they’re incorporated. It’s a freezer cookie, so you wrap the dough up and chill it, then when you’re ready to bake, just slice off cookies.

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The cookies are perfectly balanced – slightly crisp on the edges, but mostly a soft chewy center, with tartness from the currants and a hint of orange and of spice. For a cookie, they feel almost light, with currants where chocolate often is and oatmeal adding plenty of healthy bulk. I’m looking for excuses to make them again, and I’m thinking particularly about Mother’s Day. It’s going to be impossible to make my way through Tartine if each recipe is so good that I have to make it twice to get enough.

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One year ago: Red Beans and Rice

Orange-Oatmeal-Currant Cookies (from Tartine, by Elisabeth Pruett and Chad Robertson)

Makes 80 2-inch cookies

The recipe stressed the importance of being chilled overnight, but my dough was plenty chilled after a few hours in the freezer. Zante currants are the kind that you’ll find dried.

1½ cups (7 ounces) zante currants
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1 cup (8 ounces/16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups (8¾ ounces) sugar
1 large whole egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon blackstrap or other dark molasses
½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoon orange zest, grated
1½ cups (5½ ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats

In a small bowl, combine the currants and warm water to cover and set aside for about 10 minutes until the currants are plumped. Drain well and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and nutmeg into a mixing bowl and set aside. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and creamy. Slowly add the sugar and mix on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the whole eggs, egg yolk, vanilla, corn syrup, molasses, salt, and orange zest and beat until well mixed. Stir in the flour mixture, currants, and oats until well incorporated.

Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Working on a large sheet of parchment paper, shape each portion into a log about 14 inches long and 2 inches in diameter. Gently Press each log to give it an oval shape. Wrap tightly in parchment paper or plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator or freezer overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick liner.

Unwrap the logs. Using a sharp knife, slice the logs into ovals about ¼ inch thick. Arrange the ovals on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned but the centers remain pale, 7-10 minutes. You may bake both pans at the same time, but rotate them 180 degrees at the midway point if they are not baking evenly. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool. The cookies will be soft when they cool. They will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

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Filed Under: book review, citrus, cookies, dessert, freezer friendly, fruit

brandied berry crepes

04/18/2009 By

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When I scoped out the fresh blueberry selection while shopping for the blueberry crumb cake a few weeks ago, I caught a strong scent of strawberries. Yay! I hadn’t seen them there, hadn’t even though to look for them yet, but I definitely wasn’t passing them up. After months of apples and pumpkin, I am so ready for some different fruit. Since then, I’ve been using strawberries in everything possible.

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I made crepes a few months ago, and while I was perfectly happy with the recipe I used, I decided to try a new one anyway. I didn’t use any whole wheat flour this time, but this recipe uses a quarter of the butter as the other one, which is even better. I just mixed everything in a blender and let it set while I waited a few hours for Dave to wake up.

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The filling was more of an adventure. Berries and sugar are heated to dissolve the sugar, then a mixture of cornstarch and kirsch is added. The filling is finished off with lemon juice and more fresh berries. For one pound of berries, the filling has ¼ cup kirsch, which seemed on the high side, especially considering the very low quality of my kirsch (and that this is breakfast). Then I accidentally added twice as much alcohol as I was supposed to. Blech, it was disgusting – it tasted like a college party. Fortunately, I had more of everything else, so I just doubled the rest of the ingredients. It still has a pretty strong alcohol flavor, but in a good way.

Topping with whipped cream, it’s a pretty decadent breakfast, one that could easily pass as dessert. But who wants to wait all day for something this good?

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One year ago: Almond Biscotti – still the best biscotti I’ve made

Brandied Berry Crepes (adapted from Williams-Sonoma Desserts via Evan’s Kitchen Ramblings)

For the crepe batter:
1¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (8.8 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup + 1 tablespoon milk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for cooking the crepes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:
8 ounces mixed berries or berry puree
¼ cup (1.75 ounces) sugar
pinch salt
1½ tablespoon cornstarch
¼ cup brandy, preferably kirsch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
8 ounces mixed berries

1. For the crepe batter: Add all of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Let stand for at least 15 minutes or refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

2. For filling: Combine cornstarch and brandy in a small bowl. Combine the mixed berries or berry puree, the sugar, and the salt in a medium saucepan, then cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, then stir in the brandy mixture and cook until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice and add the remaining berries. Set aside.

3. Preheat a crepe pan or medium nonstick skillet of medium heat. When hot, grease with a dollop of butter (using a stick of butter to smear some directly on the skillet works nicely), and add enough batter to coat the skillet in a thin, even layer when you swivel the skillet around in your hand. Cook just until batter is set and golden on bottom, then flip and cook on second side for another minute or two. Repeat with the remaining batter, stacking the cooked crepes on a plate.

4. Spoon filling onto crepes, fold into quarters and serve.

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Filed Under: breakfast, dessert, french, fruit, quick bread, spring, summer

banana cream pie

04/07/2009 By

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Poor Dave. His favorite dessert is banana cream pie, and I just don’t make it very often. For one thing, it’s kind of a lot of work, what with the crust and the pastry cream and the whipped topping. (Okay, so whipped cream isn’t hard to make. But still.) Plus, it doesn’t have a long shelf life and it isn’t an easy recipe to scale down, so it’s tricky to make for just the two of us. I pretty much only make banana cream pie on his birthday.

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To avoid watery separated whipped cream and old browned bananas, I made and baked the pie crust and spread the pastry cream in it, without adding the bananas and topping. I sliced bananas and whipped cream each time we ate pie, instead of doing it all at once.

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A number of people have said that their pastry cream was too thick, and they added extra milk to thin it. I think I’ll use less cornstarch instead. It seemed like there was a little chalkiness in the pastry cream, which I’m thinking is due to undissolved cornstarch.

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Other than that, I thought the pie was really good. The cinnamon and nutmeg in the pastry cream was subtle; in the future, I think I’ll keep the nutmeg, but maybe not the cinnamon. The small amount of sour cream in the whipped cream added a nice tangy flavor. With just the two of us, it took us, um, less than 2 days to get through the whole pie. Maybe I didn’t need to worry about the pie not storing well after all…

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I’ll be sure to make this again. Next year. For Dave’s birthday.

Amy, who chose this recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie, has the recipe posted.

One year ago: Scotch Eggs

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Filed Under: custard, dessert, fruit, pie, tuesdays with dorie

coconut butter thins

03/31/2009 By

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There was some confusion among the Tuesdays with Dorie group about this recipe. Are the cookies supposed to retain their shape as they’re baked, like a classic shortbread cookie? Or are they supposed to become thin, as the title implies, and wafery and lacy, as Dorie describes them? I think it’s clear what side of the debate I’m on…

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The cookies are mixed like shortbread, with no eggs and no leavener. Coconut, macadamia nuts, and lime zest is added to give them a tropical flavor. The dough is rolled out in a ziploc bag, chilled, then cut into squares and baked.

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The cookies go into the oven with a thickness of ¼-inch, and, for me, they came out substantially thinner. But, again, Dorie makes clear that there’s supposed to be a lot of room between the cookies on the sheet, and they are called Coconut Butter Thins, after all. If you’d like them to look more like a classic shortbread, I’d increase the baking temperature to 375F, decrease the baking time substantially, and freeze the dough before baking.

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I increased the salt a bit, because I’ve found that I like my sweets saltier than Dorie. I also forgot to buy a lime (twice), so I just sprinkled in some lemon extract instead of using lime zest.

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I thought they were pretty great. The edges were crispy and the center was tender.  The coconut flavor was subtle, but that and the nuts gave the cookie some depth.  Jayne has the recipe posted.

One year ago: Bagels

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Filed Under: cookies, dessert, fruit, tuesdays with dorie

lemon poppy seed waffles

03/29/2009 By

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Over the last week, I’ve invested a considerable amount of time, plus some money, into my blog to make it look…well, pretty much the same. Plus, I’m guessing most of you read my blog through Google Reader or something similar and never actually see the design. Be that as it may, there are a couple design features on it that I’ve mostly gotten used to but have always bugged me a little. Now I can fix them! Eventually. When I learn how.

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Thank god for things I do know how to do, like cook. I first tried a recipe for lemon poppy seed waffles that I found through epicurious, but my socks weren’t knocked off. It was a little dense and not crispy on the outside the way I like. I considered beating the egg whites separately and folding them back into the batter, but ultimately decided that if I’ve already found a waffle recipe that I like, why not stick with it? Especially if it’s less work.

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I took my favorite overnight waffle recipe and added lemon zest and poppy seeds to it. To maximize the flavor of the lemon, I rubbed the zest with the sugar before adding the remaining ingredients. (Thanks for the tip, Dorie!) The lemon sugar is mixed with water, yeast, milk, melted butter, and flour, then left to rest on the countertop overnight. The eggs and a bit of baking soda are stirred in in the morning right before the waffles are cooked.

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I love the texture of these waffles. They’re so light in the middle, and so crisp on the outside. I also love the crunch of poppy seeds. And the flavor, of course, is dominated by lemon, then topped with lemon’s great compliment, blueberries. Pretty nice for just a few minutes of effort in the morning.

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One year ago: Whole Wheat Pasta with Greens, Beans, Tomatoes, and Garlic Chips

Lemon Poppy Seed Waffles (adapted from Waring Pro and from Bon Apetit September 2000 through epicurious)

The waffles have a pretty strong sourdough flavor, and although I generally like it, it’s a little much in these lemon waffles. I’m going to try reducing the yeast to 1 teaspoon next time. I’ll be sure to update when I do.

zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ cup water
2¼ teaspoons (one packet) instant dry yeast
2 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon baking soda

1. The night before, or at least 8 hours before baking, rub the sugar and zest together until fragrant. Add the water, yeast, milk, melted butter, poppy seeds, and salt. Beat in the flour until smooth (this may be done using a hand mixer on low speed). Wrap the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand overnight (or for 8 hours) on the countertop. Do not refrigerate.

2. When ready to bake, preheat your waffle maker on your preferred setting. While the waffle maker is heating, stir the eggs, vanilla extract, and baking soda into the batter. Measure out enough batter for your waffle maker and pour into the preheated waffle maker. Use a heat-proof spatula to spread the batter evenly over the grids. Close lid and bake the waffle in the waffle maker until it indicates the waffle is done.

3. Remove waffle and repeat until the desired number of waffles has been made. Cover remaining batter and place in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Waffles may be kept warm in an oven at low-heat (200°F). Place waffles on a cookie sheet on a rack in the warm oven.

Blueberry Sauce

It’s very important to mix the cornstarch with cold water before adding it to the hot liquid. Otherwise, it will form clumps.

8 ounces blueberries, fresh or frozen
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
1½ teaspoons lemon juice

Heat the blueberries, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of the water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until simmering. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the most of the blueberries have popped, 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons water with the cornstarch. Add to the blueberry mixture and simmering, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Stir in the lemon juice.

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Filed Under: bread, breakfast, citrus, fruit, quick bread

blueberry crumb cake

03/23/2009 By

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Dave and I decided to walk 1000 miles this year. It works out to about 20 miles per week, just under 3 miles per day. It’s an ambitious goal, but not unattainable. The problem is, we’re way behind. By the end of February, we were already half a month’s worth of miles behind where we should have been. And since our work schedules prohibit us from catching up during the week, our only option is to do a whole lot of walking on the weekends. Which works out great, because I feel a lot better about having a big piece of blueberry cake for breakfast when I walk 7½ miles right afterward.

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This crumb cake follows the same process as many layer cakes – the butter and sugar are creamed together, the eggs and vanilla are slowly added, then the dry ingredients and liquid ingredients are added alternately. It’s topped with a buttery sugary nut mixture before being baked.

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I thought it was very good. I’m always a big fan of blueberries (and cake), and I liked the walnuts quite a bit. The crumb topping was an enjoyable crisp contrast to the tender cake. It was maybe just the tiniest bit too sweet for me, so I think next time, I’ll actually reduce the crumb topping by half. And since I have a lot of miles to make up still, next time could be very very soon. Sihan has posted the recipe.

One year ago: Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

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Filed Under: breakfast, cake, dessert, fruit, tuesdays with dorie

french yogurt cake

03/17/2009 By

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While shopping for baking ingredients recently, I was inwardly complaining about recipes that call for a volume amount of ground nuts. I’ve never been able to find ground nuts in my well-stocked grocery store. That means that I have to grind my own, which is annoying because my food processor takes up basically my whole dishwasher, plus, if we’re going to have to grind our own nuts, shouldn’t the recipe indicate how much whole nuts we’ll need to grind to get the right amount of ground nuts? Blah blah blah, whine whine whine, and then I stumbled upon this:

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Never mind! Let me tell you some things that don’t matter to me about buying these: 1) It’s probably far more expensive than grinding my own. 2) It’s going to take me months to use up a pound of ground almonds. Oh, and 3) these were the wrong type of nut for the recipe I bought them for. Whatever! Yay for not using the food processor!

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With pre-ground nuts, this cake was really easy. I had a bit of a time crunch due to traveling, so I made it at my place Thursday night, then packed it in my suitcase the next day when I flew across the country. My sister and brother-in-law and I snacked on it the next night after putting my nephews to bed.

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Dorie says twice in her introduction that the recipe is foolproof, so of course I had problems. Clearly the top of the cake is too dark, bordering on burned. I’m blaming my pyrex, instead of metal, loaf pan. I suppose I should lower the oven temperature 25 degrees when baking in pyrex. I didn’t want to serve the burned portion, so I trimmed it off before planning to add the glaze. Then I ate the trimmings and found them so tasty (and not burned-tasting at all) that I decided to skip the glaze altogether.

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The cake was easy and delicious, sturdy enough to travel across the country with me, and was appropriate after dinner one night and for breakfast a few days later. Plus, I’ve now fairly well established that there’s a difference between baking in pyrex and metal that I’ll need to make adjustments for in the future. Altogether, a good Tuesdays with Dorie week for me. The recipe is posted on Liliana’s site.

One year ago: My first attempt at sushi rolls

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Filed Under: cake, citrus, dessert, french, fruit, tuesdays with dorie

lemon cup custard

03/10/2009 By

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Well, I didn’t intend to choose an unpopular dessert for Tuesdays with Dorie this week. I was picturing a satiny, lemony pots de crème-type custard. Obviously I didn’t pay enough attention to the ingredients, which, with just milk, whole eggs, lemon zest, and sugar, in no way indicate that this custard would be rich. Sorry, custard-haters!

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Hey, at least it was easy and didn’t use many ingredients. After the milk is steeped with lemon zest, it’s mixed into sugar and eggs, then baked in a water bath. I added a drop of lemon extract to half of my custards.

The lemon flavor was pretty tame, although it was noticeably stronger with the extract. The texture was certainly more eggy than I expected. I don’t mind the texture of classic baked custard, but I know it isn’t popular with a lot of people.

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Overall, I thought the custard was light and refreshing, especially with the bit of lemon extract. It’s even a relatively healthy dessert – no butter, believe it or not! Not only that, but it was easy. So at least it was a winner in my book!

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Lemon Cup Custard (from Baking: From my Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan)

Mine seemed to cook a little faster than Dorie indicates, so you might want to check them early.

Makes 6 servings

2¼ cups whole milk
grated zest of 1 lemon
4 large eggs
½ cup sugar
pure lemon oil or extract (optional)

Getting ready: Have six (6-ounce; ¾-cup) custard or coffee cups at hand. Put the milk and zest in a saucepan and bring just to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and set aside for 30 minutes so the zest can infuse the milk with its flavor. Reheat the milk before mixing the custard.

Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325F. Line a roasting pan with a double thickness of paper towels and put the custard or coffee cups in the pan. Have a fine-mesh strainer at hand. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.

In a 1-quart glass measuring cup or a heatproof bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until well blended. Still whisking, strain in about ¼ cup of the hot milk little by little – this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won’t curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly strain in the remaining milk. Discard the zest remaining in the strainer. If you’d like a stronger lemon flavor – Dorie usually does – stir a few drops of lemon oil or extract into the custards. (Don’t go overboard – ⅛ teaspoon extract, less if you’re using oil, is about the most you’ll need.)

With a spoon, skim the foam off the top of the custard, then pour the custard into the cups. Very carefully slide the roasting pan into the oven, then pour enough hot water from the teakettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cups.

Bake the custards for 40 to 50 minutes, or until they jiggle only in the center when you tap the cups lightly. Transfer the cups to a rack and cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serving: Serve just as is.

Storing: Well covered and away from foods with strong odors, the custards will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Playing around:
Vanilla Cup Custard: Omit the lemon zest and oil or extract, and after the hot milk has been blended into the eggs, add 2½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract. (Dorie often adds ⅛ teaspoon pure almond extract too.) Alternatively, you can steep the milk with 1 split and scraped vanilla bean instead of using extract.

Lemon-Clove Cup Custard: Add 4 whole cloves to the milk along with the lemon zest.

Orange-Star Anise Cup Custard: Omit the lemon zest and oil or extract and add the grated zest of 1 orange and 3 points from a star anise to the milk before heating it.

Espresso-Cinnamon Cup Custard: Omit the lemon zest and oil or extract and add a cinnamon stick to the milk before heating it. Whisk 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder into the egg-sugar mixture.

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Filed Under: citrus, custard, dessert, fruit, gluten free, healthy, tuesdays with dorie

orange berry muffins

03/07/2009 By

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I ran a little test with these muffins. I read somewhere, at some point, that it’s best to grease just the bottom of muffin cups and not the sides. But not all recipes specify this, so I’ve never known how important it is.

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This muffin recipe, which was made by Tuesdays with Dorie before I joined the group, calls for the dry and wet ingredients to be mixed separately before folding them together. Because this is standard muffin procedure, it seemed like a good candidate to test out my question about oiling the cups.

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For the six muffin cups on the outside of the pan (the two outer rows), I sprayed just the bottom of the cups. For the six muffin cups on the inside of the pan (the two inner rows), I sprayed the entire cup.

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As you can see, the difference is striking. The muffins baked in the bottom-only sprayed cups rose taller and rounder. The muffins baked in the thoroughly sprayed cups have flat tops. My theory is that those muffins rose evenly on all sides, where the muffins baked in cups with unsprayed sides were held down at the sides and could only rise in the middle.

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Unfortunately, there’s another significant difference between each set, and that’s in how easily they came out of the pan. No one will be surprised to hear that the muffins in the completely sprayed cups were far easier to remove. The others needed a bit of prying around the edges before I could get them out of the pan, although they all came out cleanly.

For me, the extra few minutes to get the muffins out of the pan are worth it for the beautifully domed tops. (Of course now I’m wondering if there was a difference in texture. If there was, I didn’t notice.) And if the prize after carefully removing each muffin is these tender orange-scented treats studded with juicy blueberries, all the better.

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One year ago: Rice Pudding

Orange Berry Muffins (from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From my Home to Yours)

The only change I made was doubling the salt. However, you can see that my muffins got a little too dark. I know my baking pan has a dark finish, but I’ve never had problems with muffins before, so you might want to lower the oven temperature a bit, or at least check the muffins earlier than the recommended 22 minutes.

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
About ¾ cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons honey
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
⅓ cup (2.33 ounces) sugar
2 cups (9.6 ounces) all-purpose flour
2½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries – fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)
Decorating sugar, for topping (optional)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Pour the orange juice into a large glass measuring cup or a bowl and pour in enough buttermilk to make 1 cup. Whisk in the eggs, honey and melted butter.

In a large bowl, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of orange strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – the batter will be lumpy and bubbly, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the blueberries. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes. If you want to top the muffins with decorating sugar, sprinkle on the sugar after the muffins have baked for 10 minutes. When fully baked, the tops of the muffins will be golden and springy to the touch and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins will come out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

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Filed Under: bread, breakfast, citrus, fruit, quick bread, tuesdays with dorie
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