Panettone Muffins

My first ABC challenge and my first blog post EVER!  (This is the edited version, as of 7/19/14.)

I did my usual and made some substitutions.  I know -- the advice is always to follow the recipe exactly as written the first time, then modify according to taste.  Well... no.  I don't usually make anything more than once, so it's gotta be NOW...

According to the King Arthur Flour recipe page, these muffins are "intended to mimic the flavor of Italy's classic Christmas bread, panettone. They're flavored with Fiori di Sicilia — 'Flowers of Sicili' — traditionally used to flavor panettone."  I didn't have it, but I had this mystery bottle of Princess Cake &  Cookie bakery emulsion:
                                                        

I thought it tasted similar to panettone -- a bit citrusy -- so I used it. I'm not a big fan of white flour, and I usually use at least half whole wheat in my baking.  But the more delicate in texture and/or flavor something is, the less I feel it can handle whole wheat flour, and that included this recipe.  Nonetheless, I used 3/4 cup white whole wheat.  And since I didn't have the coarse sugar, I sprinkled on some nonpareils -- these muffins look a bit naked undecorated.

I had an interesting discussion in another forum about cake enhancer, particularly King Arthur's.  Cake enhancer is intended to extend the life of the product, and can be made of natural products or chemicals, or a combination.  I don't know what KA makes theirs out of, and I don't see the need to add any weird artificial ingredient to my baking, so I left it out.

I used these silicone "baking cups" for the first time, and found they didn't quite sit down in the muffin tins.  That created a bit of an insulating air layer, which left the bottoms pale and spongy.  For better success, I should probably use them on a baking sheet.  There is a toasty ring around each muffin where the cup met the tin.  The batter did fill the cups "quite full", and the muffins didn't rise a whole lot after that -- just another 1/2" or so, though I got some great cracking in the tops!

I had to bake these about 25 minutes, and I still found them a bit doughy while warm, even though they were fully cooked.  (The extra time necessary might have been due to that insulating layer, or my crazy oven.)  Doughy/gummy muffins are usually the result of too much liquid.  The batter was quite thick, but not heavy or dry.  It seemed "fluffy" and held its shape, like whipped cream.  I've certainly had batters that were much thicker, so this recipe could probably use about 1/4 cup less milk.  (It might depend on how dry the fruit was.)

Here's what I used:

1½ cups diced, dried fruit:  golden raisins, mango, pears, Rainier cherries, orange-flavored cranberries
1/4 spiced rum
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia, to taste princess bakery emulsion
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons King Arthur Cake Enhancer, optional, for enhanced freshness
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2¼ 1½ cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup milk
2 generous tablespoons coarse white sparkling sugar, for topping

non-pareils, for decoration

Mix the dried fruit and liquid of your choice in a bowl. Cover the bowl, and let the fruit sit overnight. Or speed up the process by heating fruit and liquid in the microwave till very hot, then cooling to lukewarm/room temperature, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin, or line with 12 paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely.  (I did not grease the silicone cups and did not have a problem.)  In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugar until smooth.  Add the eggs, beating to combine.  Stir in the flavoring and vanilla. Whisk together the baking powder, salt, and flour; stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined.  Stir in the fruit, with any remaining liquid.  Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups quite full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins generously with the nonpareils.  Bake the muffins for 18 to 25 minutes, or until they're a sunny gold color on top, and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes, or until you can handle them. Transfer them to a rack to cool.

Conclusion:  The warm muffins were very delicate and soft, much like cake.  I found them to be a little too sweet and somewhat lacking in flavor; I think that came from the minimal amount of butter and no spices.  I don't really like quick breads much anyway, and I think there is something lost in this recipe by removing the yeast.  For one thing, yeasted bread provides a nice structure that supports all that fruit, which these muffins didn't have.  Perhaps if they had less milk. Once cooled, they were much less gummy and delicate, and the flavors seemed to round out better.  I even started to like them.  But on the second day I was back to thinking they were too sweet.  Ironically, I took them to work and they were very well-received!  "Those are  AWESOME!" said one person.  "Not too sweet."  And someone else, "I like the texture."  They were appreciating the two very things I liked least!!  You never can tell.

Recipe:  Panettone Muffins via King Arthur Flour