Blueberry Muffins V

 My obsession with the perfect blueberry muffin continues.  This is the fifth installment (hence the "V").  That said, this effort was a FAIL, by my fault alone.  I don't know how many times I have to tell myself NOT to try baking first thing in the morning, but I did it again.  And I made mistakes.  Mistakes that dramatically affected the outcome.  So I can't give a fair assessment of this recipe at this point.  (Some day I'll remake it, properly, and update this page.)

I was really excited about this recipe, not only because I know the author really does her research, but because also it uses only a small amount of milk (which meant they wouldn't be too soft and delicate) and because the batter was very thick and you're encourage to pile it high (which meant the muffins would have a nice, high dome.)  Those were two very promising characteristics.

The problems arose from making only half the recipe.  Couple that with the measurements being given in multiple formats (volume and weight) and it was all too much for this bleary-eyed night owl who'd just rolled out of bed.  I mismeasured the flour, the sugar, and the milk.  The milk!  That's critical to the texture!!  I soldiered on.

For 6 high-domed muffins (using her whole wheat option), here's what I was supposed to use:

3¼ oz (3/4 cup) white whole wheat flour
2¾ oz (5/8 cup) all-purpose flour
2⅝ oz (3/8 cup) sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/16 teaspoon nutmeg
2⅝ oz (3/8 cup) virgin or refined coconut oil, soft but cool (or 3 oz unsalted butter)
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg, cold
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
5 oz (scant 1 cup) fresh blueberries

Heat oven to 350F.  Grease 6 muffin tins.  Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl.  Add the coconut oil or butter and mix on low speed until it becomes a mealy powder, about 2 minutes.  (If using coconut oil, the mix can be made up to this point and stored long-term.)

Add the milk, egg, and vanilla to the dry mix and stir to create a thick, dough-like batter, then gently fold in the blueberries.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, piling the batter high.  (Top each with a sprinkling of sparkling sugar, if desired.)  Bake until domed and firm but still pale, about 22 minutes.  Serve warm.

The first mistake I made was dumping in an equal amount of AP flour before realizing it was supposed to be slightly less than the amount of whole wheat flour, so I scooped some out.  I think I did okay there.  The next mistake was dumping in the full amount of sugar (for 12 muffins); I scooped out what I could, but there was probably some extra in there.  The worst mistake was dumping in the amount of milk for 12 muffins-- that couldn't just be scooped out.  It rapidly soaked into the flour and sugar.  I sucked out as much as I could with a turkey baster (which also resulted in sucking out some of the extra sugar, since it dissolved in the milk), but by weight it wasn't nearly enough.  I probably ended up with about 3/4 the full recipe amount, rather than half.  This made the batter softer than it should have been (bearing in mind that whole wheat flour is "thirstier" than AP, which helped some), so the muffin tops spread more than expected.  The extra milk also might have been the reason why I had to bake them a few extra minutes, about 25 minutes.

Conclusion:  For all the failings, these turned out alright.  They weren't too sweet, there was a good amount of berries... even the texture wasn't bad.  I didn't use the nutmeg, but I think I'll try it next time.  I definitely need to try the recipe again, properly.

Recipe:  Blueberry Muffins via Bravetart by Stella Parks

Blueberry Muffins IV

Still on the quest for the perfect blueberry muffin, this is attempt number IV....  It is very promising!  (Here are attempts I, II, and III.)  This recipe is very similar to the Maine Blueberry Muffins recipe in II.  That recipe was published in Redbook in 1988, one year after this one.

Compared to the Maine Blueberry Muffins, this recipe uses more blueberries, a little more sugar (which I wanted in the other), buttermilk instead of plain milk (with corresponding baking soda), the addition of vanilla, and slightly more butter.  Curiously, though baked at the same temperature, these are in the oven considerably longer, which did not produce a desirable result.

As with the Maine Blueberry Muffins, I made half the recipe.  For 6 muffins, here's what I used:

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons fresh blueberries
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk (or plain yogurt)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Heat oven to 400F.  Grease 6 muffin tins.  Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl.  In a small dish, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and melted butter.  Pour this mixture all at once into the dry ingredients.  Quickly stir just to partially blend; add the blueberries.  Carefully fold together just to moisten; the batter will be stiff and lumpy.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins; the cups will be full.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool on a rack.  Or, if not using paper liners, tilt each muffin in its tin.  Serve warm.

 

The batter was very thick and rose nicely.  I did watch my oven temperature, but I think it was hotter than it was registering because they still seemed overbaked.  I took the muffins out of the oven a little shy of 25 minutes, but they were quite brown and a little tough on the exterior.  Otherwise, the texture was nice.  Since there's no benefit to a browned crust on these muffins, I'll use the silicone liners next time and/or reduce the oven temperature.  Then again, based on the other recipe, perhaps they just needed less time in the oven.

I made these with salted butter, then threw in another pinch, but they could have used a little more.  (Looking at the Maine recipe, I should just use salted butter and the full salt amount.)

Conclusion:  This might be... the one!  I always liked the Maine Blueberry Muffin recipe, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for.  This one comes much closer, although I might try adding a little oil to make them a little more moist.  Also, if possible, I think I could squeeze a little more batter into the tins to produce 5 larger muffins!  I'd like that, as long as they rose up and not out.

Recipe:  Blueberry Muffins via Jim Fobel's Old-Fashioned Baking Book: Recipes from an American Childhood

May ABC challenge: Blueberry Muffins III

The challenge this month is… well, personal challenge.  My biggest personal baking challenge is simply my kitchen.  It’s small, with limited storage and nearly no counter space, which prohibits attempting certain things that require a lot of space, like croissants or strudel.  So while I’d like to attempt those challenges, they’re just not practical.

Outside of recipes that require a better kitchen, I can’t think of any technical challenge I’d like to attempt at the moment.  I do, however, still have quests towards finding the recipe for certain basic items.  One of those is the perfect blueberry muffin.  It’s a bit like chasing the end of the rainbow:   it’s a moving target.  On one recipe I’ll make a note that there are too many blueberries, while another recipe with exactly the same quantity will seem just right.  Perceived sweetness levels vary from bake to bake of the same recipe, textures of the same recipe change from day to day…  It’s a unicorn.

Previous attempts at muffin perfection can be found here and here.  Today’s recipe is from a cookbook I’ve had for a while but never used, although the recipes it contains are the down-home types I prefer.  True confessions, I didn’t follow the recipe exactly because I was in a hurry and didn’t want to be bothered measuring carefully and getting every ingredient exactly right.  Also, I wanted at least a small health benefit, so I was hoping to substitute some of the white flour for oat flour or bran.  (Not whole wheat flour because it adds its own flavor.) But digging through my dry goods, nothing oaty was making itself immediately apparent.  I did find an unlabeled jar of some pale grain with a coarse grind that tasted mild.  I hoped it was oat something and forged ahead.

I cut the original recipe in half to make 6 muffins and made a few alterations.  Here’s what I used:

8 6½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of a coarse dry good of choice (rolled oats, corn meal, bran, etc.)
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
One large egg
3/8 cup whole milk
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease 6 muffin cups. Whisk together the flour, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cardamom; set aside. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, butter, vanilla, egg, and milk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until nearly combined, then allow to sit for a few moments to allow the liquid to be absorbed. Once thickened, fold a few more times to combine. Gently fold in the blueberries, being careful not to overmix. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown. The tops should be firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin should come out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Well, these didn’t turn out anything like the photo in the book.  When I initially mixed the dry and wet ingredients together, the batter seemed WAY too wet, but it quickly started to thicken; I realized the grain was absorbing the liquid.  But fearful of ruining the muffin texture, I didn’t stir the thickened batter together as well as I should have.  Once in the pan, there was separated liquid floating on top that hadn’t been blended in.  The muffins didn’t rise much, and this liquid flowed over the edges.  It’s not a totally abnormal result, but it wasn’t what I was going for. (Pro tip:  break off all these edges while they’re still crisp and eat them immediately. By the next day, though still tasty, the high sugar content will make them sticky and chewy—almost candy-like.)

These did not come out of the pan nicely. I had to cut through the overflow and release that carefully from the pan, but even the greased cups didn’t release the muffins—they were too soft. I had to scoop them out with a spoon. Fortunately, they came out in one piece, although there was a fair amount of crumb left in the tin.

Despite everything, these had a nice texture, and I especially liked the nubbliness from the added grain. I was curious about the slight corny flavor when the obvious struck me—the mystery grain! It was a nice flavor (in fact I have a recipe for blueberry corn muffins), but did distract somewhat from the blueberry focus. They were sweeter than I would like, not as noticeable while warm, but far more so the next day. (Funny how that works. It’s the unicorn effect.) I would cut back by 2 tablespoons (for 6 muffins) to start. It was just the right amount of vanilla; I didn’t notice the cardamom at all, although it might have added something to the overall back flavor. I think the combination of using oil and butter is probably smart:  butter gives flavor while oil gives a moist crumb.

One bit of confusion was the intended pan size. I’m aware of only 3 sizes of muffin tins:  mini, regular, and jumbo, each twice the size of the last. This recipe called for “large muffin cups”, which to me would have indicated the jumbo size, but the recipe obviously didn’t make that much. The directions were to fill the tins only 2/3 full; mine were filled to the brim. I really dislike small, short muffins, which is how home recipes pretty much always turn out. So perhaps there is another, intermediate (i.e. “large”) muffin pan for professional use, something between the regular dozen and the 6-pack jumbo. If so, I’d like to get hold of one. Two-bite muffins are so anti-climactic.

Conclusion:  I really need to make these again, properly, following the recipe* (aside from reducing the sugar) to evaluate them adequately. They seem like a good contender, although more on the soft side than I would like. I think I’d prefer using salted butter, as I think it would bump up the flavor a bit and enhance the sweetness of a reduced-sugar recipe.

Recipe:  Blueberry Muffins via The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook by Cheryl and Griffith Day

*I think I messed up.  If I recorded my measurements correctly, the recipe I made would have used only 1 cup of flour for 12 muffins, but the original calls for 2 cups.  That would explain why my muffins were so flat and the batter so thin, and why they were so sweet.  That's what I get for trying to bake first thing in the morning.

October ABC challenge: Cafe Pasqual's Pumpkin Pie (and cocktail!)

The ABC challenge this month was custard.  My first thought went to Portuguese egg tarts, then Mexican chamucos, but ultimately, considering the season, pumpkin pie was the obvious choice, and another opportunity to capture the elusive Cafe Pasqual pumpkin pie.  This is my second attempt to recreate it (my first attempt was here), this time using the recipe from their cookbook, although the recipe might not be fully forthcoming with exactly what they use and I made some minor adjustments.

As much as I love pumpkin pie, this recipe is richer than what I normally make, so I decided to scale it down to a half recipe.  (Actually one quarter, since the recipe in the book is for two pies.)  The real trick was finding an appropriate pan.  I calculated the volume of the original recipe and the volume of several pans I thought might work and finally settled on a pan from a Marie Callender's take-home pie, which measured 8¼" x 1¼".  This ended up being slightly too large and produced a thinner pie, but it still worked fine. Fortunately I started checking the pie early, because it also reduced the baking time.

Here's what I used:

1 pre-baked whole wheat pie crust, fitted into an 8-inch* pie dish (recipe below)

1 cup (1/2 of a 15-ounce can) pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons dark, unsulphured blackstrap molasses

1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

1/8  teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper

pinch sea salt

3/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ounces evaporated milk or heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400F.  In a bowl, beat the pumpkin and the eggs with a wire whisk.  Add the sour cream and whisk again.  Blend in the remaining ingredients, mixing with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour mixture into baked pie shell crust and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 30 minutes (45 minutes for the full recipe), until center is almost set and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  If the crust edges are browning too quickly, fit a ring of foil around the rim. Let pie cool completely on a rack before serving.

Whole Wheat Pie Crust (for 1 crust pie)

1¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 pinch sea salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter

2 tablespoons ice water

1/2 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water

In large bowl, mix dry ingredients.  Add butter and, with a pastry blender or your hands, incorporate until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.  Add ice water and toss lightly with a fork.  Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll the dough into a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch thick.  Fit dough into the bottom of the pie dish, cutting off the excess, and decoratively crimp edges.  Brush the egg and water mixture thoroughly all over the crust, then bake for 12 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before filling.

 

 

I was misled by the high amount of butter in the dough and added only 1 tablespoon of the water.  It felt perfectly moist and held together easily, or seemed to anyway, but when I rolled it out, the dough was very firm and crumbly, made even more fragile by the pecans.  Fortunately, because of all the butter, it patches easily.  

I like the crust a little on the salty side, so I used half salted butter and half unsalted.  After tasting it, I added 1/8 teaspoon of additional salt.  In the future, I'll probably just use salted butter (although that might be too much in this case because it's such a high butter content.)

I followed the original directions for the filling, which mixed the eggs with the syrup, and then added the sour cream, but quickly realized they are not in good order.  The egg and syrup mixture was far too liquid to try to mix the sour cream into, resulting in little bits of cream floating around.  (I wonder if the restaurant uses Mexican sour cream, which is much more liquid and would blend into the egg/syrup mixture easily.  If so, this would be a case in which the cookbook deviates slightly from the restaurant.  That's understandable, since Mexican sour cream isn't widely available.)  Another change I made was to use blackstrap molasses.  In my first attempt, the results were too sweet.  Blackstrap molasses is much less sweet and has a much deeper flavor.  I also used half heavy cream and half full-fat evaporated milk.

I knew my oven had a temperature difference from front to back, but apparently the regions are so distinct they're evident across the width of an 8-inch pie.  Half of the crust is darker than the other, and that side of the filling also baked differently.  I know all about rotating cookie sheets midway through baking -- apparently I'll have to do it even for pies as well.

Conclusion:  Very tasty, with an intense, spicy flavor that deepened over the next couple days.  This pie was not super sweet, but the sweetness at first was sort of cloying; there seemed to be too much molasses and too much maple syrup.  Two days later, however, the flavors had mingled and become richer, the same way a good spaghetti sauce improves over time in the refrigerator.  The pie had a surprising earthiness that I couldn't quite pin down, but I suspect it was the molasses.  I'm not usually a fan of whipped cream on pumpkin pie, but the intense flavors in this pie benefit from a good dollop (as recommended in the original recipe.)  I don't know that the pecans in the crust added anything, but the buttery crust was a delicious accompaniment to the filling.

Original Recipe:  David's Perfect Pumpkin Pie via Cooking with Cafe Pasqual's:  Recipes from Santa Fe's Renowned Corner Cafe

So what does one do with half a can of pumpkin puree?  You make these:

Pumpkin Pie Cocktail (serves one)

1 tablespoon canned pure pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons half & half

1 tablespoon maple syrup

3 tablespoons brandy

1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves)

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine all the ingredients in a martini shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, then strain into a glass.

The original recipe calls for vodka, but I used brandy and it was delicious. I also omitted the sugared and
spiced rim because it made the drink too sweet. This mixture also makes a good addition to coffee for a
homemade pumpkin spice latte (with or without the booze.)

Original Recipe: Pumpkin Martini via Real Simple

Blueberry muffins II

Still in search of the perfect blueberry muffin recipe.  (Attempts I and III can be found here and here.)  This recipe was published in Redbook in 1988.  It seems to be attributed to a cafe called Helen's in Machias, Maine.  While there is (and was, since 1950) a Helen's Restaurant on the outskirts of Machias, it's not currently open for breakfast and doesn't have muffins anywhere on the menu.  Perhaps they're served on the side with a main course, or perhaps hours have changed.  (They do incorporate blueberries into their dishes in creative ways, and I'd love to try their wild blueberry pie!)  The sign outside the restaurant reads, "Restaurant • Bakery", but the bakery appears to serve only desserts.

To make six muffins, here's what I used:

1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/6 cup sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Heat oven to 400F.  Grease 6 muffin tins.  Toss blueberries with 1/2 tablespoon of the flour in a small bowl; set aside.  Sift remaining flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  Beat egg, milk, and melted butter in a glass measuring cup, then stir into the flour mixture only until just blended.  (Batter will be stiff.)  Fold in floured blueberries as you stir.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.  Bake 15 to 18 minutes until lightly browned and a sharp knife inserted in muffin comes out clean.

Conclusion:  This is a high contender, but not quite there yet.  These are only mildly sweet, and not as cakey as I want, but very good.  They could use more salt, or okay as is as long as you're eating them with salted butter.  I probably would like them just a little sweeter as well.

Recipe:  Maine Blueberry Muffins via Redbook, March 1988

Coconut flour banana bread

The grain-free banana bread I've been making uses mostly almond flour.  This one uses strictly coconut flour.  I modified it to suit my taste and cut the recipe way down.  (I have to question any recipe that uses huge quantities of expensive items--- 8 eggs, 8 bananas, 1 cup coconut oil--- only to find it's for TWO loaves.  This recipe in particular is very easy to reduce.  And don't even get me started on the random capitalization.)  I made one quarter of the recipe as a test, but what I've posted here is for one full loaf.

Here's what I used:

4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup coconut oil
4 organic eggs
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon butter flavoring
1 tsp vanilla
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Mix together the bananas, oil, eggs, molasses, and flavoring.  Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, and salt, then stir into the wet mixture along with the chocolate chips.  Pour into a greased pan* (9x5") and bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown.

Okay, I've already realized I made a huge mistake in that I used the full cup of coconut flour called for in the original recipe, which, remember, was for TWO loaves, and I made half a loaf.  So I've got four times the amount of coconut flour in there baking at the moment.  (I wondered why the mixture was so pliable, but these "alternative" recipes are usually strangely textured anyway.)  Well, I'll certainly be getting my fiber, anyway.

The original recipe doesn't state what size pans to use.  Frequently, wheatless recipes don't rise very much because they don't have the structure.  This recipe has all those eggs, plus baking soda, so it probably would rise some.

Conclusion:  Well, this is going to have to wait until I make the bread again, properly.  I won't mark it as a "fail" yet.  The flavor was good, but the texture sort of powdery, no doubt from the excess of coconut flour.  It was very filling too.

Recipe:  Paleo Banana Bread via Healthy Holistic Living

Blueberry muffins I

I have in my mind the perfect blueberry muffin, but I've never been able to create it.  (My second and third attempts can be found here and here.)  I looked at 3 muffin recipes I have, two of which I've made with moderate success; the third was nearly identical to one of the others.  I had notes on my impressions, and suggestions for changes.  So I've cobbled together my own recipe here, cutting it in half to yield 6 average-sized muffins.

Here's what I used:

3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 extra large egg
1 cup fresh blueberries, divided
1 tablespoon heavy cream
3 tablespoons orange flower water

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then mix in the oats.  In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until light.  Starting with the dry ingredients, add half at a time, alternating with the liquids and stir until just mixed.  Fold in the blueberries.  Drop into 6 greased muffin tins and bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.  Cool on a rack about 10 minutes, until firm enough to be removed.

I wish I'd had some fresh basil to try out with the blueberries, but in the absence of that I decided to try adding something floral.   My orange flower water tasted really watery, so I wanted to use as much as I could, but didn't want to omit all the dairy entirely, so I used a little heavy cream (for the fat and flavor).  In the end, I still don't think I could taste it.

I omitted vanilla because in one of the earlier versions I didn't like it.  Perhaps there was too much (1 teaspoon).  But these needed something.  I'd tried cardamom before and not sure it was "it".  Didn't think I wanted cinnamon.  Definitely not ginger...  I don't know.  I tried out dipping the tops in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar for one and cardamom sugar for another; both were tasty, but then why wouldn't they be?  I'm looking for THE complimentary spice or herb or flavor.  The search continues.  (Hence the "I" in the title.)

Conclusion:  While this wasn't "the" recipe, they were good.  Nice texture.  Could use a wee bit more salt (and if dipping tops in butter, that could be enough) and perhaps even just a little more sugar, depending on the berries.  I also wish I'd thought to add some dried blueberries, which are sweetened and might have been sufficient.  Contrary to logic, 1 cup of berries really is too much.  I want cake and berry--- not berry and some crumbs.  (And these were unusually large berries.)  I think I will add a little vanilla in the future, but still undecided on what else.