muffins

Rhubarb ginger muffins

maki — Wed, 11 May 2005 18:36:50 +0200

As if last month's IMBB muffin (and cupcake) orgy weren't enough, here is another muffin that has definitely entered my must-make list. It's yet another way to enjoy the tanginess of rhubarb, with the added twist of preserved or crystallized ginger. (I used my precious homemade crystallized ginger, but you can use the store-bought kind with no problems.)

I almost hesitate to call it a muffin, because it's rather dense and moist. I don't really want this sort of denseness early in the morning. It's very well suited for a mid-morning snack, or for afternoon tea. It tastes better the day after it's been baked, and subsequently seems to improve in flavor. The little cakes or muffins turn out with a very appealing pinky hue, which I've enhanced here by using pink paper cups.

Rhubarb-ginger muffins

Makes about 24 medium sized muffins.

1 large egg
3/4 cup non-runny (if you can get a hold of it) honey
1/2 cup melted butter
3/4 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed if you can manage
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups of chopped up rhubarb (about .5cm / 1/4 inch pieces, cut by hand)
1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
1 Tbs. finely chopped preserved or crystallized ginger
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Ingredient notes: by non-runny honey I mean the kind that is sort of solid (or butter-texture) in the jar. If you can't get a hold of this kind, regular clear honey will do. The hazelnuts can be substituted with walnuts.

Preheat the oven to 150° C / 300° F. Make ready your paper cupcake cups - by doubling them, you can usually avoid having to stand them up in muffin tins.

Mix the honey with the butter over a very low heat until blended. Take off the heat, and add the juices and the beaten egg.

Add the chopped up rhubarb, nuts, and ginger to the wet mixture.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Fold this into the wet mixture, Don't overmix - as long as it's incorporated it's fine. Pour equally into the cupcake cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out more or less clean. Let cool, and ideally let rest for at least a day before eating.

This recipe is considerably adapted from the one for Rhubarb Bread, aka Pain au Rhubarbe in one of my favorite baking books, Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Breads. I think the richness of this works far better as little muffin-cakes than as a dense loaf. (Incidentally I have never encountered rhubarb in France, baked in a bread or any other way... but maybe I've just missed it somehow.)

Is My Blog Burning? IMBB 13: Cupcakes and Muffins Galore!

maki — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 23:04:44 +0100

Update posted late Sunday, March 27th: I wasn't at my computer most of the weekend, and there were a few late or inadvertently omitted entries waiting in my mailbox. They've now all been posted I think, bringing the total to 89 entries. Wow.

It seems that this month's IMBB theme really struck a chord with many food bloggers, since there are, if I've managed to count correctly, 84 89 entries! Several people made more than one muffin or cupcake too, so there are 100 or so different cupcakes and muffins to try.

It's impossible for me to pick any favorites out of the wonderful entries. I'll be enjoying many, many hours trying out the different recipes.

Thanks to everyone who participated! I did get a bit overwhelmed by the number of submissions (to put it mildly), so my apologies for not replying to all your individual emails. If your entry is not listed, please let me know and I'll correct that ASAP.

And once again, a big thanks goes out to Alberto for starting IMBB. Every IMBB allows people to discover new food blogs and re-visit old favorites, and that's just a great thing. Also big thanks to Ronald for helping everyone keep track of all the food blogging events out there.

I've grouped the entries into groups by general category: sweet cupcakes, sweet muffins, savory muffins (and a couple of savory cupcakes), and last but not least, cupcakes that are probably not edible. So without further ado, here are the links to all the cupcakes and muffins.

Part One: Cupcakes

Samer made deep dark chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing.
Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness made Dulce De Leche-Filled Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting.
snackish made Pumpkin Cupcake (or muffin: I have arbitrarily put it in the cupcake category since it has an interesting coconut-custard topping.)
Alan and Jenny of Sweet & Savory made Banana Cupcake Surprise.
Tanvi of from the pantry made Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.
Matt made Chocolate Hazelnut Cupcakes.
Mia of The Skinny Epicurean made My Little Vanilla Gem. She's going to use these to kickstart her food business. Good luck Mia!
Nikiof Esurientes made Lazy persons' Black Forest Cakes.
Jocelyn aka McAuliflower of Brownie Points made Marzipan Topped Raspberry Filled Mocha Cupcakes, with gorgeous marzipan daffodils on top.
Stella of baby rambutan made two cupcakes: cocoa-cashew babycakes with raspberry puree and cashew-chocolate bark, and lemon poppyseed babycakes: plain, and with chocolate frosting and pearl suga. Check them both out here. She seems to have had a very good assistant!
Pickles of Pickles & Jams made Marble cupcakes with a Twist.
Mariko of super eggplant made Easy Birthday Cupcakes.
Nicole of delicious:days made Pasteis de Nata.
Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar made Triple Lemon Cupcakes.
Andy of Minor Gourmandry made Chocolate Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream.
Alicat of Something So Clever made Lemon Cupcakes with lovely flower decorations.
Lyn of Lex Culinaria made Cupcakey Goodness, and recounts past encounters with cupcakes. (Let's hope the cupcakes don't cost her her job..)
pinkcocoa from Pinkcocoa Tabetai made My Little Chocolate Surprise Cupcake. See below for her muffins too.
Jessica of Su Good Eats made Fluffernutter Cupcakes.
bbrug of Brooklyn Bridge User Blog made Semolina Cupcakes with Rose Frosting: the icing is flavored with rose water.
Lynn of To Short Term Memories made Ginger Cupcake Triple Play.
Annalyn of ajay's writings on the wall made Peanut Butter Cupcakes, and banana macaroons too.
Dreska of Little Fancies made Easter Basket Cupcakes.
Santos of the scent of green bananas made matcha cupcakes with pistachio cream and totoro "truffles". Totoro truffles!!
He also made i should cocoa and naga cupcake.
Nicole of bakingsheet made Neapolitan Buttermilk Cupcakes.
Sarah of Cooking With The Headhunter made Decadent Blueberry Muffins.
Jenni of Pertelote made milk chocolate cupcakes with a passionfruit cheesecake filling. (Note: I couldn't find a permalink, so just look for the March 24th entry.)
Zara Maria of Food & Thoughts made Magnolia Cupcakes.
Molly of spicetart made Orange Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Lemon Cream-Cheese Frosting and a Star On Top and Sprinkles.
Caryn of Delicious! Delicious! made very colorful Flower Cupcakes.
Alan of ma'ona made Chocolate Curry Cupcakes with Lemongrass Infused Coconut Buttercream Frosting.
Carolyn of 18thC Cuisine made Biscuits de Chocolat (Small Cakes of Chocolate Biscuit).
Lisa made David Lebowitz's Black Bottoms Cupcakes: she doesn't hae a blog yet, so here is a picture of her holding a trayful of them.
Emily of baking beast made Marcel Desaulniers' Granny Twichell's Secret Chocolate Cupcake Recipe.
Moira of Who Wants Seconds? made Black Bottom Cupcakes.
Nicola of A Sprinkle of Sequins made Nigella Lawson's Carrot Cupcakes with Cream-Cheese Icing.
Gillian of The Queen of Tarts made Mrs. White's Cupcakes. The name does not adequately describe the visual impact of teal-colored cake with peach colored frosting!
Kate of Accidental Hedonist made Cream filled Cupcake with Dark Chocolate Ganache frosting.
Kelli Ann of avoir une famille n'est pas comme un téléroman made Everyday Food Easy Chocolate Cupcakes.
Alice of My Epicurean Debauchery made Tea Cupcakes with Anko filling. (Anko is a Japanese sweet bean paste.)
Robyn of Food Chronicles made dark chocolate cupcakes with white buttercream and chocolate buttercream frosting.
Brigitte of Sweetnicks made Cherry Baby Cakes.
Viv of Seattle Bon Vivant made Dark Chocolate Cupcakes.
Reid of 'Ono Kine Grindz made Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Cupcakes.
Kelli of Lovescool made Easter Egg Cupcakes.
Chefdoc of A Perfect Pear made Rhubarb Streusel Cakes.
ST of Cheat Eat made Huat Kueh, Chinese Prosperity Cake.
Mollie, the 8 year old niece of Sam of Becks & Posh, made Fairy Cakes.
Here are my Easter Bunny Cupcakes.

Part Two: Sweet Muffins

Zorra of Kochtopf made Raffaello muffins (Raffaellos are white chocolate truffles covered with coconut.)
Laurie made fruity Muffins Tropicaux.
Christina of peasprout sprouts made sourdough muffins.
Augustus Gloop of Grab Your Fork made the very exotic sounding lime, white chocolate and coconut muffins.
Celia of English Patis made Simnel Muffins.
Julie of A Finger In Every Pie made two kinds of muffins: Chocolate-filled Chocolate Chip Chocolate Crumb Muffins and Apple Crumble Muffins.
Meg of Too Many Chefs also made two muffins: Coconut Banana Muffins and Apple Crumble Muffins.
pinkcocoa from Pinkcocoa Tabetai made Volcano Muffins. See above for her cupcakes!
Alberto of Il Forno made Hazelnut flavored Cinnamon Apple Muffins.
Clotilde of Chocolate and Zucchini made Muffins à la Framboise, Eclats de Fève de Cacao (Raspberry Muffins with Cacao Nibs, but of course it sounds much better in French.)
Stephanie of The Adventures of Pie Queen made A Bran Muffin That Doesn't Suck.
Petra of Chili und Ciabatta made Bee Sting Muffins.
Kathi aka Froschköningen made Egg liqueur muffins or muffins for princesses.
Amy of Cooking With Amy made Cranberry Zinger Muffins.
Ronald of Love Sicily made Muffin “Cioccolato Modicano agli Agrumi” e salsa di zabaione, which is chocolate muffins (he uses a special chocolate) in a zabaione (warm foamy custard) sauce, but of course it sounds much better in Italian.
Elise of Simply Recipes made Blackberry Muffins.
Anne of Anne's Food made Raspberry Marzipan Muffins.
Peggy of bouquet garni made Cherry Muffins.
Katie of Sharp Cookie made Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins.
knit wit of domestic affairs made Apple Oat Bran Muffins.
Miss Tenacity of Tenacity Flog made My Terrifying Bran Muffins, aka Tenacity of the Colon.
Gemma of Part-Time Pro Bono Baker made Banana Muffins.
Jacquez of Upside-Down-Pear made Banana Breakfast Muffins.
Sigfrid of Il Cavoletto di Bruxelles made Strawberry, balsamico & pink pepper muffins.

Part Three: Savory Muffins (or Cupcakes)

FoodNerd made ham-scallion-parmesan mini cakes.
Yoko of The Ballad of Yoko made her favorite muffins, corn muffins with green onions and sour cream.
Jeanne of Cook, Sister! made Peppadew and Parmesan muffins. She explains that peppadews are sweet piquant peppers from South Africa.
Dr. Biggles of MeatHenge made Chicken Curry Muffins.
Anthony of spiceblog made Manly Muffins, avoiding sugariness and thus preserving his manliness. :)
Irene of Cuisine Capers made Bacon and Cheese Puff Muffins.
Karen of The Pilgrim's Pots and Pans (what a great blog name!) made Savoury Tomato Muffins.
Daphne of Kitchen Crazy made the definitely not-crappy looking Crappy Cheese Carrot Cupcakes.
Gastronomie made Melted Leek Muffins with Cheddar, and adjusted the recipe later too.
Alice of My Adventures In The Breadbox made Radish Sandwiches on Zucchini Basil Muffins, turning muffins into sandwiches.
Mia of Nosh made The End-All Muffin, which has pears, goat cheese, and nuts in it...wow.

And finally, the not-quite-edible department...

Robyn of The Girl Who Ate Everything made this adorable felt cupcake. I'm in love!
Kelli Ann, who made edible cupcakes also (see above) also posted a picture of this extremely cute paper (?) cupcake.

Zucchini basil muffins

maki — Sun, 04 Jul 2004 20:13:21 +0200

With only one arm in action, regular bread making that involves kneading and such is still out of the question. But I wanted to make some sort of fresh baked stuff today, and that lead to these delicious and very pretty green-and-yellow muffins. The only sort of hard part is grating the zucchini and the cheese, but the food processor takes care of that. They contain grated zucchini, which give the muffins a very nice moist texture, and the basil and cheese plus the olive oil give it a sort of sunny Italian flavor. They're perfect as an afternoon snack, though they'd make a nice not-sweet breakfast too.

The original recipe is from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads, one of the recommended books in my sidebar. The only change I made was to use extra virgin olive oil instead of the generic "cooking oil" used.

Zucchini basil muffins

2 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups white flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder
2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
2 Tbs finely julienned fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Grana Padano (or similar hard grating) cheese

Preheat the oven to 200°C/425°F. Make ready the muffin tins, by buttering them if they are not non-stick (here I used one regular-size 12-muffin tin, and 2 mini-muffin tins. The recipe makes about 24 regular size muffins, or 48 mini muffins.)

Combine the eggs, milk and oil in a large bowl. Combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in another bowl and add to the liquid mixture in batches, stirring to blend. Don't overblend!

Add the zucchini and basil and stir to blend.

Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full. Sprinkle the top with the cheese. Bake for about 20-25 minutes for regular size muffins, 15-20 minutes for the mini muffins, until the tops are golden brown and puffy.

Serve while still warm.

You can freeze these and pop them in a toaster oven for a few minutes for a great snack..though to be honest, they rarely survive to make it to the freezer.