Raspberry Lemon Muffins

Well since the heat of the summer has hit, I have been on a berry kick lately.  Blackberries and raspberries have been populating the fridge for the last few months.  Luckily I had not eaten too many this time, so I did have some to bake with. 

I like the fact that muffins are so versatile.  I made them without a topping but a slather of cream cheese or honey butter would be good for those who want more to their muffin.  Also, being plain makes them appealing for those that are only craving a little sweetness to have with their morning coffee.  Eaten slightly warm or at room temperature, getting a big bite of a raspberry surrounded by lemony sweet cake hits the spot.

I have included the recipe for the limoncello glaze. The addition of that would make for a stronger lemony taste as well as add more sweetness.  Without it, the lemon flavor is very subtle in the muffins.  This recipe makes  about 1 1/2 dz.

Raspberry Lemon Muffins
adapted from Moufllet

Ingredients/Muffins
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 tbs lemon zest
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tbs oil ( vegetable or canola
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Ingredients/Limoncello Glaze
1/2 tsp melted butter
3 tbs limoncello
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 drop yellow food coloring (optional)
2 cups powdered sugar

For the muffins, prepare the pans by greasing the top edges of 18 cavities and line with paper liners.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs until frothy. Stir in the melted butter, buttermilk, zest, oil and vanilla extract.  Set aside.  In another bowl, sift together the salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour.  Then mix in the sugar.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the egg batter.  With a wooden spoon, mix the dry with the wet but only 10 strokes.  Over mixing will ruin the texture of these.  Fold the raspberries in with only 3 strokes.

Evenly fill the cavities of the pans with the batter.  Place in oven and bake for about 15 minutes and check with a tester to see if it comes out clean of any batter. Make sure it is not inserted into a raspberry when testing. Tops should spring back when muffins are done.  Note that the 15 minutes is a starting place and that the muffins can take up to 20 minutes.  The difference is due to the type of pan ( dark non stick, silicone and shiny metal).  

Let the muffins cool in pans for 3 minutes and then transfer to a rack to completely cool.  Glaze when completely cool.

For the glaze, start with mixing the melted butter with 1 tbs of limoncello.  Then sift in 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and mix until no dry streaks remain.  Continue with the process of sifting and stirring in the powdered sugar until all is mixed in.  Add more limoncello in small increments until the glaze has a syrupy consistency. Lastly, stir in the food coloring (optional) and the vanilla extract. 

Then dip the top of the cooled muffins into the glaze, being careful to immerse so that there is still 1/2 to 1/4 inch top edge border.  Let the extra drip off and set upright on the rack.  Glaze will need about 1 hour to set before serving.  The glaze can be stored up to 1 day prior to use.
                                      **LAST YEAR:Persephone's Winter Cake**

Michel's Spa Muffins

Well its finally Friday and today I am off to Dallas for some appointments as well as visits to a few specialty stores.  After that indulgence on Wednesday, I decided I would turn to something a bit more on the healthy side.

The particular recipe comes from a chef at spa located north of San Diego called Cal-a-Vie and found in the RSVP section of Bon Appetit.  The muffins are a good example of some of the healthy cuisine that this place has.  I have been looking around at the spa's website.

If you glance at the ingredient list below, you will realize that they are packed with all that a person needs to get going in the morning and to stay satisfied until lunch.  The muffins really do have some great textures and flavors.   A few things that you really will not miss with these is the butter, eggs and sugar.

I am particular about "healthy" muffins and too much grain or bran can really be a turn off.  However, this muffin does have a good balance, so it will be added to the healthy favorites here.  Also, they are a cinch to make, which is even more of a motivator to pull this recipe out.  This recipe makes about 14-16 muffins.

Michel's Spa Muffins
adapted from Bon Appetit, prior to 2005

Ingredients
1/4 cup honey
2 tbs vegetable oil
2/3 cup plain non fat yogurt
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1 tbs lemon zest
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 cup shredded bran cereal (I used all bran)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare your pans according to your preference.  You can grease the top edges and line, grease the whole cavity or use a non stick pan.

Boil about 1 1/2 cups of water and place raisins or dried cranberries in a bowl and pour over the top.  Let sit to soften for about 15 minutes.  Then drain and use a paper towel to pat dry.  Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Stir in the bran and sesame seeds.  Form a well in the middle of the dry mixture.

Then take out a smaller bowl and mix together the first eight ingredients listed above.  Pour this mixture into the well of the dry mix.  Fold together until no more dry streaks remain.

Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, fill muffin cavities with batter.  Place pan in oven and bake until tester comes out clean.  Baking time is about 18-20 minutes.  Remove and let cool for one minute then transfer to rack to finish cooling.  These can be served warm or at room temperature.

Tips and Notes:
1.  I found that these do stick to the liners, so when baking you may want to opt not to use liners.
2. The batter does not rise like cake batter would, so you can fill the cavities full.
3. I mashed my banana but I think it would be better distributed throughout the muffins if the banana was pureed.
                         **LAST YEAR: Amaretto Choc Chip Bundt Cake**

Elsa's Apple Slices

For me, fall flavors conjure up recipes that were put in cookbooks years gone by. I imagine that on certain days, you could roll into a small town where the air would be filled with the aroma of sweet apples baking as women prepared desserts for the upcoming fair or bake sale.  Families would gather their generations together and take off to the pumpkin fields to make sure that they got the best pick that resulted in the most amazing pie baked by their mothers or grandmothers.

Even though it is an era gone by, treasured pumpkin and apple pie recipes continue to be handed down and made year after year.   This particular recipe stems from the pages of a faded brown notebook that was created around the turn of the century.  The notebook was owned by a Baroness of high society that lived in Vienna.

One of the reasons that I made this was because having a whole pie around the house is too much for our small family, so the slice is a better way to go.  I did enjoy the taste and texture of this dessert.  The outside is like a thin cookie instead of a flaky pastry.  In regards to the filling, I like it because it has very little ingredients. That short list makes for a fairly pure taste of apples, which is exactly what I was looking for.

I changed the original order in which the components are made.  Since it is important that the dough be the right temperature,  it is best that the filling is made and cooling first. If the dough spends too much time in the fridge (waiting for the filling to get cool) it will crack when you roll it out.  This recipe results in about 15-20 slices, depending how thick you cut the slices.

Elsa's Apple Slices
adapted from Viennese Kitchen Cookbook

Ingredients/Filling
2 oz raisins
grated zest of one lemon
1 2/3 lb of apples (peeled cored and grated)
1/2 cup sugar

Ingredients/Dough
5 1/2 tbs unsalted butter (cubed)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1 egg

Ingredients/Assembly
1 beaten egg white
powdered sugar for topping
whipping cream (optional)

To make filling, place grated apples in a fry pan over medium to low heat.  Stir and let apples cook until all moisture is gone.  This took about 8-10 minutes.  Remove from heat and place in heatproof bowl and place on trivet in fridge to cool.

Now you can start on the dough.  Firstly, make sure all your ingredients are cold.  Sift together the flour and baking powder into a food processor bowl.  Add butter cubes and pulse food processor several times, until mixture turns into coarse crumbs.  Pour sugar into the processor bowl and pulse until evenly blended.  Lastly, pulse the egg into the batter until it turns into a dough.  Remove dough and shape into a ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

During this time, take out a baking sheet (approx 10X15) and cut a piece of parchment to line the sheet.  Lightly flour surface of parchment and set aside.  You will not line your pan with it just yet. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Once the dough is properly chilled, remove from fridge and place on the parchment paper. Roll dough out to a thickness of 1/4 inch.  You should have a rectangle that is about 7X16.  Take the sheet of parchment paper with the dough on top and lay it on the baking sheet.  You will have a little overhang on the length.

Remove the apples from the fridge and stir in sugar, lemon zest and raisins.  Spread the apple filling down the center of the dough, leaving a one inch border on the short ends and a 1 3/4 inch border on each side of the length.  Your filling should measure about 3 X 14.

Fold in the 1 inch border on the short ends. Then fold one long end of the dough over the center of the filling.  Brush all folded in edges with egg white.  Fold the remaining end over the first, overlapping in the center.  Press down center seam to seal.  Make sure all the filling is sealed well on the center and ends.  You do not want the filling to seep through any openings while baking.

Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.  Surface will have a golden hue when done. Remove pan and let pastry cool on baking sheet.  Once completely cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into slices with a sharp knife.  If desired, spoon a scoop of whipped cream on top when serving.
                              **LAST YEAR: Kahlua White Chocolate Brownies**

Peach and Blackberry Dumplings

Dumplings-that word conjures up many different varieties of food.  Some people naturally think of a savory dish like chicken and dumplings and others think of Asian style dumplings. The thought of fruit dumplings rarely comes to mind.

After reading the title, I envisioned a dessert with a toasty biscuit top and a pie-like bottom.  However, I ended up with soft, airy and sweet dumplings on top of juice and chunks of fruit. Being wrong, in this case, was a delicious surprise.   The addition of wine to the fruit really enhanced the flavor over all.  Also, the dumplings held up well in spite of the high liquidity of the fruit.

The other favorable thing about this recipe is that it requires very little time to prepare.

Peach and Blackberry Dumplings
courtesy of From the Earth to the Table Cookbook

Ingredients/Dumplings
1/2 cup buttermilk (or a little more if needed)
1 egg, separated
1 tbs melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar
1 cup flour

Ingredients/Fruit Bottom
1 cup fresh blueberries or blackberries
4 cups peeled and sliced peaches
1 1/4 cups fruity white wine
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar

To make the batter, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and 2 tsp of sugar and set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the egg white to a soft peak consistency. Set it aside also.

Then, using another bowl, stir together the egg yolk, melted butter and 1/2 cup of the buttermilk until completely blended together.  Pour the flour mixture into the batter and mix until no more flour streaks remain.  The batter should now be like a drop biscuit dough.  If it seems too dry, add more buttermilk in teaspoon quantities until the right consistency is achieved.  Lastly, fold the egg white into the batter and set aside.

For the fruit bottom, fill a 4 quart pan (also need to have a lid) with the sugar, ginger, cinnamon and wine.  Stir all ingredients and place pan over medium high heat.  Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.  Add the fruit and cook, uncovered, for three minutes.

Then, take the dough and drop by spoonfuls on top of the cooking fruit.  Cover the pan with the lid and set timer for 8 minutes.  After eight minutes, check to see if dumplings are firm.  If not cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve warm.  This also can be served with whipped cream or ice cream on top. Enjoy!