Muffins has always been one of my favorite things since young. I would always remember going to delifrance (this pseudo-french cafe, unabashedly tweaked to singaporean flavors) to eat their mini chocolate muffins with my mommy after kindergarten was over.
so muffins bring back lots of nostalgic memories..and after that, i grew out of the chocolate muffin phase, went for the banana walnut types, and as the years passed on more, my preference veered towards the fruity berry muffins.
so this muffin recipe is from Nancy Silverton's "Pastries from La Brea Bakery" Im a huge huge fan of hers, ever since reading another of her book "Breads from La Brea Bakery".
anyway, we had a picnic planned today with the melbourne symphony orchestra's free concert at the botanical gardens, so what other better occasion would there be to bake fresh muffins and enjoy them with the nice evening breeze and fantastic music right?
i also tweaked a few of them and added nutella, so that explains the darker colored ones.
so hope everyone had a great time baking their muffins! it'd be cool to check out what everyone else baked! :P
Blueberry-Almond Muffins
Ingredients:
3 oz whole unblanched almonds
3/4 cup granulated sugar
5 oz unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1tbsp finely chopped orange zest
1 tbps baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
11/2 cups buttermilk
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups blueberries (or strawberries, nectarines, peaches or pears)
Topping:
1 tbps egg white
1 tbsp granulated sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
2 oz sliced unblanched almonds
Steps:
1. Toast the almonds at 325 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.
2. Turn oven to 350. Process almonds and half of the sugar to a fine meal
3. Cream butter, zest, baking powder and soda and salt on low for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the remaining sugar and nut mixture. Mix on medium till light and fluffy
4. Add the eggs, 1 tbsp at a time, mixing well each time. Slowly pour in the buttermilk, mix to combine.
5. Add the flour in 3 batches. Mix till just combined. Fold iin the fruit
6. For topping: whip egg white till frothy. Add the rest of the ingredients.
7. Spoon batter into prepared greased muffin tin, filling to the rim. Spoon a tbsp of topping on the muffins especially at the centre
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes until top is nicely browned.
~makes 12 muffins
Taste test:
the muffins were nice and soft, but perhaps as i substituted buttermilk for just plain milk, it wasnt quite as sweet as i liked it to be..but the texture and the combination of almonds and blueberries were really delicious. :P
<a href="http://www.sqpixels.net/files/muffinmonday01.html" ><img src=http://www.sqpixels.net/files/mm_small.jpg" width="200" height="75" alt="Muffin Monday" /></a>
