Monday, March 27, 2017

Sweet and Savory Corn Muffins

Yes, I love the Barefoot Contessa. She loves food and encourages everyone to experiment, using her recipes as a starting point. That tells me somethig about her and her love of food. 



I've been looking at the recipe for Raspberry Corn Muffins in her cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. I don't really like cornbread. It''s dry and crumbly, turning to paste in my mouth. This recipe is different. It has a little crumble to it, but it's moist, like a cupcake. It's another simple recipe. Even though I've linked her site, if you want her recipe, you need to buy the book. This is my version.



Last fall, I canned a few different jams, sauces, and butters. I used my own herbs, organic fruits from my yard or my neighbors, and some trial and error. I had visions of opening these treasures when they weren't available anymore. Well, today is one of those days. I brought up my last jar of Violet Raspberry preserves, along with a jar of Lemon Rosemary jelly. 



In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.



Add milk and eggs. Give it four or five stirs. Add butter, slowly. Don't cook the eggs with the butter. Add it in a small stream. Hopefully, it's cooled a bit. 



Stir with a spoon or spatula until the dry ingredients are moist. With the amount of baking powder added, the batter can easily create peaks while baking if it's over-stirred. 



Fill cupcake tins. So..... the recipe I started with states twelve large muffins. It will actually make twelve jumbo muffins, or twenty-four large. You can also do as I did and:
  1. fill a muffin tin with twelve large 
  2. realize that you will have way too much left over
  3. fill another muffin tin of six large
  4. realize that you could have made another twelve rather than six, but now it's too late
  5. fill another twelve mini's because that's basically all the pans you have left

Sprinkle some of the muffins with big flaky salt. Sprinkle others with demerara sugar. Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I took my mini's out after fifteen minutes. 


Transfer muffins from tins to a wire rack to cool. If you leave warm muffins inside the tins to cool, they will be soggy on the bottom, and won't hold up when you remove the paper liner.


Fill pastry bags with your chosen preserves/jelly. After I install my tips , I fill my bags while placed in a glass. It's easier to fill. It's almost like having another pair of hands. Use a large-opening tip. 


Press the tip down into the center of the muffin. Push it down until you can't see the tip anymore. Squeeze the filling into the muffin. 


The muffins that were sprinkled with big flaky salt were filled with Lemon Rosemary jelly. 


The muffins sprinkled with sugar were filled with Violet Raspberry preserves. 

These muffins will change your mind about cornbread. I made both sweet and savory, and they are both delicious.

1 C bread flour
2 C all-purpose flour
1 C sugar
1 C cornmeal
2 T baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 C whole milk
8 oz butter, melted and cooled
2 extra large eggs
3/4 C Violet Raspberry preserves
3/4 C Lemon Rosemary jelly
Kosher salt for sprinkling on top
Coarse sugar to sprinkle on top





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