okay, so i made these the week before christmas. one you might remember from a past post. it's lemon-poppyseed muffins with a berry-lavender butter. these things are so freaking good, i can't even begin to explain. it's almost like i don't even want to convince you to make them, because i feel a little incensed at having to prove myself to you. given how fresh and innovative they taste, it's a great thing to take to someone special, like a friend on their birthday or when you are asked over somewhere for dinner and offer to bring dessert.
this recipe is a basic muffin method, meaning you combine the dry ingredients together, then the wet ingredients, and then combine them together when the oven is ready and you're set to bake.i've included the recipe, and, of course, some notes.
Ingredients
* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for sprinkling
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
* 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
* 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a standard 12-well muffin pan or a jumbo 6-well muffin pan.
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and lemon juice.
Make a well in center of the flour mixture and pour the buttermilk mixture into the well. Add the melted butter and use a rubber spatula to blend with quick strokes, being careful not overmix the batter; it should still be slightly lumpy. Gently stir in the poppy seeds and lemon zest.
Spoon batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each well 3/4 full. Bake until slightly puffed and golden, 20 to 22 minutes. Cooking time may be a little longer if you are baking jumbo-sized muffins. Lightly sprinkle sugar over the tops of the muffins, if desired. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool slightly on a wire rack.
______________
one thing i'll talk about is lavender butter. the recipe link includes a separate recipe for raspberry butter but i like this better. if you're not in the mood to make the lavender butter that makes up the berry butter, i'm sure the linked recipe would be great, and a lot easier. but i'm still adamant that you should try it this way eventually. let's just leave it there.
i had made another small batch a few months ago around the time when i made the rum butter, then chilled it by covering a small, shallow dish with saran wrap and putting in the fridge overnight. the next day, i cut them into squares and wrapped a couple in wax paper and then into a small freezer bag.
what i have done is pureed some 2 cups of some kind of berry (raspberries are AWESOME, as are blackberries and even blueberries), either fresh or frozen, with the juice of one lemon and 1/3 c of powdered sugar, then i add all of that to a small saucepan that has 2-3 T of lavender butter that is melted. crank the heat up to med-high to get a nice boil going for a minute, then take off the heat and brush onto still-warm muffins with a brush. eat, standing over the counter and still warm.
lavender butter
1 stick unsalted butter
1 T culinary lavender
zest of 1 lemon
3 T honey
pinch of salt
all you do is let the butter melt, add everything in on med. low-ish heat and let come to a very gentle boil for about 10 minutes, skimming off the milk solid fizz that accumulates around the rim of the pan. then pour into a container of your choice (as explained above) and let cool in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight.
regarding this recipe, i'd use about 2 T of lavender butter.
No comments:
Post a Comment