Raspberry Orange Muffins

I have seriously neglected this blog, and I miss it a lot. I can't believe that I missed the January daring bakers' challenge despite the fact that I had it all planned out a week in advance. I decided to spend the day on a family outing instead of making the cake, I don't really regret it though.

I am baking less since I stopped eating gluten and for now I don't have the time to experiment with all the wheat flour alternatives. Work keeps me busy, I have had few house guests, and I am slowly turning my house inside out to get rid of clutter and unnecessary items, in an effort to reorganizing it. A good friend of mine entered me in a kitchen makeover contest so we spent a weekend taping and editing to show my very old kitchen space in the hope that they will select me. Wouldn't be awesome? I so need a more functional space. Wish me luck.

I picked and cured few olives from our trees that this year have a monster crop. There are still many on the branches and I wish I had the time to pick more, they are delicious! I will have to write a post on this, it is so easy, but definitively time consuming. I wish it weren't so expensive to press them because they are a Tuscan variety and I bet they would make great oil.

I don't remember where I originally found this muffin recipe, but since I modified it a lot it now qualifies as mine I guess. This is one of those recipes I made so many times I have it stuck in my head and I can make it in few minutes, very convenient. I made these lovely mini muffins this morning for a Valentine's party and they were well received and devoured.

Orange Raspberry Muffins
makes 24 mini muffins

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup orange juice
zest of one orange
2 ounces of butter, melted
2/3 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Method: Sift together all the dry ingredients. Whisk all the wet ingredients, and the orange zest, then combine them with the flour mixture. Mix briefly, add the raspberries , some milk if too dry, and mix just until incorporated. The secret to a light muffins is to barely mix the batter, it is okay if it looks a little lumpy. Pour into paper lined muffin pans and bake at 350F until the muffins spring back and they are lightly colored.

Bread Baking Day-Birdseed Muffins

This month's theme for the Bread Baking Day is Quick Breads and is hosted by Mansi at Fun and Food Blog. I love making all sorts of quick breads, and always look for new recipes, so this challenge was the perfect excuse to try something new. I have been wanting to make these muffins for the longest time, the recipe comes from the lovely book Nancy Silverton's Pastries from La Brea Bakery. If you don't know Nancy Silverton, she is one of the people responsible for bringing back artisan bread in this country when she opened La Brea Bakery in 1989, in Los Angeles. Nancy and her ex-husband Mark Peel also opened Campanile, a restaurant located in the 1929 building where Charlie Chaplin had his office, on La Brea Avenue, in Los Angeles. Nancy is a bread encyclopedia, has written many books, and is a great source of inspiration.

I knew the recipe would be interesting, it has eight grains/seeds, is partially sweetened with honey and has buttermilk as the liquid, which adds a nice tang to the muffins. The recipe is not exactly quick as it requires a toasting and a grinding step, which add about 10 minutes to the execution.

The recipe is not a traditional muffin recipe but rather a cup cake/cake recipe. The butter is first creamed with the sugar, the eggs are then added, the liquid and the flour go in last. After noticing the batter separating after adding the honey, I modified the recipe by adding the flours and the buttermilk in the more traditional 3:2 additions. If you have the book there is a probable mistake in the amount of sunflower seeds, the recipe calls for 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of seeds, but in parenthesis it says 6 ounces which is more than a cup.

I had to add this photo because it reminds of a well known leaning tower. I am not even sure how the muffin on top didn't fall.

The muffins came out perfect and very pretty. They are not very sweet, so if you like your muffins sweet add 1/4 cup of sugar. They were perfect with a dollop of butter on top, YUM!

Birdseed Muffins
adapted from Pastries from La Brea Bakery

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sunflower seed
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1/4 cup millet
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
4 ounces of butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup mild-flavored honey. such as clover
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

For the topping:
2 tablespoons millet
2 tablespoons flax seeds
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Pre-heat the oven to 325F. Spread all the top 6 ingredients in rows on a baking pan, and toast for 6-8 minutes. Allow to cool. Turn the oven up to 350F.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the sunflower seeds, wheat germ, flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Process until the seeds have the consistency of the flours. Add the rest of the toasted grains and the poppy seeds, pulsing on and off a few times, just to combine.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, mixing well between each addition.

Add the honey and mix well. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk in 3:2 additions, mixing only until incorporated, scraping the bottom of the bowl after each addition.

To prepare the topping: mix the four seeds together. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon on the topping into the bottom of each paper lined muffin cup. Fill the cups completely to the rim and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the topping over the surface of each muffin. Bake for about 25 minutes, until firm and golden. I made 24 mini muffins and 8 regular muffins.

Buon Appetito!