Saturday, March 15, 2014

#Muffin Madness, The Other March Madness. It's The Berries.

blackberry muffins

   So around here we're in packing up mode, selling and moving madness. It also happens to be March, home to another sort of madness and no, I'm not talking basketball. No brackets here. Nobody here but the berries since I was informed that March is also known as #MuffinMadness.  At least that's what the people at Driscolls Berries told me. March is also my birthday month, (older is better than the alternative) so I'm at about the max on stress around here. If stuff gets a little but madder, who am I to complain?

   I was asked by the Dricolls people to create a muffin using some of their berries. They even sent me some berry coupons so I could do this, but I'd already bought my own Driscoll Blackberries, so I was all set to go.


   In Northern California, blackberries run rampant all during the summer months, and we've been surrounded by them every year since we've been living in Sonoma. But, even when the berries are available plentifully, we find ourselves engaged in a running battle with the racoons, the deer and the birds over who gets them first and we don't always win. This is where Driscoll comes in. In the battle for natural berry supremacy, Driscoll insures we (the humans ) have a shot.
 
   I don't bake muffins very often but I have a favorite Italian polenta cake recipe from the region in Tuscany where my family originates. I tweaked it a little and came up with something that I thought would make a great muffin for breakfast, dessert, tea, or any other time.

Blackberry Rosemary Corn Muffins


Here's What You Need:
3 sprigs of rosemary
1/3 cup of chopped rosemary
1 stick of unsalted butter
2  whole eggs and 1 egg yolk
1 cup fine cornmeal flour
3/4 cup of flour
3/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup of whole milk
1 pint fresh blackberries
3/4 cup of water
3/4 cup of sugar
1 Tbs lemon juice

Here's What To Do: 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl add:
  1 stick of unsalted butter
  1 cup of sugar
Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric beater.

When it's nice and fluffy add in:
1 cup of fine cornmeal flour, 3/4 cup of all purpose flour, 3/4 tsp of salt,1 tsp of baking powder...


...2 large eggs...


...and 1 egg yolk...


Add in the milk.


Beat the cake batter with an electric beater on the high setting for about 3 minutes. It will turn yellow.
Finely chop 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary.


Add the chopped rosemary to the batter.


Mix it in well.
Add the fresh berries to the batter...


Fold them in carefully so you don't mash them.


Place paper muffin cups into a muffin tray.


Fill the muffin cups part way, the muffins will rise.


Pop the muffins into the center of the oven and bake them for 40 minutes.
While the muffins are baking: Chop more rosemary until you have 1/3 cup of it.
Add it to a small pan along with  3/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of sugar.
Stir everything together well on medium heat until it comes to a simmer.


Then turn the heat down, and let it gently simmer for 10 minutes.
Then take it off the heat and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a sieve and pour it into a measuring cup.
Set it aside.
Take the muffins come out of the oven, when they're firm and golden.


Brush the tops with the rosemary syrup.


Let the syrup soak in and then brush them again.
Take the muffins out of the pan and let them cool on a baking sheet.
Serve them up and enjoy!

   Sweet with the rosemary sugar glaze and plump with fresh Driscoll Blackberries, these muffins go great with coffee, tea or milk. Serve them with butter or with a nice dab of goat cheese. Coming up next, it's Holi time again and colors aren't the only things flying through the air. A quick and easy Holi dessert can put anyone in a celebratory mood. Follow along on Twitter at @kathygori

1 comment :

  1. This looks really nice, i love basa....Thanks for sharing this recipe.

    Simon

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin