Passport & Plate - Showstopper
USA | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
The Cast: (for 6 Oscar-Winning Muffins)
(note: if you actually want to make a full pan. just double. but really who needs a dozen!?)
An award winning production is full of surprises, plot turns, and star-quality performances. For any in the mood to be wowed- these muffins won’t disappoint. But be forewarned: these muffins are an exercise in quality casting: Pretty amazing strawberries make for pretty and amazing muffin. Oversized and watered-down supermarket giants are overrated and lack substance. Talk about a muffin flop.
The Natural Star: Fresh Strawberries straight from the Berry Farm (about a pint)
The Devil in Disguise: Eggs from the Dubiously Labeled Case at the Supermarket (just 1. room temp please)
Essential Supporting Roles:
- 1 c whole wheat flour [cause aint no one got time for enriched white stuff]
- ¼ c granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder [not soda. don’t get them confused]
- ¼ tsp salt [the key to all tasteful things]
- ¼ c soured milk [milk + splash of lemon juice]
- ¼ c plain yogurt [adds a delicious tang]
- ¼ c olive oil [evoo as Rachel ray say]
- 1 egg (see above)
- dash of vanilla
The Surprising Extras:
- ¼ c cream cheese
- 1 tbs plain yogurt
- splash of lemon juice
- 1 tbs sugar (feel free to adjust based on personal preference, but be careful not to smother the sweet charm of the lead)
How to prepare this recipeBeaters, Mixing Bowls, Action!
[clear off your kitchen table-yes I’m talkin’ to you!- set up your ingredients, and have measuring cups and teaspoons at the ready. preheat your oven to 400]
All right people, TAKE YOUR PLACES
1. First things first- pamper the star. STRAWBERRY! Slice and Dice the beauties. Ooh and Aah over their luscious red hue, leave room for on-the spot interpretation.
2. Okay, now let’s rehearse the basics. DRY STUFF! Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. This seemingly senseless sifting is a necessary step to ensuring that your muffins are balanced and tender. Set aside.
3. Great. Now CHREAM CHEESE! YOGURT! SUGAR! Let’s set up the climax. SPOILER ALERT: these muffins contain a delicious surprise center. Using your mixer, cream the cheese together with your extra yogurt, sugar, and dash of lemon for tang. Lookin’ good and feelin fluffly? Set aside.
4. WHERE’S THAT DEVIL EGG? Always crack your eggs into separate bowls. Sometimes supermarket eggs, when cracked, will give you a nasty, discolored surprise. Avoid contamination, and crack with caution. Beat it alone.
5. LET’S TAKE IT THROUGH SLOWLY. Mix together the supporting roles, fold in the strawberry stars- don’t you dare overdo it! Overmixed muffins tasted tired and worn.
6. DRESS REHEARSAL. Fill your muffin cups 2/3 full. Top with a spoonful of your delicious dairy surprise, and gently top all muffins with remaining dough. Completely cover the cream for maximum impact.
7. NOW ONTO THE SHOW! stick ‘em in the oven, leave the light on to watch them rise. SHOW BIZ: Reduce heat to 350 after 10 minutes to allow for maximum rising.
8. BOX OFFICE SELLOUT. Dazzle your friends. Frazzle your enemies. These muffins will leave them all awed. Or at least speechless.
The story behind this recipeThe summer of 2011 I had a problem. I found myself with living in an apartment alone,2 weeks before summer classes, and suffering from a mild concussion. In order to stave off imminent and soul-crushing boredom, I started baking muffins. Lots and lots of muffins. And writing stories about them. The recipe above is adapted from my post from 06/21/201: http://amuffinaday.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/mmmshmggnflbygudd/
Every day during this time, I would select a recipe that tickled my fancy, then proceed to scour the town for ingredients, go to town in the kitchen, then go out on the town- tossing out my muffins to anyone and everyone who would take them.
It was a grad adventure.
For this reason, I decided muffins were a suitable “travel recipe” for my submission, because these sweet/savory quickbreads more accurately the nature of my personal travels with food than any family recipe I could conjure (mostly because those all involve microwaves) or even more than anything I encountered from my brief time abroad. I find myself drawn to the pure and simple- food prepared with fresh ingredients, and made for sharing. These muffins in particular were by far my favorite from the two-week project, primarily just because the strawberries were so fresh, beyond delicious. Sometimes nature steals the show.
My two week muffin expedition expanded my worldview- without once leaving my neighborhood. I discovered new favorite spots in a city I’d lived in for two years, and found fast friends in people I would have never otherwise encountered (the homeless crowd of the pit in Harvard Square still know my name today- or rather, the muffin ma’am), made me think about how food can create communities, and of course, I learned a lot about baking and ate a bunch’o muffins.
