Friday, July 30, 2010

Blueberry Baking


I have an overabundance of blueberries-it's a good place to be !  Blueberries in my cereal,in my salad,in the sauce used on my pork chops, in a smoothie, and over my cantaloupe.  I'm thinking about making some blueberry syrup so I'll have it during the winter and just  pouring it over french toast or pancakes will bring me back to this beautiful summer moment. I love blueberries, can you tell ?  But I didn't grow up with them-don't know why-they just weren't in my mother's fruit repertoire. They also weren't in her baking repertoire .  She wasn't a blueberry muffin kind of baker-special occasion baker, holiday baker and baker of all things sweet and wonderful from her ancestors-just not blueberry muffins.  I think it was in college when I first tasted a blueberry muffin-not a good memory-it was cafeteria style,slightly burned,slightly over baked tasteless kind of thing.  It's funny none of my aunts who were bakers made muffins or anything with blueberries either.  Maybe there was some blueberry boycott by my family that I wasn't privy to .  In any case somewhere along the line,even after the hockey puck muffins from college, I developed a taste for good muffins and really good muffins with blueberries.



Isn't it wonderful when you first take them out of the oven and you can't wait for them to cool so you pop one out of the pan, tear it in half and watch the steam rise from the center and from the hot juicy blueberries ?  A favorite moment for sure.  You almost burn your tongue on the hot blueberries but you can't stop yourself from taking that first bite..hmm there it is,sweet and tangy with a nice light crumb to it and the smell is heavenly.  I don't bake muffins very often but every time I bite into one fresh out of the oven it reminds me that maybe I should be baking them more frequently.



This morning  is a misty foggy day in Seattle and a perfect day to make blueberry muffins.  This is a recipe I haven't tried before-from Allrecipes. It doesn't have crumb crust or sugar coating-something I believe blueberry muffins don't need-why camouflage that lovely tart taste.  Enjoy fellow blueberry lovers. Bon Berry'tite!
Blueberry Cream Muffins
Ingredients
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sour cream
2 cups blueberries

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 24 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

2.In large bowl beat eggs, gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt and baking soda.

3.Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream. Gently fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.

4.Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.


4 comments:

Cristina said...

Isn't that true though. Muffins bought in the stores or experienced in the cafeteria are bland and tasteless. Nothing like a homemade, fresh blueberry muffin. These look fantastic, and they must be moist with the sourcream. I look forward to giving them a try too!

The Housewife said...

These look so adorable and I love blueberries! So delectable, moist and I need one now!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Blueberires will always be my favourite summer berry. They show up in many different ways but like you I rarely bake muffins...I need to rectify that.

Chef Dennis Littley said...

blueberry muffins are my favorite! yours look delicious!