Independent Women

Once again the Fourth of July holiday and Wimbledon tennis tourney coincide, and particularly well this year with American women making up 25% of the round of 16!! Venus, Serena, Madison Keys and Coco Vandeweghe will all be representing the USA in the fourth round. Get ready for Monday's epic sibling match-up of Venus and Serena, their 26th time playing each other. So exciting!

The American men aren't faring as well. John Isner lost to Cilic in the 3rd round so Denis Kudla is the lone American man who has made it through to the fourth round. Also of note: Rafa got knocked out in the 2nd round when he lost to Jamaican-German Dustin Brown (his second loss to Dustin on grass). Sorry, Rafa. (Stick to clay!) Fortunately we will be seeing more Federer! Go Roger!!!

Anyhoo, I am no sports reporter so the whole point of this post is my latest Breakfast at Wimbledon recipe. Instead of traditional scones, in honor of Independence Day and the American women still playing, I opted for the more all-American breakfast treat, blueberry muffins. I'm sure that none of these fabulous athletes would dare eat such empty calories during this tournament, so I will do it for them!

This blueberry muffin recipe is adapted from The Ski House Cookbook where I used sour cream to make a much lighter muffin with a more delicate crumb. Speaking of crumbs, I added a crumb topping that I swiped from the coffee cake recipe also in the book. These are great for breakfast or dessert. Or for winning a tennis tournament. Probably.

Super Sour Cream, Blueberry-Crumb, Fourth-of-July Wimbledon Muffins

Topping:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Muffins:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

3/4 cup sugar

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

1 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Butter a standard (12-cup) muffin tin and set aside. 

2. Prepare the topping: In a small bowl stir together the flour and brown sugar. Add the butter and using a pastry blender or fork, mix the ingredients until they are crumbly, resembling a coarse sand. Set aside until ready to bake.

3. Prepare the muffins: In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.

4. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla and lemon zest if using. Stir in the sour cream.

5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Do not over mix. Divide the batter evenly in the muffin tin and sprinkle the tops with the crumb topping.

6. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. (A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean.)  Cool the muffins in the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan to a rack to continue cooling. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12 muffins.

Hellooo…Newman.

Woah. It's mid-October and by looking at this blog you'd think that I've been on permanent summer vacation. I wish! I've just been lazy. And drinking rosé and eating salads. But now that it's nearly Halloween, it's time to see if my oven still works! Once I remove all of the pot and pans that are stored there!

With all of the recent Instagram posts from pumpkin patches and apple orchards, an apple recipe seemed the way to go. Granted this recipe uses one singular apple, but it's the thought that counts. And BT dubs, if you go to an orchard and only want to bring home an apple vs. a bushel, you'll be good to go! 

I randomly have a square muffin tin and it makes these little guys look like cute individual cakes rather than your average muffin. Perhaps along the lines of something that could be sold in an individual package like a Drake's Coffee Cake. The full size, not the junior. (Sometimes I feel like I am living a Seinfeld episode, but I digress…) The point is (what was my point again?) that these are super tasty and my oven still works!

Individual Apple Crumb Cakes

Adapted from Food & Wine

Streusel:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Cakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sour cream
1 large egg, beaten
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely diced

1. Make the streusel: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, or using a pastry blender in a medium bowl, combine the flour with the brown sugar and salt. Add the butter pieces and mix at medium-low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Continue mixing the streusel until very small clumps form. Refrigerate until it is well chilled, about 10 minutes.

2. Make the crumb cakes: Line 12 standard-size muffin cups with paper liners, or simply butter the muffin tin. In a large bowl, combine the flour with the granulated sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the butter pieces and cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream and beaten egg and mix until the batter is smooth. Add the diced apple and stir just until incorporated.

3. Fill the muffin cups halfway with the crumb cake batter. Press the streusel into clumps and sprinkle on top. Bake the crumb cakes in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, until risen, golden and springy to the touch. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. Let the crumb cakes cool slightly before serving. Makes 12.

Apple, Turn Over

So it must be almost 6 years to the day that at my birthday party at the Pegu Club, I summoned enough liquid courage to approach Melissa Clark (who was there to celebrate her latest book launch - another long circuitous story) to tell her how much I loved her writing and her column in The NY Times. But honestly, who knows what exactly I said? All that I can recall is that she said something along the lines of, "Thank you so much," then asked me if it was my birthday and if I would prefer that she and her small group move to another table to make way for my ever expanding party. We must have been super annoying because even though I said, "No, it's no problem," she moved anyway. Or maybe I came across as scary stalker? Probably.

Anyhoo...I am still reading her column in The Times and I've been holding onto this apple muffin recipe for just over a year waiting for...what? I dunno. Fall is officially here so it seems as good a time as any to bake! And since apples are plentiful, I might as well bake them into something extra tasty. It's so tiresome to eat them raw. Yawn. You should definitely bake and serve (and eat!) these on the same day, preferably within a few hours of making them otherwise they will be super sogged-out the next day. Not cute. But the day you bake them they are extra cute and tasty, like little mini-cakes. My only question about the recipe was that Melis tells you to distribute the apple slices among the muffin cups but doesn't tell you what to do with the extra sauce. Should I have cooked it down to a glaze? Poured it all in the muffin tins? Poured it over my pancakes? What's a girl to do?? I poured about half of it over the apples in the muffin tin and then threw the rest away. I worried about all of that liquid. Maybe I'll just ask her the next time I run into her...my birthday is coming up.



Upside Down Apple Muffins
Adapted from Melissa Clark and The New York Times

For the Apple Topping:
3 apples (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pinch kosher salt

For the muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract



1. Heat the oven to 375˚F. Generously grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, stir together the apples, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 6 tablespoons butter and pinch salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender, about 15 minutes. Distribute the apple slices among the muffin cups.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the 8 tablespoons butter, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold together until smooth. Distribute the batter on top of the apples. Bake until the muffins are slightly puffed, about 20 to 22 minutes.

5. Allow the muffins to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan. Turn onto a platter and serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12 muffins.

Morning Expeditions

Ever since I made a baked polenta recipe, the result of an expedition to the way-back of my fridge, I've been thinking that I had better do something with the remaining corn meal before it germinates. What else does one use corn meal for but for corn bread? Obvs!

There is a simple recipe for corn bread in The Ski House Cookbook, but it's meant as a savory side and I wanted something sweet for breakfast. So...I just increased the amount of sugar and poured the batter into a muffin tin. Voilà! I definitely recommend eating them while they are still warm, slathered with butter. Mmmm...butter. And then I would suggest a trip to the gym.



Corn Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus additional for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 425° F. Butter a jumbo muffin pan and set aside.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, sugar, and butter. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture and stir just to combine.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving. Makes 6 jumbo muffins (or about 9 regular sized muffins). Serve warm with butter, honey, or jam.

Last Minute Muffins

I've had a couple of cans of pumpkin kicking around since Thanksgiving. I never got around to making any pumpkin pies, so have been trying to figure out a way to get rid of them. I thought about making my pumpkin pancakes before heading off to the gym on Saturday, but then realized that I didn't have any eggs. After the gym (and a trip to the supermarket) I decided to throw together a batch of muffins before a very important manicure appointment (more on that at a later date).

I love the flavor and texture of these muffins, but I might suggest a little streusel topping just to make them look a little cooler. They aren't particularly healthy to begin with, so it's not like you'd be instantly turning them into dessert, but they look healthy with that pepita garnish. Instead I threw in some chopped chocolate just to see what would happen. What happened was that I had a delicious pumpkin muffin studded with melty chocolate pieces! Unfortunately this recipe doesn't use an entire (15 ounce) can of pumpkin, so you might want to make a double batch or use the leftovers to make this for dinner.



Pumpkin Muffins
(Adapted from Gourmet)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoon raw green (hulled) pumpkin seeds (pepitas), divided
1/2 cup chocolate pieces, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the center. Butter the muffin pan if it's not nonstick.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, then stir in 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin seeds and chocolate, if using.

3. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the remaining seeds. Bake until a wooden pick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool on a rack. Makes a dozen.

Breakfast or Dessert?

Muffin or Cupcake? I think there is a fine line between an acceptable breakfast treat and an indulgent dessert and, trust me, I don't have a problem with it. I am totally happy to eat a pain au chocolat or piece of streusel topped coffeecake or a glazed doughnut when offered. (Twist my arm!) Sure, I might ordinarily eat a bowl of Kashi or a couple of scrambled or boiled eggs, but that gets boring. A sweet breakfast is more fun (in moderation). Just like dessert!



This morning while at my photo shoot, the photo assistants whipped up a batch of chocolate chip muffins for a yummy breakfast treat. How cute is that?!? And just like any group of women, no one took one. Until someone did. And then in a flash, all that was left was a bunch of crumbs and the last, lonely muffin that no one wanted to take. Kind of like the first.



They wouldn't divulge their recipe, but I suspect that "the muffins" may have actually been made from a cake mix. Someone kept saying that they reminded her of a Dunkin Hines cake mix (in a good way!), and after I had a little taste, I can't say that she was wrong. Not my cup of tea, but who cares? They made everyone happy. And I think I have a new project: a side by side taste test of homemade chocolate chip muffins and homemade chocolate chip cupcakes. Who's in?