IMBB #13 - Cupcakes & Muffins

Never let it be said that I am a baker. I am, in fact, the anti-baker. I have a problem with following directions to a tee. I like to improvise which, in baking, is a Bad Thing. So, really, I had every intention of bowing out of this month's IMBB. Until I read the instructions more carefully, and learned that muffins were an acceptable submission.

Yes, I know that muffins still require baking. But, see, I figure that something savory is more easily doctorable (is that even a word?) than something sweet. And, well, I figured if I found a good base recipe, I could season it with a different combination of herbs & spices. Plus, muffins don't require those cutesy little paper liner thingies.

And, really, everything would have been fine... if my baking powder was still active. Unfortunately, it wasn't... so, I'm trying again tonight, but wanted to go ahead and post my recipe anyway (because the flavor, I think, would have been great). I should be able to bake and put up pictures before midnight PST tonight. (Note: The picture is up and can be found here)

Many thanks to Maki for hosting!

Melted Leek Muffins with Cheddar*

• 1 leek, white parts only, sliced paper thin (preferably on a mandolin or nifty Kyocera Ceramic slicer)
• 3/4 stick + 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 c. whole milk 1 c. + 2 tbsp whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 3/4 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh marjoram

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. and butter 12 1/3-cup muffin cups.
2. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a medium-size pan, allowing butter to brown just a bit. Add leeks, and allow to "melt" - they will lose over half their volume. Do not allow to brown too much. Remove from heat and allow to cool
3. Into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, paprika & cayenne.
4. Melt remaining butter and in separate bowl whisk together with milk and egg. Stir in the leeks, cheese & marjoram.
5. Stir wet ingredients into the flour mixture until just combined.
6. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups bake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

*Based loosely on a Gourmet Magazine recipe, c. 1999

Comments

[molly]

Don't be a hater "Plus, muffins don't require those cutesy little paper liner thingies". I can see your muffins with the Barbie paper thingies! That would have ruled!

And baking powder goes inactive? Uh oh.

[Alice]

Yeah, baking powder & soda are really just fancy names for sodium bicarbinate - well, baking powder has some other stuff in it too, but they both can go bad... You can see if it's got any power left by putting a spoonful into warm water and see if it bubbles or into vinegar to see if it foams. I used to use buckets of the stuff to ianctivate this carcinogen I was using in grad school... Ah, the memories...

[Alice]

Ops, that's sodium bicarbOnate. I should spell check my comments before posting...

[tanvi]

aww its a bummer your baking powder expired. but the combination of cheddar and leeks sounds like a winner to me. i love cheddar and the idea of "melting" leeks sounds wicked- ive been reading about this technique all over the place. great entry! cant wait for the pictures :-)

[Irene]

This is FAR too entertaining - our entries for this IMBB could have been written by the same person!

The recipe you settled on sounds good. I'll need to give it a try.

[Nicola]

Hi Fatemeh,
Your muffins sound totally charming. I have been reading the IMBB entries for ideas for savoury muffins and i think yours are begging to be tried.
Thanks for the great idea!

[Suzanne (Molly's Mom)]

One hint that helped me understand more about baking is why some recipes use either baking soda OR baking powder and other recipes use both. Turns out an ingredient like buttermilk requires something to neutralize it so the batter can rise. And it still needs an ingredient to make it rise. Hence you need both with muffins that have an ingredient like buttermilk.

A lot of old muffin recipes call for sour milk - which I assume was caused by frequent inadequate refrigeration, i.e., the ice man didn't show up. If you don't happen to have sour milk you substitute milk with a tsp. of vinegar added which curdles it. Nice,huh? This can also be substituted for buttermilk. I've also substituted yoghurt thinned with milk for buttermilk.

But I digress -- The above suggests to me that it's the acidic nature of buttermilk which requires the neutralizing. Another such ingredient that come to mind, i.e.,citrus juice. I have no idea where orange or lemon zest rates in acidity. Maybe the above sodium carbonate user/chemist does.

So, Fatima, it seems if you find a muffin recipe you like the ingredients can be changed as long as you loosely follow some of the theory of baking. I personally think you can't use too much butter!!!

[Fatemeh]

Such an education I'm getting on baking!! It's (almost) enough to turn me into a baker!

Thanks guys - this is really helpful. It just seems that the few times I've tried to improvise, I've ended up either with hockey pucks or something nice and fluffy that deflates as soon as it comes out of the oven...