Blueberry Corn Muffins

It really is a shame that here on the tropical island of Singapore, berries are an uncommon buy. Sure, durians, mangoes, lychees, and papayas are easy to get. But berries....

Berries are something else.

I love berries. That's why I wished I lived elsewhere where the climate is colder and berries are as common as apples.

I do think berries are lovely. They're beautiful fruits that come in colours that represent summer and they're a delight to eat. You simply pop one into your mouth, bite into it and feel the juice spurting out and making contact with your tastebuds. Awesome.

Why am I talking so much about berries? Well, that's because I finally bought some, after a long time. Blueberries, to be specific.

I was at Carrefour when my eyes caught sight of this $3.99 sign just above the boxes of blueberries. I thought I saw wrong.

But when I looked closer, it turned out that they were indeed for sale at $3.99. Okay, I know, they're still pretty expensive but hey, it's better than their usual price of $6.90. And one box is only like 6 ounces... which isn't much. It's gives you only about 1 cup.

So I bought a box and for the rest of the day, I was trying to figure what I could make of them. Then it hit me:



Blueberry muffins! I wanted to make a pie, or some blueberry buckle cake but I realised I didn't have enough berries. So I searched for a recipe and found one on Martha Stewart Living.

The recipe looked easy enough and so I attempted to try my luck with some Blueberry Corn Muffins



My first attempt, and i was pretty satisfied. Don't they look lovely fresh out of the oven? The smell was wonderful. There's nothing quite like it.

Okay, I didn't really follow the recipe per se. I made a few changes, but it turned out yummy so I guess all's well. But I do have one gripe though, each portion was simply too small. haha... so I can understand why the recipe was meant for huge muffins, 6 of them. This recipe yielded about 16 small muffins as you can see there.

Next time I make these, I'm gonna do the jumbo size. =)

Oh, and if you read the recipe, you would notice that they asked for yellow cornmeal. Now, I couldn't find any and I was lazy to go hunt other supermarkets, so I did a substitution. I went to the cereal aisle and got myself a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. I'm sure you'd know what I would use it for.

I mashed and used my rolling pin to turn those corn flakes into something similar to cornmeal. I did succeed. After a few minutes of 'hard' labour, I got my one cup of fake cornmeal. And amazingly, my muffins turned out perfect. I don't know how different would it have tasted if I had used real corn meal. But well, I dare say this 'cornflake version' was good enough for me. And i supposed it's a lot healthy? From what the box claimed, corn flakes had plenty of vitamins and all that. Haha...

Anyway I love these muffins and I'll be sure to make them again, well of course, when the berries are least expensive!

________________________________________________

Blueberry Corn Muffins

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugarplus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
3 tablespoons honey
2 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal (pounded cornflakes would do just fine)
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 cup blueberries

1. Heat oven to 375°. Place a Silpat (French nonstick baking mat) or parchment paper on a baking sheet; place six 2 3/4-by-2-inch pastry rings on it. Cut parchment paper into six 10-by-3-inch strips; use them to line molds (paper will extend above rims).


2. Place softened butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and honey in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs; beat 1 minute more.


3. Whisk flour, cornmeal, and baking powder together in a medium bowl; add to butter mixture in mixer bowl. Beat until combined. Slowly pour in milk, beating on low, until just combined. Fold in blueberries. Divide dough among molds (do not pack too firmly; each will take about 1 cup). Brush tops with cold water; sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over each.


4. Bake until tops are browned, centers are set, and a cake tester inserted in center of muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pans 5 minutes. Tie kitchen twine around muffins to hold parchment. Serve at once.

Taken from Martha Stewart Living
__________________________________________________