I made these delicious citrusy, berry-studded muffins last week for a gathering. They were easy to make, moist and a perfect way to highlight summer’s freshest berries. These muffins are best the day they’re made…but are still tasty the second day.

I used blueberries and raspberries, and lemon zest and orange zest for both the streusel and the muffin batter. The citrus combination filled my kitchen with a wonderful, summery fragrance. I didn’t use nuts in the streusel and there was still more than enough topping for the muffins. The recipe calls for fresh berries but you could use frozen (they will just take longer to bake). Enjoy!

Berry Best Muffins
-recipe from Simply Classic: A New Collection of Recipes to Celebrate the Northwest by The Junior League of Seattle

Makes 12 muffins.

Streusel Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Muffins
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, grated
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup berries (a mixture of blackberries, blueberries and raspberries)

Preheat oven to 350° degrees.

For Streusel Topping:  mix brown sugar, flour and lemon zest together in a bowl.  Stir in nuts and butter.  Mix together until butter is evenly distributed and mixture is crumbly.  Set aside.

For Muffins:  combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.  Add milk, butter and egg to the well and mix until smooth.  Fold in the berries.

Spoon into 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling each only 2/3 full.  Top with 1 tablespoon of struesel topping.  Do not overfill the muffin cups or topping will run over into pan.  Bake on middle rack in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Place on a rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and serve warm.

Tags: blackberries, blueberries, Breakfast, lemon zest, Muffins, quick bread, raspberries, Simply Classic by the Junior League of Seattle

Blueberries and lemon…I love the flavor combination! This easy-to-make cake highlights this beautiful summer berry in a delicious way! The addition of cornmeal adds a little texture without making the cake heavy or gritty. I took the Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake to a recent dinner gathering along with a Raspberry-Peach Cake. I guess our friends liked the cakes because there weren’t any pieces left for me to bring home (always a good sign!). I served both cakes with lightly sweetened freshly whipped cream. Delicious!

The recipe calls for finely ground yellow cornmeal, which I couldn’t find so I used Albers Yellow Corn Meal. The box of Albers doesn’t state what grind it is (fine, medium, etc.) but it seemed to be on the finer side so I went with it. The Albers cornmeal worked great.

The recipe also calls for tossing the blueberries with flour and sugar before sprinkling them over the batter. After the cake baked, however, some of the blueberries still had some flour on them. Partially white blueberries was not the look I was going for so I decided to make a quick lemon glaze to brush over the warm cake. I squeezed the juice from half a lemon into a small bowl and added enough sugar (a few tablespoons) until the lemon-sugar mixture was pleasantly sweet-tart. I then added a teaspoon or so of water and microwaved the mixture for a minute or so until the sugar dissolved. Give the syrup a stir then microwave for approximately 30 more seconds if you still see some sugar granules. Keep doing this until you have a clear syrup. Once the lemon syrup was ready, I brushed the cake and the whitish berries to “hide” any spots of flour left on them. My little trick worked like a charm! The syrup masked any leftover flour coating and added an extra hit of lemon flavor to the cake. Sweet!

Blueberry-Lemon Cornmeal Cake
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

The combination of cornmeal and buttermilk offers both texture and tang. Serves eight to ten.

6 oz. (1-1/3 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pan
1/4 cup (1-1/2 ounces) finely ground yellow cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. table salt
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter, at room temperature; more for the pan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk

For the topping:
1 cup (about 5 oz.) fresh blueberries, rinsed and well dried
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 Tbs. unbleached all-purpose flour

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350° F. Lightly butter a 9×2-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with a parchment round cut to fit the pan, lightly flour the sides, and tap out the excess.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well blended. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium high until well blended and fluffy, about 3 min. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until just blended and adding the lemon juice with the second egg (the batter will appear curdled; don’t worry). Using a wide rubber  spatula, fold in half the dry ingredients, then the buttermilk, and then the remaining dry ingredients. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 15 min.

Meanwhile, make the topping.
Combine the blueberries, sugar, and flour in a small bowl. Using a table fork, mix the ingredients, lightly crushing the blueberries and evenly coating them with the flour and sugar. After the cake has baked for 15 min., slide the oven rack out and quickly scatter the blueberries evenly over the top of the cake (discard any flour and sugar that doesn’t adhere to the berries). Continue baking until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, another 23 to 25 min.

Let the cake cool on a rack for 15 min. Run a knife around the inside edge of the pan. Using a dry dishtowel to protect your hands, lay a rack on top of the cake pan and, holding onto both rack and pan, and invert the cake. Lift the pan from the cake. Peel away the parchment. Lay a flat serving plate on the bottom of the cake and flip the cake one more time so that the blueberries are on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

From Fine Cooking 80, pp. 69
September 1, 2006

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Tags: Baking, blueberries, butter, buttermilk, cornmeal, lemon

A friend gave me some fresh organic blueberries today. The plump berries looked so good that the first thing I did when I got home was take a picture of them. Then, as I was looking for blueberry recipes, I came across an article by Fine Cooking Magazine with some tips on choosing, prepping and storing blueberries. And did you know that July is National Blueberry Month? Yes, it’s true! Now back to figuring out what to make with these delicious berries… 

Blueberries…
-tips by Fine Cooking Magazine

what is it?
Juicy and sweet, small, round, and, well, blue, blueberries are a hallmark of summer, finding their way into pies, cobblers, muffins, poundcake, and pancakes. Blueberries are rich in pectin; with a bit of gentle cooking, they’ll thicken into a delicious compote to drizzle over ice cream. Wild blueberries are smaller in size, with a deeper, more intense flavor. They’re hard to find fresh outside of New England, but they’re widely available frozen.

kitchen math:
1 pint fresh = about 2 cups

how to choose:
You can judge some fruit with your nose, but not blueberries. Use your eyes first: Blueberries should have a lovely silvery-white bloom over the dark blue. Look for pints free of small, purplish or greenish immature berries, a sign that they were picked before their peak. Then use the heft test: Berries should be plump and heavy. The sure-fire way of judging blueberries is to taste a few, because sweetness is variable even within the same pint. Wild blueberries—much harder to find outside of the Northeast—should be tiny and almost black.

how to prep:
Pick the berries over and discard any immature berries or berries past their prime. Remove any stems and rinse the berries briefly in a colander. For most recipes, frozen blueberries should not be thawed before adding to a batter. Mix blueberries into batters gently and quickly, using as few strokes as possible to avoid crushing the fruit and turning the batter a glaring lavender.

how to store:
Before storing your berries, pick through them, discarding any squishy berries that may turn moldy and infect their healthy neighbors. Store the berries in the coldest part of the refrigerator, but not in a drawer, where it’s too humid and don’t wash them until you’re ready to use them. Fresh picked, they can last up to two weeks in an airtight container, although they can lose moisture during the second week and shrink slightly. For baking, this can work in your favor, however, because the flavor becomes concentrated. To freeze blueberries, rinse them in a colander, dry thoroughly on paper towels, and then spread them on rimmed baking sheets in a single layer until frozen solid. Once frozen, they go into plastic storage bags.

Tags: blueberries, In Season, Summer