There are few things in life as beautiful as a ginormous, glorious sugar topped muffin. You can tell when a muffin is going to be an experience. It has a look about it that is inviting. Have you ever eaten a tiny biscuit-like muffin only to ask yourself why you wasted the calories? I have. I have also learned that to make a great (not good but great) muffin which will not leave its audience in regret, you must require a few things from your recipe.
- It must be tasty. If not, why bother?
- It must not be the perfect texture… not too soggy, spongy or dry.
- It must be ginormous or if its a mini muffin it must at least appear ginormous.
- It must have a glorious heaping amount of streusel or another fun to drool over topper.
Easy as that, right? Nope! A muffin requires love to make. Love requires patience, care and attention to details. A love muffin isn’t the kind of girl you can just take out once and than ditch. She is worth every bit of effort required of you. She is an investment.
That said, let’s get started!
To make the fruit for this muffin, we are making a mango jelly which will be very flavorful. Another benefit is that the pieces of mangos will not become soggy as they might of you just dropped them into your muffin dough.
Peel one ripe mango, chop into medium size pieces and add to sauce pan. Using a potato masher, press mango into even smaller little pieces.
Mix in one cup of sugar and about two teaspoons of lemon juice. Allow jelly to boil for almost 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then allow to cook on low heat for another 10 minutes.
When done, you will have this lovely mango jelly. We could stop there since this would be delicious in danish or on toast but today we are focusing on the glorious muffin so savor this moment as long as you like & then when you’re ready, feel free to scroll down for more goodness.
Cream together 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) of butter, 1 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Mix in 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of baking powder.
Drop in one egg, 1 cup of Odwalla Mango Tango juice (hey, I did say this was a commitment) and 2 cups of flour
The perfect addition to these muffins? Our lovely mango jelly! Mix’er up! Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Although I made my streusel in a regular bowl today, I highly recommend using a food processor instead.
Here are the streusel ingredients:
- 1 stick of butter
- 1 1/2 cup of flour
- 2/3 cup of powdered sugar
- dash of salt
- 1 egg
Mix until crumbly.
Only fitting that these love muffins were placed into my very well-loved pan. This is a large muffin pan with room for 6 muffins at a time (just enough for this recipe) or you can make 12 regular muffins. Fill muffin tins about 1/2 way full.
Wait! Stop the presses! Time to break it down with some struesel! “But we’re only half way through?” you ask? Yes, but these aren’t just any muffins. These are glorious muffins! We must have struesel in the middle. It’s a way of bringing some of the beautiful muffin top into the mid-muffin experience.
Okay, at ease. You can now place the last dollops of muffin mix on top of the streusel… but wait. It gets even better. There’s more XOXOXO coming your way.
Oh how sweet it is! A topper of more streusel and then a dose of sugar over the top with some to spare. Bake for about 30 minutes or until fork comes out clean.
You know the muffin… the special one. She is so sweet, tasty and buttery that you aren’t even sure if you need butter. This is her. Her name is Love Muffin. I’ll leave you two alone so you can get to know one another.
A pretty little scone for all the girls out there to make up for the hefty Mexican chimichunga recipe we made last time. Mixing flour and flowers can produce beautiful results!
Blend 1/4 cup of butter with 2/3 cup of sugar.
Add one tablespoon of vanilla…
3/4 cup of heavy cream…
… and two eggs. Straight from my hens (AKA The Dixie Chicks) these are! Thank you, ladies!
Mix in 1 teaspoon of salt.
Add 1 tablespoon of baking powder.
Top off with 3 cups of flour!
Lastly, cut 1/4 cup of additional butter into tiny pieces and mix into the dough.
(It should remain in small pieces and not blend entirely into the dough).
Finally, the pretty part! Gently mix in about 1/2 cup of organic rose petals that have been cut into small pieces.
On a floured surface, form dough into two disk shapes. Please dismiss my over zealous amounts of flour here.
Cut disks in half and in half again. Place each quarter onto a baking sheet coated with baking spray.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes (until light golden and you hear the hallelujah chorus come out of your oven).
While the scones bake, get ready to make your vanilla rose icing by getting your pink bowl. Why a pink bowl? Cuz you are baking with me and I am quite matchy matchy!
Place 3 cups of powdered sugar into said pink bowl.
Add one tablespoon of vanilla. Yes, we’re being quite serious about the vanilla part.
Then add about 5-6 tablespoons of water. Stir until you reach the thickness you would like. It’s better to keep it thick if you plan on icing while scones are hot as it will melt down the sides.
For the pretties, add an eensy weensy teeny tiny bit of pink food coloring and about 2 tablespoons of the pre-cut rose petals from earlier in this recipe.
Oh, looky there, the scones are done baking. Don’t ya know!
Ice those little pretties with your pink frosting and you will have yourself a gorgeous scone for brunch or coffee with the girls!
If you’ve never had roses in your food, you might be thinking, “Pretty sure… but what about the taste?”
I was worried too but they taste pretty much like vanilla. Very yummy and beautiful. What a combo!
Many years ago I worked for a bank. I did not fit in. Every night when the tellers went to their adding machines, my skin would crawl as they clicked away. I was not a good balancer. I am detailed about artsy fartsy things and relationships but not so much in others. Lord knows I tried but I just had too good of a time with my customers & made mistakes because of it.
Me in my “big bang” theory days. After trying my hand at being a teller, I moved on and up to a corporate branch where I would send 60 million dollar wires for large companies to the wrong country… but I had fun.
One time I was invited to have lunch with my amazing manager and the company’s vice president. My manager always saw something special in me and favored my personality while I drove our operations manager crazy with my balancing, or I should say, lack of. Anyhow, the lunch our bank’s chef made was delicious and very memorable. I happen to have the recipe & thought I’d share it with you. I did change it up just a little. Good things do come out of those who couldn’t balance a days work if their life depended on it!
Brown a pound of ground beef.
Add a little chopped onion.
After meat is finished cooking, drain a bit & add in 1/2 can of enchilada sauce and one small can of mild green chilis. You can find both in the Mexican food section of your grocery store. You can also add a little bit (tablespoon or so) of taco or salsa seasoning for added flavor.
Mmmm…. saucy!
While meat is swimming in its flavors, butter both sides of 6 large burrito sized flour tortillas.
Place a large spoonful of meat on tortilla.
Top with cheese – but, of course!
Fold right & left sides inward, then fold top downward and then fold bottom upward.
Finish off by flipping chimi over & placing on a baking sheet.
While they bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown & deliciously crispy, you can prepare the trimmings that you enjoy! While I was doing this, I heard a bunch of laughing coming from the other room and had to see what was going on. I found my husband covered in silly string. Our kids had attacked him and they were oh so proud of themselves. It was a crazy fun moment with an amazing dinner which balanced out for a perfect evening!
Here’s to all of those who have the gift of balancing their checkbook to the penny. We should do dinner. I’ll cook and you can balance my checkbook…
This recipe was ridiculously good and easy. My only regret is waiting 20 years to make chimis!
I love dinner parties! It’s nice to be the guest at a dinner party but these days I’m usually the one creating the dishes which might even be more fun for a weirdo like me. I thought I would share some pictures from our latest party with you just for fun.
I’d like to introduce you to my new little project that I have been working on (in between family, church, and the B&B!) for the last six months or so. You see I’m not just a goofy little blogger but also a semi-serious pastor when I have to be. If you are interested, I’d like to invite you to my new website for Taste Hope, a Bible study serious that includes thoughts on the Bible, emotional well being and cooking.
Okay, I’m done with my commercial. Thank you for listening! Now onto the out of this world hot chocolate!
You ever have one of those mornings when everything, and I mean everything, goes right? Today was one of those days for me! The quiche was perfect. The little cinnamon maple danishes where adorable and perfectly mapley.
The real topper was this homemade hot chocolate! I promise you will love it or I will take down my blog. Well, no I guess I wouldn’t do that. I love being bloggy but I still promise that you’ll dig it more than this season of The Bachelor…
First power up with a false sense of energy which will fade quickly – choose one right from the center!
Second, The cat got into the B&B! Quick! Find the cat.
Next, place 6 tablespoons of Hershey’s Dark Cocoa powder into a saucepan.
Add 6 tablespoons of sugar and a dash of salt and a few drops of vanilla extract
Pour in 4 1/2 cups of milk
and 1 1/2 cups of water
Stir with a whisk often until hot but not boiling.
Holy cow, this is good! Since I haven’t made homemade marshmallows yet, I’ll let you in on the secret of how I have made my hot chocolates my own….
…a couple, few, four, five little scoops of ice cream! It is the perfect mix of hot and cold in one cup! (It’s also an amazing touch after the cocoa is chilled!) Check out the way it’s melting down the sides. Gorgeous!
Cheers!
Julia Child’s Flaming Crepes Suzette (Crepes with Orange Butter, Flambees) recipe with Julie and Julia movie DVD give-away
Although tempting to sell my used copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” along with some of the hair I pulled out while cooking from it, I held onto it because I have learned so much from Julia. One of the recipes that has been calling my name… maybe not my name but rather Suzette’s name is Crepe’s Suzette. Why has it been calling? Well, for the flames, of course. I freak out about heights, closed in spaces, being misunderstood and fire so this was a challenge for me.
First we make Crepes Fines Sucrees
Place ingredients in the blender in the order in which they are listed.
3/4 cup milk 3/4 cup water 3 egg yolks 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
3 Tbs. orange liquer, rum or brandy – I used Grand Marnier – Lapostolle triple orange liqeur from the adorable mini bottle but it wasn’t enough so you’ll want to be sure you buy enough for your crepes. Don’t be deceived by the super cuteness of the minis!
1 cup of flour 5 Tbs. melted butter
It will look something like this when you are done placing the ingredients in the blender. How cool looking are those layers?? Cover and blend at top speed for 1 minute. If bits of flour adhere to sides of jar, dislodge with a rubber scraper and blend 3 seconds more.
After blended, your crepe batter should look like this. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Orange Butter
In a food processor, place 1/2 cup sugar in the container along with the orange part of the peel.
I stood there and stared at my orange.What did Julia mean this time? She didn’t mention a zester so I was lost.
Aha! I realized this is why she had the veggie peeler listed as a tool. I was to use it to take the zest off of the orange. Give me a “D”. Give me an “E”. Give me an “A”… Yay, Deanna!
Wondering why one spot is still on the orange? It had a little bad spot so I didn’t want to place it in the recipe. You know what that looks like?
I know, right?! Totally looks like lips! Now my orange was staring back at me. I think I’ll name her Suzette.
Place orange peels into the processor with the sugar and process for a minute or until finely blended.
Pretty………..
Add two sticks (1/2 pound) of butter cut into small pieces. Process until smooth and almost fluffy.
Add 1/2 cup of the orange juice…
and 3 Tbs. orange liqeur - Are you kiddin’ me? I paid $4 for this little bottle and I ran out after 4 1/2 tablespoons?? I had to use some leftover triple sec from another Julia recipe.
Okay, here she says to add more orange juice – as much as the butter can take and still remain creamy. I added just a touch more o.j. and it started to look like this… not so creamy now if you ask me. How exactly, Julia, are we supposed to predict when the butter has reached it’s creaminess limit? It’s not like I can draw lips on it & have it tell me when it’s reached it’s limit. Set butter aside or save in refrigerator if you are waiting until later to make the crepes.
It was at this point that I followed the instructions right into something that looked vaguely familiar… ah yes… that’s why it’ s familiar. I JUST made this five minutes ago in a food processor! Thank you, Julia, for the extremely difficult back up instructions in case your readers are using an electric mixer INSTEAD of a processor. I know this blog post is getting wordy but believe me, there are a few choice words that I am not using here so I have saved you some reading… and corruption.
The Big Finish
Remove crepe batter from the fridge.
Cook crepes and set aside. The good news is that by the time I finished the orange butter and the unnecessary orange butter, the crepes had been in the fridge long enough for me to cook them.
Place the orange butter in the chafing dish and heat until it is bubbling.
Dip both sides of crepe in butter.
Fold in half and in half again and place on edge of chafing dish. Rapidly continue with rest of the crepes until all have been dipped, folded and arranged. Sprinkle the crepes with sugar.
Pour over them the orange liqeur and cognac. Avert your face and ignite the liqeur with a lighted match. Shake the chafing dish gently back and forth while spooning the flaming liqeur over the crepes until the fire dies down.
… until the fire dies down.
… until the fire dies down.
… until the fire dies down.
… until the excitement dies down.
…until the depression settles in over the fact that you pretty much have the same crepe that you had pre-fire show and you are left with the second realization that the freakin’ $40 cookbook that you loathe would only sell for 99 cents on ebay with all the butter and orange liqeurs that you’ve spilled on it.
My review of Crepes Suzette? Well, they’re tasty but need some chocolate sauce on them. I suppose that defeats the recipe a bit. I’ve had better luck with Julia’s savory dishes than her desserts. My husband has been begging for the Boeuf Bourguignon again so maybe it’s time to take a time-out from French sweets and oranges with lips.
Julie and Julia movie DVD give-away!
Tomorrow, January 2nd, we’ll be celebrating 20,000 hits on our blog! Yay! This calls for a comment contest give-away!
Enter to win a copy of Julie and Julia on DVD.
- Just leave a comment on this post with your creative alternate use my big hardback copy of my Julia Child’s cookbook!
- If you win, I will be sending you Julia and Julia on DVD.
- Leave your comment with a way for me to contact you if you win (either a blog link or email).
- Deadline to enter is by January 5, 2010 (recorded by the time stamp of your comment).
- The winner will be announced sometime on January 6th on this post.
* One winner will be chosen using the Random.org integer generator.
Until next time, XOXOXO from Suzette and I !
An orange mimosa is the best brunch sipper you can find but to add a little spark to your New Year’s celebration, why not create a girly array of fun mimosas for your guests?
Crazy simple and you can purchase everything you need at the grocery store today for tonight’s party or tomorrow’s brunch.
Buy any champagne and several frozen fruit juice concentrates.
Allow juices to defrost for about an hour and place 3/8ths of a cup of juice concentrate in a (preferably fluted) glass and 2/8ths of a cup of champagne.
You can make these with sparkling wine or if you prefer non-alcoholic, you can use club soda for some sizzle.
Of course, you can taste test to make them as sweet as you like. If you freeze small pieces of coordinating fruit (mango, raspberries, etc.) you can get them to float in your mimosas too! But I must warn you…
When you’re taking pictures of your mimosas things might get a little blurry if you have a buzzed cute little Grandma Dixie helping you because you are giggling so much watching her try keep her composure.
Smile Miss Orange Peach Mango, Miss Pomegranate Cherry, Miss Pineapple and Miss Cranberry Raspberry. You girls have such bubbly personalities!
Thank you for following The Old Hen Blog in 2009. May you have a sparkling and blessed 2010!
If your family is as nuts over chocolate chip cookie dough as mine, maybe you can relate to my thoughts of, “Why even bother baking the cookies?” After years of my family begging me to not bother, I finally came up with a recipe to their liking – no oven needed.
Cream together one and a half sticks of butter
2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
and 1/3 cup of superfine white sugar
Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of salt
and 1 cup of flour and mix together well.
Stir in 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate chips – Amount optional & chopped walnuts are optional too!
Roll into one inch balls, place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place in freezer for about a half an hour.
Melt about 1 bag of semi sweet chocolate with about a tablespoon of added shortening for shine and dip cookie balls into chocolate. If you are making these for Christmas, you can put some red & green sprinkles on top to add a festive touch.
Of course, if you are a teenager who happens to be roaming through the kitchen while mom is blogging, you’ve just hit the jackpot. Why not add little ice cream balls too?
Yummers! Best if stored in refrigerator or freezer, and far away from anyone who is trying to diet!
T’was the week before Christmas and all through the inn, the innkeeper’s patience with making cookies wore thin.
What more could she do to spread sparkle and joy around town; even while shopping others looked down.
Something that brings much Christmas cheer; it would require a latte to get her thinker in gear!
That’s it she proclaimed as she drove to the coffee shop, “I’ll make one of those with powdery sugar atop!”
Gingerbread Starbucks!
Brrr… a latte in this snow warms the heart!
Shorty baby gingerbread boys with their red latte cups - Non-fat with whip, thanks!
What’s that? A drive-thru too?
“May I interest you in a gingerbread latte today?”
And the innkeeper exclaimed as she drove out of sight…
“Thank you for making my latte just right!”
Merry Christmas to our favorite Starbuck’s baristas!
