Nec' and Neck

Nectarine-Blackberry Jam Muffins

I have a love hate relationship with muffins, because they can either end up being cakey goodness that is not far removed from a cupcake (but with slightly less appalling nutritional value, depending how you make them) or they can end up resembling a hard, tasteless mess that would barely pass for food on a 17th century sailing vessel. As much as I would surely like to pretend that they are delicious every time I make them, I will be the first to confess that sometimes, frankly, they are nasty.

However, not one to let past defeat predict future success, I like to try again. Sometimes I learn from my mistakes (when I remember to write down what happened), and sometimes it’s like slowly going insane: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results (thank you, Einstein). This time I learned though, because I tried one version Saturday (just jam, no fruit) and one version Monday (jam and fruit) and I think the modifications were well worth the outcome.

This particularly recipe was inspired by the outfit I was wearing on my 18-mile solo run yesterday (in between planning lessons and grading projects): a fancy long sleeved purple tech shirt with orange highlights. That and the fact that the nectarines I bought recently were (a) not very good to begin with and (b) getting mushy at an alarming rate (nothing like rotting fruit to inspire a baking adventure). Hence the orange (nectarine) and purple (blackberry jam).


I originally got this recipe from a friend in college and generally modify it to meet the pantry at hand (i.e. what’s rotting on my counter-top):

“Dry” ingredients (I think the spices enhance the flavor of an otherwise somewhat bland recipe. . .):
2 cups all purpose flour (or a mix of white and whole wheat pastry floor)
1 Tbsp baking powder
dash of nutmeg (optional)
slightly larger dash of cinnamon (option)

“Wet” ingredients (not all wet, but they all get mixed together)
2 large eggs (room temp)
1 cup milk or cream (room temp: milk is fine, but cream is richer. Yogurt also works, as does fruit puree or soy milk)
4-8 Tbsp unsalted butter (soft; the amount is really up to you, but I always think more butter is better, which might explain the quantity of running in my life. You can also use vegetable oil)
2/3 cup sugar (for this, I used half granulated and half light brown, but you can change the ratios, or even experiment with honey if you like that flavoring better)
1 tsp vanilla

Add-ins
2 nectarines, diced into small pieces
Blackberry jam (homemade is obviously best, but not everyone enjoys boiling water and bubbling fruit-sugar)

Part 0: Preparation
Preheat your oven to 400° F (try to hit the temperature right on. . . nothing like muffins burnt on the outside and gooey on the inside to ruin a good morning). Grease or line with paper cups a 12-cup muffin tin (actually, with the amount of extra ingredients in this particular version, I used a 12-cup and a 6 cup. The regular recipe makes about 12 muffins, but the more you add, the more you get).

Part 1: Easy
Mix together the “dry” ingredients. Whisks are kind of fun for this, but not really necessary. No sifting required (this recipe would take about twice as long).

Part 2: Medium
(The order of the steps is somewhat arbitrary. This is what I tried on my highly-successful most recent attempt, so that’s why I’m using it here). Cream the butter and sugar (works best if you let the butter get super soft by sitting out at room temperature rather than melting it in the microwave, but this takes time and forethought. I am not prepared to take sides on the “microwave-destroys-the-emulsion vs. who-has-time-to-wait” argument, so I will just say that in my experience, they both work). Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure to mix really well after each one (we do not want a mid-muffin omelet because our stirring left a little something to be desired). Add in the vanilla, stir. Add in the milk, stir. (I was somewhat unsatisfied with the milk addition step, because I got this weird globby looking watery mixture, but I decided it was probably something to do with the oil-water combination, so I didn’t worry about it too much and went on with my life.)

Part 3: Hard
This is where muffins can end up like rocks. The key is not to stir too much at this point, because when you stir too much, you kill the light fluffy potential of the muffins. It should NOT look like cake batter after you’ve combined the ingredients (you want the chemical magic to happen while it’s heating up in the oven, not right now). It should look a little lumpy.
Anyway, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients (all at once! None of this “a little bit at a time” business). Stir a few times, briskly, until everything appears combined (it is amazing, but you can actually over-stir and under-stir at the same time: too much mixing on the top layer, while leaving unmixed flour at the bottom of the bowl. The solution is to make sure you scrape your spoon along the bottom of the bowl as you give it those few brisk strokes).

Part 4: FUN!
This should happen about simultaneously to adding the wet ingredients. I literally just dumped in all of the nectarine pieces and multiple tablespoons of blackberry jam, so I didn’t have to stir extra times to mix them in (and potentially destroy the muffins). The jam works best if you “loosen” it a bit before dumping it into your batter, otherwise it tends to clump and doesn’t get well-distributed.
When the mixing meets your criteria, distribute the batter evenly among the prepared pans. The original recipe (without the FUN!) takes about 12 to 15 minutes, so with the fun stuff more like 15-20. The best way to test it to watch them puff, watch for the formation of a nice rounded top, and when the very top appears to have solidified past a goopy mess, poke a toothpick in to see if it comes out clean).
When they’re done, let them cool in the pan for a couple minutes, and then on a wire rack until they’re cool enough that you won’t singe your tongue (a particular danger with recipes involving hot jam or fruit). They’re really best as soon as possible after baking, but will keep for couple days in the fridge. Re-warming is the best way to enjoy, but room temperature isn’t too bad either.

Results:
Okay, so they sort of ended up looking like Smurfs. The level of blackberry jam integration was challenging (especially since I decided to throw it in at the same time as the nectarines). On the one hand, it kept the muffins from being too dry, but on the other hand, they look a little psychedelic. However, taste is the final determination, and I personally enjoyed them quite a lot (to the extent that I spent a lot of time thinking who I could give them to so I didn’t sit down and eat all 18 at once).

Other modifications:
If you just want jam, you can skip the step where you mix in the add-ins, pour half the batter in the cups, put a spoonful of jam in each cup, and the pour the rest of the batter on the top. This is quite delicious, although sometimes the batter can be a little dry (in which case you need to adjust your cooking time or ingredients for a moister batter or just mix in the jam as originally described).
Blueberries, raspberries, and huckleberries also make delicious muffins, and it is fun to experiment with different spices to bring out the flavor in those fruits. I’ve also made them with fruit puree instead of milk (in one of my rare ventures into vegan baking, which this clearly isn’t at first glance). For those vegan bakers, egg replacer also works just fine as does soy milk and oil (to replace the butter).
If you want to go really crazy, you can sprinkle some not-too-refined sugar on top to give it them a nice sugary crust (probably best to wait until they’ve baked a little or it will sink into the muffin) or glaze it with one of those fancy caramel drizzles. Frankly, most of the time I’m too lazy to do such things, and they taste so good without the extra sugar that I wouldn’t bother.