.
.
.

BLUEBERRY ginger citrus GF Muffins


I buried my thoughts with these...
sweet BLUEBERRIES and made a wish.



I asked my precious Food Fairy to please grant me...
success in making my very first BLUEBERRY muffin.

At this point, I figured that a little childish plea
could not hinder my baking challenge ahead.

 
 

Trial and error in my kitchen has always been an acceptable form
of learning curve that has excelled me into further adventures.

However, for this time, I honestly, just could not handle a failed muffin with
the few cherished Québec blueberries I was willing to let go onto this baked treat.

 
 
I've mentioned this before...
I rarely let go of berries in their fresh state...especially from our local crop.

It would be different if these berries would come by the case load...
however, so far...no such glory on the home front.

 
 
During the year, I don't mind baking with the frozen berries...
but for now... call me a little strange...
I do admittedly get a little possessive of them.
 
 
Not only have I never made blueberry muffins before...
I decided to add the extra challenge of also making them gluten free.
Yes...for those who are not willing to go there with me...
a classic form with all purpose flour can certainly apply.
I dove into my experiment full throttle and crossed my fingers
that my experience in baking was going to pay off.
I waited patiently...and then within a short time...
the magic was slowly wafting through the air.




As soon as I witnessed the muffins rising and sensing the aromas in my home...
I started getting that warm and fuzzy feeling of baking euphoria.

To my ecstatic surprise it appeared that I may have got
the hole in one during my very first try.....victory.

The generous Food Fairy granted my wish after all ;o)


As I just mentioned before...
I've been too busy eating one of my favourite berry in its freshness
to even think of putting a bunch of them into any baked goods. 
The season is never long enough and I have yet to have my visit at a field of
voluminous blueberries...hopefully next year I'll make it out for extra pickings.


In the meantime, this year for some reason I was itching
to make muffins with these blue sweeties.

If I think back to when this tickle started...
it must have been during a small TV segment I caught of
America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) bragging that they had found the
very best way to achieve the perfect blueberry muffin. 
They boosted the berry flavour from incorporating intensity through jam.



Then, I started seeing these adorable berry muffs appearing
here and there on blogs...which served to open up my appetite even more.
So...last week, I had finally decided to tackle the incredibly
sought after blueberry muffin with a little twist or two of my own.



The one thing I decided to do was to take an excellent piece of advice from...
ATK creating a part of the mixture to be in the form of jam.
The rest of the recipe is me experimenting with gluten free baking.


BLUEBERRY ginger citrus MUFFINS

No electric mixer required
yields 12 standard muffins
 
Note: I have come back to re-vamp and simplify this recipe.  


INGREDIENTS:
(American / Metric measures)

. 2 cups (500ml) fresh or frozen Blueberries
    (thawed and drained if from frozen)
    [Note: reserve 1 cup (250ml) for the jam part]. 1-1/4 cup (275g) granulated sugar  
    [Note: reserve 1/8 cup (25g) for the jam part]
…

WET mix:
. 2 xLarge eggs
. 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
. 1 Tbsp. (15ml) pure vanilla extract
. 1 cup (250ml) buttermilk 
    [or 1 Tbsp. white vinegar and milk to equal 1 cup]

DRY mix:
. 2 cups (260g) sweet white Sorghum flour
. 1/2 cup (65g) Tapioca flour (or Arrowroot)
. 1 Tbsp. (15ml) GF baking powder
. 1 tsp. (5ml) sea salt
. 2 Tbsp. (30ml) grated fresh Ginger
. 1 orange or lemon, finely zested
. 1/2 cup (120g) candied ginger (finely chopped) 



PREPARATION:
. Position the rack in the center of the oven.
. Pre-heat the oven to 375F.
. Lightly oil the surface of the muffin pan and then place the paper liners into the cavities.
...JAM making:
1. In a small saucepan place half (1 cup) the amount of the berries with the sugar (1/8 cup) and bring to a boil.  LOWER the heat to medium and stir every so often until the berries and sugar have reduced, thickened and concentrated the berry flavour as the water evaporates.  Remove from the heat and let it cool while preparing the rest of the recipe.
2. In a large bowl, combine and whisk ALL of the mentioned DRY ingredients and make a well.  Then, whisk the eggs in the well, followed by the oil, vanilla and buttermilk.  With the aid of a solid spatula, combine just until traces of flour have disappeared.
3. Spoon in the batter only about halfway before sprinkling most of the blueberries evenly.  Then, spoon the remaining batter evenly and finish off by slightly swirling in the jam on the surfaces.  Last, add the remaining blueberries over tops.
. BAKE for 22 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and wait only 5 minutes before removing the muffins and placing them onto a cooling rack.



 
I do hope you get to bake up a batch of these scrumptious berry treats soon.
 
Alright then...anyone care to admit which fruit they feel possessive over?

Flavourful wishes,
Foodessa


Comments or suggestions ... write me :o)
Claudia at: foodessa [at] gmail [dot] com

Go HERE for more SWEET creations.



Please take note on how I bake and cook...
Here’s a 101 of sorts to make sure that there are no disappointments when trying my creations.  
Also...just so you know...feel free to increase the salt and sweet factor since I'm not high on either of them ;o)
. Use DRY cup measurements for...you guessed it...all DRY ingredients.
Anything DRY gets measured by spooning the overfilled ingredient (never shake the cup) and then level off with a flat edged tool.  Exception...Brown sugar should be packed in and leveled.
. Use LIQUID cup measurements for...all LIQUIDS that cannot be leveled like for example butter, yogurt...etc.  Measure the liquids at eye level to avoid overdoing what the recipe truly needs.
. OVENS are unfortunately not created equal.  Mine is so old that it has reached many degrees off it's norm.  It's really worth investing a few dollars to test yours with an appropriate oven thermometer.  You'd be surprised how many ovens I've heard about not being where they should have been.  Before you lose any more ingredients and much time preparing a new recipe...run to the store...you'll thank me later. 

Category Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,