Brunch for 30 and the Muffin Story

A few days ago, I posted a recipe for some transcendental scrambled eggs, eggs that were made and consumed here in France… in the morning.

For my American and British readers, this may not seem strange, but here in France, where the only savory thing you’re likely to find on the breakfast table is beurre salé–salted butter–eggs in the morning are a rarity… unless, of course, you live next door to a house of 26 rowdy Americans, in which case you may find yourself invited to brunch on a Sunday morning, complete with muffins, pancakes, eggs benedict and florentine, fruit salad and mimosas (something that shocked and appalled the Country Boy, who still shakes his head and mutters about adding orange juice to perfectly good Champagne).

For my part, I spent the entire evening Saturday night and all of Sunday morning preparing; for those of you who have been privvy to one of my Thanksgivings, it rivaled Paris 2009… much of which was due to the muffin story.

Saturday night, the rest of the house piled into the two vans and headed three kilometers down the road to the campground in Tuchan, where there was an African music concert, while the Sous-Chef and I stayed at home with a mission: to make four batches of muffins, two blueberry, two chocolate, for the next morning. I blame the Sous-Chef entirely for what happened next.

“Hmm…” I said, picking up an apple with a rather large bruise. “This apple looks unhappy.” I put it aside, with the intention of making applesauce.

“Throw it in a muffin,” she said.

I shrugged, but then I thought: what’s more American than apples and cinnamon? And apple-cinnamon muffins did sound quite delicious… I still had batter from the blueberry muffins left to cook, but the others wouldn’t be home for a few hours.

“Grab some more eggs,” I said to the Sous-Chef, who headed down the stairs to the pantry for what must have been the thirtieth time that day.

I quickly riffed an apple-cinnamon muffin recipe and set the Sous-Chef to work making a crumble for the top.

“What about zucchini muffins?” she said, half joking.

“No, I need those zucchini,” I answered, as my eye drifted to the sad-looking carrots sitting in a pile. They were too soft to be eaten raw… but with a cream-cheese filling, they might make good muffins. By the time the Sous-Chef looked up, I had grated a pile of carrots, and we set our sights on a fourth batter.

“What about lemon?” she said.

“No,” I said. “Absolutely not!” I was quite giddy at this point after licking God-knows-how-many muffin bowls, and the Sous-Chef was happily muching away at the evidence of two failed chocolate muffins and a failed blueberry one.

“You always need lemon…” she taunted.

By the time the kids returned, we had no fewer than sixty muffins waiting for our brunch guests, as well as a blueberry crumble made with leftover blueberries and leftover crumb topping. Alongside two batches of “the best pancakes ever,” eggs benedict and florentine, fruit salad, mimosas and scrambled eggs, they made quite an impressive spread… and they were all demolished by the time we sat down to lunch on Monday afternoon.

Sometimes, the Sous-Chef just makes me crazier… but sometimes it’s all for the best.

Apple-Cinnamon Muffins

3 apples, grated
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Heavy pinch of salt
Dash of Nutmeg
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup yogurt

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 Tbsp. butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the grated apples into a colander, and put the colander over a bowl while you prepare the rest of the batter.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the sugar and mix well to combine. In another bowl, combine the oil, egg and yogurt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix to combine.

In another bowl, use a wooden spoon or your fingers to blend the brown sugar, flour and butter until it has a crumbly texture. Set aside.

Fold the apples into the muffin batter and portion into greased muffin cups. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean with a few crumbs attached. Yields about 18 muffins.

Lemon Muffins
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Heavy pinch of salt
1 cup sugar + 2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup yogurt
2 lemons, zested and juiced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Add the cup of sugar and mix well to combine. In another bowl, combine the oil, egg and yogurt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix to combine.

Portion into greased muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.

While the muffins are baking, prepare the syrup: heat the lemon juice and 2 Tbsp. sugar in a saucepan until the sugar is melted. Allow to cool. When the muffins come out of the oven, pour the cooled syrup over the hot muffins. Allow to soak two minutes, then remove the muffins from the tins and allow to finish cooling on a rack. Yields about 18 muffins.

Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

3 carrots, grated
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Heavy pinch of salt
Dash of Nutmeg
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup yogurt

4 oz. cream cheese
3 tbsp. sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the sugar and mix well to combine. In another bowl, combine the oil, egg and yogurt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix to combine. Fold the carrots into the muffin batter.

In another bowl, combine the cream cheese and sugar.

Portion the muffin batter into greased muffin cups; fill about halfway. Add a small spoonful of the cream cheese mixture, then add cover with more batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean with a few crumbs attached. Yields about 18 muffins.