Plum Almond Big-Top Muffins = a sweet tasting disaster

Aah. My first cooking ‘disaster’. Now, I have to say that these muffins still tasted great. My only issue was that they were too sweet for my tastes. But everyone else in the house adored them!

This recipe was taken from Sass & Veracity who had beautiful big top muffins that I had to try! What was fascinating for me were her pictures where the batter was mounded. It always says fill 2/3 of the way and I always fill more because I’m not that picky about those measurements and I just bake it a bit longer if necessary. So a recipe where I could fill it over the top excited me a lot.

I made the batter and it was nice and thick. I had added my plums and my almonds in the middle of combining the batter so that I didn’t overmix. All the rules were followed. And then came the problem.

Of course I didn’t realize it was a problem until much later but the issue was where to put the batter. I have these really great silicone muffin cups that don’t need to be buttered or oiled. The muffins always come right out. I never had much luck with muffin tins, no matter how much I tried I always broke the muffins on the way out (I really need to practice that some more, I have to get over these sticking fears!). So the silicone cups were where I mounded my batter.

Interesting Fact: for muffins to have a big top, there must be area for them to spread horizontally. Only when I took the muffins out of the oven did I realize this. Since my wonderful silicone cups had no horizontal surface as opposed to a regular muffin tin, instead of spreading out, the muffins spread down. According to my cousin, these tasty treats looked more like old fashioned scones than muffins.

Oops

Another interesting little part was that they were so moist that I had to cool them much longer than normal to get them out of the cups safely (normal? bedause of the moisture from the plums?). So I don’t know if I will do this recipe again. I want to try it in a regular muffin tin and with some adjustments, like less butter, part brown sugar, part whole wheat flour, and maybe something else. Actually, that post may come sooner rather than later since my sister would like me to make some morning treats for her coworkers. 😀

Almond Big Top Muffins

(From Sass & Veracity)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

10 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1 cup milk at room temp

1 cup sour cream at room temp

2 eggs room temp

1 egg yolk room temp

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 plums, chopped

3/4 cup blanched almond slivers

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. In a separate bowl combine sugar, butter, eggs, sour cream, and milk.
3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Halfway through mixing add in plums, almond slivers, and almond extract.
4. Line or spray a 12-cup muffin tin and fill will batter mounding it on top.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean and tops are golden brown.
6. Cool in pan placed on baking rack for about 20 minutes before removing muffins (I may have missed this step!)
7. Enjoy!

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