Today's muffins were inspired by using up stuff in my fridge. I had a bunch of cream that needed to be used in something. What does that have to do with muffins? Well, with the help of a bit of buttermilk and a bunch of time, I turned the cream into creme fraiche. Of course, once I had that on hand, I had to find some recipes to use it. Eat Your Books to the rescue! When I searched for creme fraiche and muffins, one of the first recipes to come up was Chocolate Chunk Muffins from The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. As much as I love chocolate, I don't pull that book off the shelf often enough.
Baking muffins also gave me a chance to try out something new that I bought recently. I've eyed the tulip-shaped cupcake papers in the KAF catalog on more than one occasion, but couldn't decide if I wanted to get them. Then recently, my local grocery store started carrying these from PaperChef. As I've mentioned before, I have a habit of saving things instead of using them, and I'm trying to do better. =)
The verdict? The muffins are quite rich, definitely not something for every day. But they are quite tasty, and Brianna & Gillian certainly approved. The best thing, though, may have been the tulip papers. I really like the fact that they're taller, which makes them perfect for batters that might spread. It drives me crazy when muffin or cupcake tops run into each other and stick to the top of the pan. The papers neatly prevent that issue.
If you'd like to give these muffins a try, you can find the recipe in The Essence of Chocolate, or here online.
Wow - looks beautiful! Super fancy with those paper liners - love those! A perfect fit for the rich, chocolatey muffins.
ReplyDeleteThese tulip liners are so cool, I've been wanting to get some for the longest time! Your endorsement just makes me wish I'd already done it :) These muffins definitely sound like my kind of breakfast - I just love sneaking in chocolate.
ReplyDeleteI love that last photo, Di. These look so good. I have so many things that I squirrel away waiting to use for 'special' times and I need to do the same and just use them for everyday because after all each day is special.
ReplyDeleteThese look so good. And they hace chocolate in them. I am not going to save my tulip papers any more. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. And, like Elaine said, everyday is special.
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