Something Sweet: August 2007 Archives

There was a moment when I was making this that my heart sank, "Oh, no. I can't deal with a baking failure today. I'll blow it all out of proportion." Because I am not on an even keel today, and I know it. I thought baking something might make me feel more relaxed, but I forgot that things can go wrong.

But the emotional funhouse was all worth it when I opened the oven door and this browned beauty smiled back at me. I had set out to make Mark Bittman's blueberry cobbler, substituting 4 cups of peaches for the blueberries and using cornmeal for half the flour. What I ended up with was like a peach upside down cornmeal cake that was light on the cake and super-heavy on the fruit. The cornmeal topping covered the fruit and had a crust crunchy with cornmeal and sugar.

Four cups peeled, diced peaches (I used UFOs) tossed with 1/4 cup sugar in the baking dish. Mix 1/4 cup each flour and cornmeal in a bowl, add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt. Cut in 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold, unsalted butter. Then mix in 1/2 cup sugar because you forgot to add it with the flour. Use a spoon to mix in 1 egg and a dash of vanilla. (This is the point at which I panicked. It did not look like biscuit dough, but rather a spotty, lumpy yellow mush.) Drop over the fruit in tablespoonfuls and don't spread it. The baking will do that, 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

What happens to your zucchini muffins when you halve a recipe that calls for 3 eggs, but instead of 1 1/2 you use 2? Nothing too terrible, if you're lucky. I thought that extra half-egg might do something wonky to my muffins, but they turned out just fine, moist and fluffy. "They" always warn against messing with baking recipes, and I do believe that you do so at your own peril. But it can turn out just fine. I've also become a very cavalier flour measurer since finding out how varied the actual weight of flour can be when you use a volume (like a cup) measure. I figure, if there's variation built into the system, I can be less careful, not more. Does that make sense?

These were made from this recipe over at 101 Cookbooks. She does some very funky things with hers, and I tried out one of them, the poppy seeds, with great success. The gentle crunch was at first a mystery, until I remembered I added them. I omitted the ginger, lemon peel and curry powder, so ended up with a zucchini-walnut-poppy seed muffin. (Oh, and clearly I used a 12-cup muffin tin instead of 2 loaf pans and halved the recipe.) I just love 101 Cookbooks because she makes it clear how much you can fiddle with a recipe. Now, the egg thing was a risk, but things like spices and add-ons like nuts or chocolate chips (which I have also used in this recipe) are fair game.