Recipe #4: Currant Muffins

So this week I realized the rest of my currants were on the edge of going funky, so they needed to be baked into something immediately. So I looked up a couple recipes and merged a couple to create these muffins.

They turned out very nice, but because of the sourness of the currants, I think that adding a little more sugar and some lemon juice would also have tied things together even better. I like the brown sugar and cinnamon though, which wasn't in the other recipes, but really compliments everything. Mmm!



Ingredients

* 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups fresh currants
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup milk
* cinnamon and sugar for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line muffin tins with paper or foil liners.

2. Mix together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Wash currants, toss with a small amount of flour (about 1 teaspoon) and set aside.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time; beat. Mix in vanilla extract.

4. Add flour mixture to butter and sugar, then mix until just combined. Add milk and mix again until just combined. Fold in currants, making sure not to overmix – overmixing will result in tough muffins.

5. Divide batter evenly among muffin tins. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar if desired. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Remove from tins, place on wire racks and cool completely. Makes 18 muffins.

Recipe #3: Currant Butter Tarts

Back at baking! Finally had some time and supplies, so I tried a variation on some classic butter tarts. I make these tarts every Christmas and occasional times when Kal and Steph ask me. However, Mike and I went to the Farmer's Market and picked up some currants and other goodies (see below). We had an amazing butter tart that had crushed cranberries baked on top, and I thought I'd try something similar with the currants. They came out beautifully and combine nice sweet and tart flavours.

Ingredients

* 3 1/2 tablespoons soft butter (or margarine)
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup (I didn't have any this time, but I do usually)
* 1 egg
* a few drops of lemon juice (added for this batch)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* pinch salt
* 12 tart shells (I know, I buy them. Bad me)
* 6 currant stalks, crushed (I did this with a spoon)

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cream butter, brown sugar, egg, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla together in bowl.

3. Spoon into butter tart shells.

4. Bake for 8 minutes. While the tarts are baking, crush the currants.

5. After you bake the tarts for the 8 minutes, take them out and spoon the crushed currants on top. Then turn the oven down to 375 degrees and bake for another 12 minutes. Voila! Pretty and tasty tarts.


In other food news, here's a picture of Mike's perfectly grilled bison steak! They were so delicious, and bison is so much better for you than beef.