These were the very last thing that I baked in 2011. And the very first thing I photographed in 2012. That, more than anything else, probably accounts for the slightly uninspiring pictures. Also, brown food? Not my favourite.
By the time New Year's Eve rolled round, I'd spent ten days or so out of the kitchen. A couple of days with my boyfriend's parents followed by a few more days at my parents' required nothing more from me than the occasional offer to do the washing up. Or, more likely, load the dishwasher.
Even when I returned to my flat three days after Christmas, I spent most of the time in bed feeling sorry for myself and ceding control of the kitchen to my boyfriend who, it must be said, coped admirably.
After a few days of bed rest though, I was starting to feel more human and itching to get back in front of the oven. A quick glance at the fridge though revealed little more than a half used carton of sour cream and the end of a packet of butter. Not to be deterred, I had a quick google and happily alighted upon a recipe for sour cream chocolate chip muffins from Taste of Home. Even more happily, when I opened the kitchen cupboard, a packet of forgotten dried cranberries fell out. Obviously a sign.
Most of my life, I thought I didn't really like cranberries. Mainly, I imagine, because of the sickly sweet cranberry sauce which sometimes used to grace my grandparent's dinner table at Christmas. It wasn't until I started drinking cocktails and, in particular, tasted my first Cosmopolitan that I realised that cranberries could be wonderfully tart and pleasingly sharp. These muffins are a perfect vessel for them. Muffins are so often a disappointment with their mealy texture and lack of flavour. These, however, are a different beast entirely. Moist from the sour cream, rich in flavour from the vanilla and brown sugar and sweet from the addition of white chocolate chips.
As I photographed them on New Year's Day, awake early enough to catch the light but late enough to make up for the previous night's dancing, I nibbled away at one that was going spare. Then I sat down in the quiet of the morning, poured myself a glass of orange juice and really enjoyed another one. It was a pretty good way to start the new year.
~
Cranberry Sour Cream Muffins Yield: 12 muffins Adapted from Taste of Home
Ingredients
- 170g plain flour
- 150g light brown sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 240ml sour cream
- 75g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 50g dried cranberries
- 50g white chocolate chips (optional)
Cooking Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Fill a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
- In another bowl, beat together the egg, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined - if you over stir, your muffins will be flat (a bit like mine...)
- Quickly stir in the dried cranberries and chocolate chips.
- Fill you muffin cases 3/4 full and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.