Molly Wizenburg – The Answer is Always Pork

ginger lemon muffins

Jordan’s parents came over for breakfast on Saturday. I was thinking of making coffee cake, but then I stumbled upon these muffins on Molly Wizenburg’s blog Orangette. The picture was so cute I just had to make them.

Marion Cunningham’s Fresh Ginger Muffins, adapted from The Breakfast Book and Orangette
Yield: 12 muffins
One (~3-ounce) piece of unpeeled ginger root, washed well
¾ cup plus 3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk (I also decided that there is just no point in buying buttermilk when I can make it myself and have about cup of delicious homemade butter as the by-product. Want to learn how to make butter from scratch? Check out our post butter! homemade butter!)
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. baking soda

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a muffin tin.

Cut the unpeeled ginger root into large chunks. Process the ginger in a food processor until it is in tiny pieces; alternatively, mince by hand. Put the ginger and ¼ cup sugar in a small skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has melted and the mixture is hot. This takes only a couple of minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Add to the ginger mixture.

Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the butter for a second or two, then add the remaining ½ cup sugar, and beat until smooth. Add the eggs, and beat well. Add the buttermilk, and beat until blended. (At this point my batter looked a little curdled – ew – but after I added the dry ingredients, it looked like regular batter and tasted just fine).

Add the flour, salt, and baking soda, and beat just until smooth. Add the ginger-lemon mixture, and beat to mix well. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Serve warm with fresh, salted butter

Conclusions: Absolutely delicious (and totally adorable)! I ate two right out of the oven (and wanted another). The ginger is surprisingly subtle, considering how much ginger goes into these muffins, and the lemon is a lovely companion. I will certainly be making these again! And, you have to try the homemade butter! It is soooo good.

-Emily

baking therapy: chocolate chip banana bread with cinnamon crumble topping

This week’s baking therapy was inspired by a bunch of over-ripe bananas languishing in the kitchen at work. I poked around the internet searching for a recipe and found several at Orangette, Molly Wizenburg’s delightful food blog. I read over her recipes and, keeping her tips and tricks in mind, decided to take this bread into my own hands.

As I creamed butter with sugar and then added chocolate chips, Jordan asked, “Isn’t the point of banana bread that it’s healthier because you use bananas instead of lots of butter and sugar?” … I always thought the point of banana bread was to make use of those gross, black, slug-like bananas that inevitably end up on your kitchen counter instead of throwing them away. Here is my recipe for a decadent banana bread, I make no apologies.

For the bread
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
3 medium bananas, mashed
3 T milk
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips

For the topping:
1 T butter, room temperature
2 T sugar
2 T brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 cup rolled oats

Preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with butter, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mash bananas. Mix them with the milk.

In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Add the flour mixture and banana mixture to the butter mixture in two parts, alternating, until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into greased loaf pan and smooth top.

Combine topping ingredients by cutting in the butter. Sprinkle the bread evenly with topping.

Bake for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Conclusions: This is a serious bread … the sucker weighs in at about two pounds! And I wasn’t kidding when I said it was decadent. The banana flavor is present, but not overpowering and the chocolate chips bring it into dessert level. Jordan agreed with me that the cinnamon crumble topping was the best part. Most definitely will make again. Yum!

-Emily