I love it when people ask me to bake for them. Honestly, I do. Oftentimes people are hesitant because they think that it's a nuisance for me, but it really is what I'm passionate about! If you give me a reason to bake, I'll do it gladly.
This time around, a good friend from church invited me over to her house after the Sunday service to meet her grandmother. For this small occasion, I had a recipe in mind that I wanted to bring. This same friend, Kristin, had asked me to help her out earlier in the week to make popovers for her sister-in-law's baby shower. Honestly, I had never made popovers before, and I wasn't even too sure what they were. But the fact that she thought of me and asked for my help made me eager to try. I looked up a recipe online and although we followed the instructions, the popovers did not quite turn out the way we had hoped. They definitely did not "pop", and instead, souffléd and looked great for five seconds before sinking and deflating. Let's just say I won't be using that recipe again and really need to try to master the art of the popover. Maybe that will be a blog post sometime in the future...
I knew I wanted to bring something light to lunch at Kristin's, so I decided a muffin would be a good fit. If you read through the "About Me" section on my blog and get to the part where I say that my absolute flavors to work with are lemon and almond, I wasn't lying. I found a lemon muffin recipe that I love to use, and decided to tweak it and make it my own. Looking through the kitchen cabinets, I found almond paste, almond extract, and slivered almonds. I have a one-track mind obviously. So, I added all of the almond ingredients to the original recipe which I think fit perfectly with the lemon. While pouring the finished batter into the muffin tins, I thought of yet something else to add to the recipe. My friend, Sarah, from my first blog post (Banana Cream Cookie Pie), had made some delicious apricot jam last week; its balanced tart and sweet flavor paired wonderfully with the lemon almond combination. Try it out!
This time around, a good friend from church invited me over to her house after the Sunday service to meet her grandmother. For this small occasion, I had a recipe in mind that I wanted to bring. This same friend, Kristin, had asked me to help her out earlier in the week to make popovers for her sister-in-law's baby shower. Honestly, I had never made popovers before, and I wasn't even too sure what they were. But the fact that she thought of me and asked for my help made me eager to try. I looked up a recipe online and although we followed the instructions, the popovers did not quite turn out the way we had hoped. They definitely did not "pop", and instead, souffléd and looked great for five seconds before sinking and deflating. Let's just say I won't be using that recipe again and really need to try to master the art of the popover. Maybe that will be a blog post sometime in the future...
I knew I wanted to bring something light to lunch at Kristin's, so I decided a muffin would be a good fit. If you read through the "About Me" section on my blog and get to the part where I say that my absolute flavors to work with are lemon and almond, I wasn't lying. I found a lemon muffin recipe that I love to use, and decided to tweak it and make it my own. Looking through the kitchen cabinets, I found almond paste, almond extract, and slivered almonds. I have a one-track mind obviously. So, I added all of the almond ingredients to the original recipe which I think fit perfectly with the lemon. While pouring the finished batter into the muffin tins, I thought of yet something else to add to the recipe. My friend, Sarah, from my first blog post (Banana Cream Cookie Pie), had made some delicious apricot jam last week; its balanced tart and sweet flavor paired wonderfully with the lemon almond combination. Try it out!
Recipe
1/2 cup butter, unsalted
1/4 cup almond paste
2/3 cup sugar, granulated
2 eggs
1 t almond extract
1 1/3 cups flour, all-purpose or cake
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
zest of one lemon
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup milk
3 T lemon juice
1/2 cup apricot jam or preserves
1/2 cup slivered almond for garnishing
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin.
2. Cream butter and almond paste until smooth. Add sugar and cream until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, along with almond extract.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add alternating with the milk and lemon juice, beginning and ending with flour.
4. Fill the muffin tins halfway with batter, add about a teaspoon of apricot jam, top with a little more batter so that the muffin tins are 3/4 of the way full. Garnish with the slivered almonds.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
1/2 cup butter, unsalted
1/4 cup almond paste
2/3 cup sugar, granulated
2 eggs
1 t almond extract
1 1/3 cups flour, all-purpose or cake
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
zest of one lemon
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup milk
3 T lemon juice
1/2 cup apricot jam or preserves
1/2 cup slivered almond for garnishing
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin.
2. Cream butter and almond paste until smooth. Add sugar and cream until pale and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, along with almond extract.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add alternating with the milk and lemon juice, beginning and ending with flour.
4. Fill the muffin tins halfway with batter, add about a teaspoon of apricot jam, top with a little more batter so that the muffin tins are 3/4 of the way full. Garnish with the slivered almonds.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.