Zucchini Berry Muffins

There’s. So. Much. Zucchini.

When I plant my garden in the spring, I am driven by greed. I planted three “hills” of zucchini seeds, at least 4 seeds in each hill. Of all of those, 2 seeds germinated. I was resigned to having a small amount of zucchini. I was wrong. (I also planted yellow crooked neck squash, which is slightly less prolific.)

So, I’m doing the typical late-summer Midwestern thing of just getting that zucchini into edible things. I had some berries leftover, including some raspberries that I used in a raspberry-added version of this Lemon Layer Cake and some blueberries. I decided to make a muffin-y version of this Blueberry Lemon Zucchini Bread.

I made a few changes to the batter and doubled the streusel topping recipe in this blueberry coffee cake to sprinkle on top. This crumb topping is kind of an all-purpose streusel, sweet, but neutral, and it works with all kinds of muffins and coffee cakes. I made 18 muffins out of the batter, which was originally designed for 2 8-inch loaves, largely because that’s how many cups there are in my collected muffin pans.

My muffins ended up large and puffy with big, domed, crunchy tops. I felt like I was putting a lot of the crumb topping on them, but there was still some leftover, which I froze for a later use. You could make more than 18 muffins, say 22-24. They would be smaller, but still good, and would probably use up all of the streusel recipe.

Like any zucchini quick bread recipe, the shredded vegetable fills more of a moistening and texture-enhancing role than a flavor one. It also provides some pretty green confetti effects, and is a nice neutral background for the fresh berries. I used blueberries and raspberries, but chopped strawberries, blackberries, or whatever else you want to feature in your muffins would be great. You could probably also use other fruits, perhaps even dried fruits.

I hadn’t made muffins of any kind for a while, so these were a deliciously pleasant treat. The berries are the stars here, but the muffin stage is well set by the buttery, zucchini-laced batter. The crunchy crumb topping isn’t necessary, I suppose, but it adds a delightful flourish.

 

Of course, there’s still so much zucchini. Next, I intend to spiralize some and either make a salad like this one, or toss the zoodles with some version of roasted tomatoes, like this one. Okay, honestly, there’s enough zucchini to do both.

Zucchini Berry Muffins with Streusel Topping

Streusel:

2/3 cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon fine salt

4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

Muffins:

3 ½ cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon fine salt

Zest of 1 medium lemon

3 large eggs

1 ½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup (1 stick) melted butter

2/3 cup buttermilk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

Juice of 1 medium lemon

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 ½ cups fresh berries

1. To make the streusel topping, whisk together the 2/3 cup flour, 2/3 cup sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cut in the cold butter pieces with a pastry blender or with your fingers until the mixture is crumbly and can be squeezed together into clumps. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. (This can be made up to a few days ahead.)

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease muffin pans or line them with cupcake liners. You will need 18-24 cups.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine well. Add the lemon zest and whisk in or work in with your fingers to evenly distribute.

4. In a medium-size bowl, combine the eggs and sugar. Whisk together well. Continue whisking until the mixture is pale and smooth. Whisk in the melted butter. Whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla extract, almond extract, and lemon juice.

5. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Fold together just until most of the dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the zucchini. Gently fold in the berries. Try to avoid crushing the delicate ones too much.

6. Portion the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pans. Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over each batter portion. If you are making 18 muffins, you may have leftover streusel. (It can be frozen for a later use.)

7. Bake the muffins at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with just moist crumbs attached and no liquid batter.

8. Cool the muffins in the pan for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack until cool enough to eat. Leftovers can be kept covered at room temperature for a few days or frozen in an airtight container or zip-top freezer bag for a month or so.

Makes 18-24 muffins.

Other recipes like this one:Blueberry Lemon Zucchini Bread, Blueberry Banana Quick Bread, Strawberry Basil Muffins, Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

One year ago: Zucchini Cheddar Risotto

Simple White Cake with Berries

This always seems to happen in August. There’s so much great fresh stuff to eat which should mean so much great fresh stuff to write about, but then I go on vacation and go out to dinner for my birthday and then we go out for my husband’s birthday.  Before I know it, there are cobwebs all over The Messy Apron and one might easily get the impression that I’ve forgotten how to cook.

 

Well, that’s not the case at all, of course. In fact, I’ve been making something rather celebratory and delicious: a birthday cake of sorts, although a rather informal one that wouldn’t require an occasion to be enjoyed.

This is a simple white cake to which I added some delicious berries before baking. This recipe, which comes from The Complete Book of Baking from Pillsbury, is similar to any white cake recipe I’ve found in other baking books. The cake is light and fluffy and utterly, if simply, delicious. You could use your favorite recipe if you have one, or even a cake mix. While the original instructions are for a round layer cake, I made a 13 x 9-inch cake, which may be a little less fancy, but, let’s face it, it’s less work, too.

I just sprinkled sliced strawberries, raspberries and blueberries onto the top of the unbaked cake batter and baked the cake, then drizzled a lemon glaze over the top after it cooled. The berries add a lot of wonderful tart-sweet flavor to the cake, which can get away without frosting, but is quite lovely with a drizzle of lemon glaze. I used fresh strawberries and raspberries, but only had frozen blueberries, which worked just fine. Since the frozen berries are okay, here, this cake could be enjoyed long after berry season is over.

 

I made this cake as a sort of belated birthday cake for my husband and myself. (Our birthdays are just a few days apart, so two cakes are calorically impractical.) It’s delicious enough for a celebration, and we were very happy with it as such. It’s decidedly unfussy, however, and I would suggest you not wait for a celebration to bake one up. Better yet, celebrate the berries themselves with cake! It won’t be summer much longer!

White Cake with Berries and Lemon Glaze

Adapted from Pillsbury:The Complete Book of Baking

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon almond extract

5 egg whites

1 ½ cups berries, such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc.

½ cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray or grease it with butter. Sprinkle with flour and distribute the flour all over the bottom and sides of the pan. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer (or another bowl if using a hand mixer), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using the paddle attachment stir a few seconds to combine the ingredients. Add the butter and mix on medium speed to cream the butter.

3. Add the milk. Beat on low speed until moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, almond extract and egg whites. Beat at medium speed 2 more minutes.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Distribute the berries over the top of the batter. Gently press the berries into the batter.

5. Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a moist crumbs attached. Cool completely.

6. To make the glaze: place the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Whisk in the lemon juice until it is completely smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the cake. Let stand until dry. Cut the cake into squares and serve.

Makes about 12 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Blueberry Muffin Cake with Crumb Topping, Simple Vanilla Yogurt Cake, Berry and Rhubarb Galette

Simple Berry and Rhubarb Galette

 

It’s hard to argue against a simple dessert of a nice bowl of perfectly juicy, sweet berries at the peak of their season. Really, those berries don’t need to be fiddled around with at all. But people like me just have to fiddle. And if another level of dessert deliciousness can be achieved with just a bit more effort (and an available pie crust), hey, why not?

This is a very easy, almost rustic berry and rhubarb free-form pie that I’ve thrown together a couple of times when I’ve found myself with plenty of luscious berries and, of course, plenty of rhubarb. I’ve got rhubarb growing in proliferation in my back yard from early spring through most of the summer, so it’s delightfully sour self finds its way into desserts without really trying. If you don’t have rhubarb available, however, don’t let that stop you from making this simple berry dessert. Just leave it out and, probably, adjust the sugar content as needed.

 

This pie comes from Seasonal Fruit Desserts by Deborah Madison, who is happy to allow good ingredients, like berries in season, to be the star of a dish. I just tossed together some berries (I had blueberries, strawberries and raspberries on hand when I took these photos) with rhubarb and brown sugar. A splash of lemon juice keeps flavors and colors bright, and I added what I thought was the right amount of cornstarch to thicken the juices a bit. I used more sugar and cornstarch than you might need if you don’t have rhubarb in the mix, which is sour and especially juicy.

This is just such a delicious dessert, largely because it’s all about the fruit. I even made it with a mediocre store-bought pastry and it was still fabulous, although I preferred it with this easy crust. (The crusts in this post and this post would also be good, of course.) You’ll really need to bake it on a large baking sheet, since there’s a good chance the beautiful berry juices are going to leak out of some breach in the crust’s integrity. For me, that’s an acceptable hazard.

An acceptable hazard made all better with juicy, delicious berries and rhubarb. And ice cream. Don’t forget to serve this with a scoop of ice cream. 

Berry and Rhubarb Galette

Adapted from Seasonal Fruit Desserts by Deborah Madison

You could leave out the rhubarb if you don’t have any on hand, in which case you may want to use less sugar. Taste your berries to see how much sweetening they need.

Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and sliced strawberries are all great here.

Pastry for a single crust pie, such as ½ recipe Easy Cream Cheese Pastry

3-4 cups mixed berries and rhubarb, your choice

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon (or so) cream or half and half

coarse sugar

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or foil or parchment. Set aside.

2. In a medium-size bowl, combine the berries and rhubarb with the brown sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Gently toss together to mix well.

3. On a floured surface, roll out prepared crust dough into a circle about 10-11 inches. Carefully transfer to the lined baking sheet.

4. Spread the berry mixture over the crust leaving about a 2-inch border. Fold the dough border up over the berries, gently draping and trying to avoid gaps out of which the berries can spill (they probably will anyway). Brush the cream or half and half over the crust. Sprinkle the coarse sugar over the crust.

5. Bake at 425 F until the fruit is bubbly slightly gooey and the crust is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream. (Of course eating the completely cooled leftovers is perfectly good as well.)

Makes 6-8 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Apricot and Raspberry Tart with Crumble Topping (I’m soooooo hungry for this one right now!), Open-Face Blueberry Pie, Rhubarb-Ginger Galette