I've been making to make these peach blueberry and thyme cupcakes for months...at least since last summer, but never having peaches and blueberries on hand at the same time, I felt like it was never going to happen. Yesterday though, while walking along Bloor St. trying to find a place to eat, Sean and I came across a fruit market where I picked up a basket of Ontario peaches. They're small...what I would consider to be the perfect size for snacking...and sweet. A basket full of ripe Ontario peaches is one of the things I remember from my Saturday mornings grocery shopping with my parents when I was a lot younger. It must have been at least 15 years ago....ouch.Anyway, here is the recipe and here are my results:
I have to admit that I tried one about 10 minutes out of the oven. It's like a guilty pleasure...eating a cupcake when it's still warm and has a slightly crunchy top. Mmm...crunchy. Anyway, these were pretty darn tasty. The roasted peach mush was a nice touch but I'm not sure how I feel about the addition of thyme. Honestly, if I make these again (which I probably will), I'd omit the thyme. I don't feel like they really add anything exceptionally special to the cupcake. I don't think I'm going to frost these ones. I a) don't really feel like it and b) I don't have any cream cheese that the recipe calls for. I do have Betty Crocker's Fluffy White on hand but I feel like it would just be too sweet for this fruity cupcake.
Also having some cherries on hand that were about a day away from the compost heap, I decided to make cherry muffins. I couldn't really find a specific recipe online that I took what I liked from a bunch of different recipes and came up with these:
Dom's Cherry Pecan Muffins:
see instructions - all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons - flax seed, ground
1/2 cup - rolled oats, not quick-cook variety
1/2 cup - granulated sugar
3 teaspoons - baking powder
1/2 teaspoon - cinnamon
pinch - salt
1 - egg, beaten lightly
1/4 cup - vegetable oil
1 cup - milk
1-2 cups - cherries, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup - pecans, chopped
So in an attempt to add fiber to these muffins, I started with a two-cup measuring thingy. I put the ground flax seed and then filled it to the 1.5 cup mark with the AP flour. Pour the flour and flax seed into a bowl and add the oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix everything together. (I like using a whisk to mix dry ingredients. I don't know why, I just do.)
In a separate bowl, combine egg, oil and milk and mix well. Making a well in the bottom of the dry ingredients, slowly add the wet ingredients while stirring. You have to use a whisk for this. Mix until well combined. Add cherries and pecans and mix using a spoon, wooden or otherwise.
Split between a standard muffin tin lined with muffin papers and stick it in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 350F.
Again, I had to have one of these straight out of the oven (or as close to as possible so I wouldn't burn the roof of my mouth) and they're good. Not great, just good. I think next time I'd add more sugar or possibly substitute with maple syrup for extra dimension. I would probably also add a tiny bit more milk or oil because of the addition of flax, which tends to make everything extra thick. Or better yet, when you're making these muffins, make sure you have all the ingredients prepped and measured. Do not pit and chop the cherries once your batter has combined because the flax will soak up any and all liquid and make your batter slightly thicker than it should be. You can just mix everything back together and bake it as I did but mine were a tinge drier than I would have liked. Again, you can just add a bit more milk or oil to the mix. Or bake right away.
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