Friday, January 25, 2008

Cooking marathon

Fresh Market advertised blueberries 98-cents/pint, so I penciled blueberry in my list of mini-muffins (along with banana and bran).

But now that I'm ready to bake, I see the blueberries are the size of small grapes! Firm, but big. It's a crisis of mini proportions!

Do you think I can slice them in half without ruining the batter?

19 comments:

martha said...

No, I think that will make a liquidy blue goo in the center of each muffin. Why not refrain from adding the berries until the batter is in the cups, then just hand place a couple in each muffin. I think this will turn out in your favor. In general, larger fruit is more gourmet, and your audience will assume you have a secret and expensive source.

Anonymous said...

I would leave them whole (then you really get a nice taste of blueberry when you bite into one)-- and I am off to my Fresh Market to see if they have them here at that price. Thanks for the heads up!

Anonymous said...

martha is right.

deb meyers

Anonymous said...

Do not cut the berries. It will make a mess of your batter. Also take some of the dry mixture and toss the berried with it...then mix the berries into the batter. The berries will not sink as much...Good luck. I am sure it will all turn out wonderful. Roxie

mama k said...

Not unless you want purple batter! However if you do want purple muffins you can crush them before adding them to the mix. (Might need to add less liquid in that case.)

Anonymous said...

NO! Do not cut the berries. Your batter will all be blue!

Ruth, PA

Edi said...

Great price on the blueberries...

I hope you will post pictures of a completed box lunch.

I hope to have an occasion sometime where I can serve boxed lunches - I think they would be very fun to put together.

Joanna said...

This morning at breakfast in the office, there were blueberries the size of grapes, and I had a few... and was disappointed how un-blueberry-like they were. Pretty tasteless, with not sweetness or tartness. I hope yours are better! I like the idea of placing just two or three in the muffin cups after pouring the batter- that idea sounds the most plausible to work.

April said...

Why don't you freeze them and use them in your next project instead? Banana and bran will be lovely enough...

My 98 cents worth! :)

New Mom said...

Definitely coat with flour or muffin mix first and don't cut-- batter will be blue!

Anonymous said...

Could you make a coffee cake instead and just cut it into small squares?

Anonymous said...

Or even just make regular-size muffins? Although I would echo those who said to place them on top after you fill the muffin tins.

Anonymous said...

Also, for the future (please don't want you feel any criticism about this project!), the taste of wild Maine blueberries is far superior to the big grocery b.b.

Most people like to look at the big berries, I guess, which is why they are so popular. Most groceries carry the wild Maines frozen, which is how I get them. Even though they are plentiful (even free if you know where to look) here in the summer, I rarely freeze them because of space.

deb m

Anonymous said...

we call the wild blueberries huckleberries where I come from, and they are the best for muffins - little tiny ones. But I love the big ones just to eat plain. However, if one happened to fall out of the muffin (and you really shouldn't cut them) they STAIN. Badly. I would just let my kids eat them and stick with the banana and bran muffins.

rebekah

The Stepford Stepmom said...

If I was you, I'd make blueberry cookies or blueberry bread, or promote the mini muffins to full sized muffins... But I wouldn't serve them for the wedding party. Blueberry muffins are very messy, and if little hands and little fingers get into them, they could very easily find their way onto nice, clean dresses and pants.

goodstewards.wordpress.com said...

I haven't halved blueberries, but I have halved cranberries, and my muffins came out nicely :) Perhaps the blueberries would be fine halved. Please do share the end result with us!
~Jaime

amy said...

I just made a scrumptious batch of blueberry muffins last week.
I am concerned, they would be quite messy and they stain.

Meredith said...

The blueberry muffins are for the breakfast at a salon, where everyone came wearing t-shirts and jeans.

The non-messy part of the equation is the box lunches for the church late this afternoon. People will be in their formal dress waiting for photos.

I'm not sure that there are children involved in either.

Anonymous said...

I had to have a wry laugh at this! We grow blueberries to sell at the farmers market here in Norway. At the height of the season we sell for 150 kroner a kilo (approx 30 dollars for 2lb)and sell out each weekend. At the moment the grocery store is selling them ON SPECIAL at 235 kr/kg (48dollars/2lbs)
I still have about 20kg of wild blueberries (which the children and I pick in our forest)in my freezer...we can't afford to eat our own farm-grown berries! What ever you do with the beries, enjoy them! Gill.