- Hey guys, so it has finally stopped raining
here in Southern California.
The sun is shining and spring has sprung.
One of the things I love to do this time of year
is to put all of these beautiful lemons to good use.
So my little lemon trees are bursting
with the most beautiful lemons,
and one of the things that I love to do with them
is turn them into some Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.
They're easy to put together,
so moist and delicious inside,
and with one small modification
you can actually turn them into some elegant tea cakes.
Let me show you how to make them.
So we're going to begin by taking out a large bowl.
We're going to crack in three eggs,
and three quarters cup of white sugar.
And we're also going to add three quarters cup
of melted butter.
Now, last week we talked about the difference
between using butter and oil.
In this recipe I prefer the butter.
So again, it really just depends on what you are making.
With our chocolate cake we had so much richness and flavor
coming from all of that chocolate,
that the oil was a better way to go.
But in this instance, where we only have
the delicate flavor of the lemon,
we really want the additional flavor of the butter.
So in this instance we're going to use the melted butter.
Cooking you'll find is a lot of trial and error.
Sometimes one thing works better in one recipe
and another thing works better in another.
Really, the best way to know is just to keep cooking.
Then we are going to add a half a cup of water,
and we're going to whisk this mixture up
just until it's nice and combined and smooth.
Then we're gonna add three tablespoons of lemon zest.
If you have the choice between two zesters,
I like the ones that are a little bit wider for this,
because then you'll just get a bigger zest
and you'll get a lot more flavor from it.
And then we're also gonna add
one teaspoon of pure lemon extract.
I like the pure lemon extract because it's made
from lemon oil with a little bit of sugar,
and will give you a really nice, pure lemon flavor.
Now, I have tried to use lemon juice in these muffins
but I have found that the lemon juice actually will interact
with the baking soda and baking powder.
It must be the acidity, I'm not sure, but they end up
being really flat, they don't really rise up,
and also the added sugar that's in that juice
sometimes will make the tops of the muffins burn.
So if you have the choice, I'd say
go with the lemon extract.
Then we're going to add a tablespoon of poppy seeds.
Now, if you've never baked with poppy seeds before,
they're a really nice little seed
that give kind of a nutty flavor to them
and they look so pretty in the muffins too
after they're baked.
They're really easy to find in your spice isle.
Often times in the grocery store the spice isle
will be organized alphabetically,
which makes it so easy.
So you'll see paprika, pepper,
and then you'll find the poppy seeds.
So we're just gonna whisk that up
until it's nice and smooth,
and then you can set that mixture aside
Then in a smaller bowl we're going to add
a cup and a half of flour,
a tablespoon of baking powder,
a teaspoon of baking soda,
and one teaspoon of salt.
Whisk that all up,
and then we're going to add our dry ingredients
to our wet ingredients.
You wanna add the flour in thirds,
and then mix it together gently with a wooden spoon.
Once your batter is all mixed up,
I like to let it rest for about five minutes
just to give the baking soda
and the baking powder time to activate.
You'll see the batter will kind of puff up a little bit.
So while our batter is resting
we can prepare our muffin tins.
So because these muffins are so delicate and so moist,
I do like to use the muffin papers in this instance.
And if you can find it, go for the papers
that are non-stick, they're even better.
And then we're gonna take our ice cream scoop
and portion out one scoop per muffin well.
We're gonna pop these in a 400 degree oven
for about ten minutes.
You'll see they'll start to sort of set up
and turn golden brown, that's when you can take them out.
Now while our muffins are cooling,
we're gonna get on with making our glaze.
So we're gonna start with a quarter cup of powdered sugar.
Now, here in the states we call it powdered sugar,
but I think a lot of you guys also know it
as icing sugar or confectioners sugar.
All the same thing.
To that we're gonna add one tablespoon of heavy cream,
and you just wanna whisk it up with a fork.
And at first it's gonna feel really
kind of sticky and pasty,
but as you continue to mix it, it will really smooth out
and become a nice icing.
And then we're gonna take one teaspoon of the glaze,
spoon it over the top of the muffin.
And then I also like to garnish
with a little bit more poppy seeds
and some freshly grated lemon zest.
And you'll see you'll have one delicate-looking muffin
that is so beautiful, so springlike, and so delicious.
Then I like to put the muffins on a cake stand.
Anytime you want a muffin to look more fancy
just put it on a cake stand.
It elevates it in minutes.
And then I like to garnish with a fresh sprig of lemon
from my garden.
Now, if you wanted to turn these into lemon teacakes,
all you would do is take a jumbo muffin tin.
Give it a good spray with some baking spray.
Put two scoops of muffin batter in the well,
bake at 350 for about 13 minutes,
and then when they're done and cooled
go ahead and just slide a knife
around the muffin tin to make sure
that they're nice and loose
cause we haven't used the papers in this instance.
And then when they're done you can put your rack
on top of the muffin tin, flip it over,
and you will see you will have a nice little
lemon poppy seed dome.
Then you can go ahead and frost and garnish
the same exact way, and you have a darling little
lemon poppy seed cake, which is perfect for
a bridal shower, a brunch,
or even Mother's Day that's coming up.
All right, you guys. I hope that spring is reaching
all of you wherever you may be.
and if it hasn't and you're stuck still in the snow,
my heart goes out to you, I feel for you.
I'm gonna leave you with some of my favorite
spring recipes, to hopefully get you to taste
the flavors of spring even if it hasn't exactly
knocked at your door yet.
OK, you guys. I'll see you next week, bye.
(upbeat jazz music)