Cornmeal

Cornmeal Blueberry Muffin Souffle

Well, remember those blueberry cornmeal muffins from my earlier post last week? The last time I made those, I made a LOT. More than our guests could decently eat in the time they were with us, and more than we could handle all on our lonesome. My freezer would not allow any more foodstuffs to be stored, most of the nooks and crannies being filled in with quart-sized bags of blueberries and black raspberries that my husband so nicely picked for our later enjoyment. And they were beginning to get a little dry–even a few seconds in the microwave did not perk them up very much. But my inner frugalista could not bear the thought of introducing them to the local compost pile. SO, what could I do with them?

One of the things we really enjoy is a good bread pudding, and that is the first thing that came to mind, but muffins are quite different from the yeast breads we normally use for this purpose. But, since no other ideas came to mind, I thought it was definitely worth the risk. With the help of some milk, a few eggs, a little sugar and spice, the muffins were transformed from slightly dry bits of breadstuffs to a beautifully light, souffle-like custardy dessert which, when topped with a simple blueberry syrup, made a great ending to an otherwise simple meal. I highly recommend making extra muffins just for this purpose! And I’m thinking some other muffins might work just as well (those bran apple muffins come to mind…).

Cornmeal Blueberry Muffin Souffle

6 standard-sized cornmeal blueberry muffins

4 eggs

1/3 c. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

Pinch of salt

2 1/2 c. milk

1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat over to 325 F. Break muffins into large chunks in a buttered 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish. Whisk eggs thoroughly, add sugar, spices and salt, and whisk again to incorporate. Stir in milk and vanilla, mix till completely combined. Pour over muffins, and let the mixture sit for a few minutes to give the muffins time to absorb some of the egg mixture. Push down any floating pieces to make sure all sides have been exposed to the custard. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a clean knife inserted near the middle comes out mostly clean. Let cool a bit before serving, or chill until ready to serve. (We liked it best served slightly warm.) Serve with Simple Blueberry Sauce.

Simple Blueberry Sauce

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

1/3 cup sugar

grated rind of one lime

juice from one lime

dash salt

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Place berries, sugar, lime rind, lime juice and salt in a small saucepan, and heat until the mixture boils and berries begin to burst. Lightly crush some of the berries, boil for one minute, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. May be served warm or cold, and any leftover should be refrigerated. Great with ice cream, pound cake, angel food cake, pancakes, etc.

Normally, I’ve used lemon with any blueberry sauces I’ve made, but all I had at hand at the time was a lime, and we loved it! Gives a nice twist to the dessert.

Blue, Blue, Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

In an earlier post this summer, I raved about The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon (that name always makes me smile) and the two versions of cornbread salad we had tried out, both receiving enthusiastic reviews. Well, since then, it’s been hard for me to NOT bake and cook without cornmeal. Cornmeal breads, muffins, pancakes, etc. And my latest favorite muffin is her recipe for Blue, Blue Blueberry Muffins. All the blue is the result of using blue cornmeal and serving the muffins with a Blueberry-Cream Cheese-Honey Butter. Okay, have I your attention now? Are you hooked? Shall I start reeling you in???

These are unbelievably tender and moist, and the main spice in the recipe, nutmeg, sets off the flavor of the blueberries and the cornmeal beautifully. (I am somewhat biased—most dishes are considered incomplete without at least a little nutmeg thrown in). And when you top the warm muffins with the meltingly delicious blueberry butter—moment of silence, please.

Now, if you are not able to find blue cornmeal, yellow is fine, and you end up with another lovely version, just less blue! Blue cornmeal is not easily accessible up here where I live in northern MI, so I’ve made these frequently with yellow cornmeal, as you can see here—

So if you have stockpiled a good amount of end-of-the-summer blueberries AND you are a lover of corn AND need some muffins to warm you up on the crisp mornings arriving with the turn of the season, this recipe is for you. One note: When I made these muffins, I did notice that it only made 12 of what I would call standard sized muffins—if I had tried to make 18 muffins out of this, they would have definitely been on the small side.

Blue, Blue Blueberry Corn Muffins

From The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon

Vegetable Oil cooking spray or muffin papers

1 2/3 c. unbleached white flour, divided

1/3 c. stone-ground blue cornmeal

½ t. salt

1 T. baking powder

½ t. baking soda

1/3 cup butter, at room temperature

½ c. sugar

1 egg

½ t. pure vanilla extract

¼ t. freshly grated nutmeg

1 cup low-fat milk, plain or vanilla

Soy milk, or a combination (see Note)

1 cup blueberries

½ c. chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray 18 standard-size or 12 large muffin-tin

cups with oil, or line the cups with papers.

2. Stir together the flour, blue cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream together the butter and sugar in a small bowl, then beat in the egg, vanilla and nutmeg.

4. Stir the creamed mixture into the dry mixture along with the milk, until not quite blended. Then add the blueberries and the walnuts, if using, with just a couple of strokes, so the mixture is just barely combined. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.

5. Bake until the edges of the muffins are golden brown and the caps are rounded and also golden, 22 to 27 minutes. Let cool for just a few minutes, then remove from the cups. Serve warm with blueberry-cream cheese-honey butter if you like.