thursday baking - date and orange muffins

This week's post comes courtesy of Jessica...

I quite like the trick of using whole oranges in baking. Some recipes call for the oranges to be boiled first, but here, two oranges are thrown straight into the food processor and blended up with the other ingredients.

These muffins have quite a different texture from what I usually associate with muffins. They were very moist and cakey, almost like friands. I think the inclusion of the orange skin made the muffins slightly bitter, but in a good way, so they really needed the dates as little bursts of sweetness. My husband, on the other hand, thought they could have done with more sugar, but then he has a very sweet tooth! This recipe also makes A LOT of muffins (or maybe I just made mine quite small). The recipe says it makes 24, but I got 28, and as I only have one muffin tin, this meant the whole baking process took a while as I waited for the muffins to cool before removing them and putting the next batch in the oven. It's lucky that they do freeze well!

Date & Orange Muffins - Annabelle White

2 oranges
2 large eggs
200g butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 Cup pitted dates, roughly chopped
400g natural yoghurt
a little lemon juice
3/4 Cup sugar
3 Cups standard flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease two 12-hole muffin pans.

Blend the whole oranges in the food processor--skin, seeds, everything! Add the eggs and melted butter. Whirl the mixture around, but do not over-process. Place it in a large bowl with the dates.

Mix the yoghurt, lemon juice and sugar together in a bowl. Sift the dry ingredients into another bowl. Add the yoghurt mixture and the dry ingredients to the orange mixture, alternating small amounts of each. Just blend with the lightest movement--do not over-mix. Place 2 tablespoons of batter in each hole of the prepared muffin pans.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the muffins comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes and then cool on a wire rack. The muffins keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container. These muffins also freeze well.

a few of our favourite things

Miriam: When I lived in the UK a few years back I was introduced to Green & Blacks chocolate, which may in part be responsible for the 'Heathrow injection' I experienced (i.e. weight gain!). This chocolate is now stocked in most supermarkets in N.Z. which is wonderful, if eaten in moderation. My all time favourite flavour is their Mint Fondant, which isn't stocked here... perhaps that's a blessing!

Becs: Something we have been enjoying lately is aioli. So easy to make and so delicious. We ate it last night with salt and pepper squid, and tonight with cheesey polenta fries. I like to blanch the garlic first so it has a smoother, sweeter taste (similar to roasting but quicker and easier.) Just boil the separated cloves with skin on for 5 minutes or until soft. To make a generous cupful of aioli put 2 egg yolks in the food processor with 1/2 tsp dijon mustard, the juice of half a lemon, 1/2 tsp salt, freshly ground pepper and 3-4 cloves of the peeled, blanched garlic. Blitz it up, then slowly drizzle in 1 c of vegetable oil while the engine is running, add it slowly until it forms a lovely thick mayo. Nice with most things!

Libby: I've been enjoying the last of the seasons New Zealand navel oranges, they're now being overtaken in the supermarket by their Australian counterpart. Not nearly as delicious. Their thick skins mean the easiest way to eat them is sliced into quarters and eaten from the skin, I've also been peeling and slicing lots into a crunchy spring salad of blanched asparagus & broccoli, baby spinach and toasted almonds. YUM!