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May 15, 2020This is about...
William Greenberg's
Sour Cream BLUEBERRY MUFFINS---YUM!
William Greenberg's
Sour Cream BLUEBERRY MUFFINS---YUM!
YEARS AGO, I SANG NATIONAL TV JINGLES, Diet Coke, GE, McDonalds, Pepsi, AT&T, Pillsbury and on and on.
The recording sessions were in New York City and I did it for over a decade. Usually I would have a couple of them a week, and most times 2 a day. Sometimes I would have to literally sprint to the next gig, but
A LOT OF TIMES I HAD A FEW HOURS TO KILL BETWEEN SESSIONS. Since I lived in NJ, I had no place to crash--those Starbucks kind of places that are all over now didn't exist back then--now I'm really dating myself.
So to fill the time I would shop, mostly for kitchen stuff and baked goods.
ONE OF MY VERY FAVES WAS WILLIAM GREENBERG DESSERTS. He had a few locations back then--the one closest to the studios was on Broadway between 57th and 58th. I loved going there. He had so many delicious treats---the iconic black and white cookies, seven layer cake as well as those linzer tarts, cupcakes, little vanilla shortbread cookies with a little jewel of raspberry jam in the center and a show stopping "candy" cake that was decorated with thin planks of chocolate all lined up around the top of the cake like dominoes. I CAN STILL REMEMBER THE AROMAS as you opened the door to the shop-- YUM!
So back to the present. What's a girl to bake with limited ingredient choices? I'm still staying home-- HOW ARE YOU GUYS DOING?--HOPEFULLY YOU'RE HEALTHY AND RELATIVELY HAPPY.
Recently I stumbled across "The William Greenberg Desserts Cookbook!" I didn't even stop to take a breath--just immediately went to Amazon and clicked on "Place Your Order." Opening up the book brought back all those jingle days memories. ONE OF MY FAVORITES ARE THE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS. They are moist, tender and chock full of berries. The tender crumb comes from sour cream, unlike most other muffin recipes that use milk.
Since I don't venture out much, I'm still looking for recipes that fit what I have at home--My chocolate cupcake recipe for the shop uses a lot of sour cream. Since nary a cupcake has been made in over 8 weeks, I have a stash of sour cream, one of the key ingredients, that needs to be used up sooner than later. So just by chance, I had everything I needed to whip up these easy-to-make, yummy muffins.
STAY SAFE and BE WELL!
LESSONS Learned:
1. Make sure to dry the berries well. To dry them-- lay a few sheets of paper towels on a rimmed baking sheet. Rinse the berries and place on the lined pan. Roll the berries back and forth on the pan to remove the moisture.
2. Don't overmix the batter! Stir just until all the flour is incorporated.
3. To stop the berries from all sinking to the bottom, make sure to sprinkle them with a little flour before gently stirring them into the batter.
4. If you have it, a small ice cream scoop will make easy work out of filling the muffin cups.
5. If you have turbinado sugar on hand, sprinkle the tops of the muffins before baking for a crunchy top.
William Greenberg's Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins
(slightly adapted from "The William Greenberg Dessert Cookbook")
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, I like Hecker's unbleached, plus 2 teaspoons to coat the berries
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups full fat sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried
2-3 Tablespoons raw, turbinado or cane sugar for sprinkling, optional
Make the muffins:
Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Place a strainer over a large bowl, sift the flour baking powder and salt through it.
In a medium size bowl, whisk together the sour cream, the sugar, egg, melted butter and vanilla until smooth. Pour over the flour, and gently stir or fold the mixture just until all of the flour is incorporated.
Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of flour over the berries, tossing to coat them with the flour. Gently stir or fold in the blueberries so they are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups about 3/4 full. Try to have the same amount in each cup. If you like, sprinkle the tops with the sugar.
Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. They can be kept at room temperature lightly covered for 2 days or frozen in an airtight container for 2 months.
Makes 12 muffins. YUM!
ONE OF MY VERY FAVES WAS WILLIAM GREENBERG DESSERTS. He had a few locations back then--the one closest to the studios was on Broadway between 57th and 58th. I loved going there. He had so many delicious treats---the iconic black and white cookies, seven layer cake as well as those linzer tarts, cupcakes, little vanilla shortbread cookies with a little jewel of raspberry jam in the center and a show stopping "candy" cake that was decorated with thin planks of chocolate all lined up around the top of the cake like dominoes. I CAN STILL REMEMBER THE AROMAS as you opened the door to the shop-- YUM!
So back to the present. What's a girl to bake with limited ingredient choices? I'm still staying home-- HOW ARE YOU GUYS DOING?--HOPEFULLY YOU'RE HEALTHY AND RELATIVELY HAPPY.
Recently I stumbled across "The William Greenberg Desserts Cookbook!" I didn't even stop to take a breath--just immediately went to Amazon and clicked on "Place Your Order." Opening up the book brought back all those jingle days memories. ONE OF MY FAVORITES ARE THE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS. They are moist, tender and chock full of berries. The tender crumb comes from sour cream, unlike most other muffin recipes that use milk.
Since I don't venture out much, I'm still looking for recipes that fit what I have at home--My chocolate cupcake recipe for the shop uses a lot of sour cream. Since nary a cupcake has been made in over 8 weeks, I have a stash of sour cream, one of the key ingredients, that needs to be used up sooner than later. So just by chance, I had everything I needed to whip up these easy-to-make, yummy muffins.
LESSONS Learned:
1. Make sure to dry the berries well. To dry them-- lay a few sheets of paper towels on a rimmed baking sheet. Rinse the berries and place on the lined pan. Roll the berries back and forth on the pan to remove the moisture.
2. Don't overmix the batter! Stir just until all the flour is incorporated.
3. To stop the berries from all sinking to the bottom, make sure to sprinkle them with a little flour before gently stirring them into the batter.
4. If you have it, a small ice cream scoop will make easy work out of filling the muffin cups.
5. If you have turbinado sugar on hand, sprinkle the tops of the muffins before baking for a crunchy top.
(slightly adapted from "The William Greenberg Dessert Cookbook")
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, I like Hecker's unbleached, plus 2 teaspoons to coat the berries
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups full fat sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried
2-3 Tablespoons raw, turbinado or cane sugar for sprinkling, optional
Make the muffins:
Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Place a strainer over a large bowl, sift the flour baking powder and salt through it.
In a medium size bowl, whisk together the sour cream, the sugar, egg, melted butter and vanilla until smooth. Pour over the flour, and gently stir or fold the mixture just until all of the flour is incorporated.
Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of flour over the berries, tossing to coat them with the flour. Gently stir or fold in the blueberries so they are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups about 3/4 full. Try to have the same amount in each cup. If you like, sprinkle the tops with the sugar.
Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. They can be kept at room temperature lightly covered for 2 days or frozen in an airtight container for 2 months.
Makes 12 muffins. YUM!