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January 13, 2008

Strawberry Muffins






Ever since I saw Sharmi's post on Strawberry Muffins, I wanted to make my own. I had to wait for the lovely berries to be in season before I could try them out. So, I tried variations. I found great success with almond raisin muffins and the black currant raisin muffins both of which were variations of Sharmi's Strawberry Muffins.



Now, strawberries are in season. And we have been buying them regularly. I made these with the first batch that we brought home this year. I found a recipe for raspberry muffins in one of the books that I acquired last month. This was a low fat recipe. I was quite thrilled. It also wasn't very sweet. It fit perfectly in with our plans and I substituted half of the flour with atta and was very happy with the result. I suppose these muffins would go very well with some butter and jam, but I didn't have time to experiment. We sampled only two of these and the rest went as a housewarming gift to a friend. I also used half the batter to bake a cake to take to the party.



This is a very simple recipe.





1 cup Strawberries, chopped
1 1/4 cup Flour
1 1/4 cup Atta or Whole Wheat Flour
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 cup Sugar
1 egg
4 tbsp Oil
1 cup Buttermilk


Preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F). Prepare the muffin pan by greasing or placing muffin cases.


Sift the dry ingredients together. Mix the buttermilk and oil and add the egg. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until it all comes together. Add the strawberries and spoon the mixture into the muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.


One of my nieces turns 18 today and she is probably the only one I actually watched growing up. Kind of right in front of me. When she was about 3 or 4 years old, she saw me putting on some lipstick and asked me to put some on for her too. I told her she was too young. She, almost never seeing that there was an age difference between the two of us, asked me how I got to do it when she didn't. I told her, "When you turn 18, you can too." These muffins go out to her as she turns into a young woman. I also sent her some top of the line L'Oreal stuff and she is excited like no other kid I've seen. Happy Birthday Kalyani. My friend, Muly, also celebrates her birthday today and will be extremely happy to have a couple of these. Happy Birthday Amulya!




This recipe is supposed to make 12 muffins, but I almost always get around 18 with most recipes. I think it has to do with the size of my muffin cups. So, I made 9 muffins and converted the remaining batter into a cake. I topped the cake with some left over fruits and nuts from my New Year Cake and when it was baked, I melted about 2 teaspoons of jam and poured it over the cake as a glaze. The cake continues to be low fat as the batter is the same. But it is loaded with dry fruits and nuts. And the jam glaze gave it additional flavour. It wasn't exactly a pretty, decorated cake. Everyone knows how brilliant I am when it comes to decorating cakes. So, we won't go down that path now. This cake goes to the wonderful woman who also celebrates her birthday today. The one who tells us what to eat, what not to eat and also tells us why. The one who never fails to impress upon us the importance of eating right. Starting from our first big meal of the day: breakfast. As I got to know her a few months back, it turned out we had loads in common. Eventually, I figured I knew her husband's family for almost as long as I've been alive and the two families go back 3 generations. We had a two hour chat session that freaked us out. We got on the phone soon after to continue our journey of discovery. A month before that day, I didn't know this girl. And suddenly, we were chatting like long lost friends. We have still not met each other, but I would count her as one of my very good friends. It is thanks to her that I started this blog. I am so glad to have found this friend. It is through her that I have met all of you. Nandita: Here's wishing you a very happy birthday!

20 comments:

Archana Doshi said...

Simple and neat recipe. My older son 3 yrs old has been asking me to make cup cakes. Now that i have strawberry in the fridge, i could make some ofthese. Always prefer cakes for my ids made with whole wheat flour.

Thanks for sharing.
Archana

http://www.archanaskitchen.com/

sunita said...

Raaga, all the b'day gals would no doubt be very pleased with those muffins :-)

Miri said...

The muffins look very pretty with the hint of pink peeking out....must have been much appreciated!

Anonymous said...

Raaga,

I have been following your blog for quite some time and have tried out a few recipes and turned out excellent. Kala Chana Chaat and Spinach-Corn Rice are among the top favorites.

I have a request. Since we cannot have eggs in our diet but would love to bake muffins and cake, I would appreciate if you could post some bake recipes without eggs in it. Well, there are many eggless recipes found when you google for it but none has come out good than those ones I have tried from the recipes posted on other people's blog. I will really appreciate if it would be possible for you to do this.

Unknown said...

Thanks my dear gal, you made my day :) and I feel the same about you...many hugs!

Revathi said...

I have never tried baking, but this yummy treat is making me to venture out. I am going to try this with my daughter next friday which is a holiday for her.

...you're always an inspiration

musical said...

This is such a sweet post! Happy B'day to all the b'day girls :). I like the versatility of the dough and the fact that its not too sweet.

Cynthia said...

Pretty in pink and red for the birthday girls :)

Red Chillies said...

Lovely recipe Raaga. I love anything with berries in it and loved you reasy recipe.

amna said...

ah yes, strawberries in season again :) good one!

Raaga said...

@Archana: Yeah, this is very healthy as far as cakes go :-)

@Sunita: I sure hope they are. :)

@Miri: I loved the pink too. And your mystery fruit is Cape Gooseberry :-)

@Piya: I'll see what eggless recipes I can come up with.

@Nandita: Anytime!!

@Revathi: For your daughter, you might want to try something a little sweeter... make them jamfilled maybe?

@Cynthia: The colours are lovely. Thanks :)

@RC: Try it and let me know.

@Nags: Same goes to you too.

Revathi said...

No, I think Strawberry is fine, that is her favorite fruit. Plus, I need to eat it too ;)

Kribha said...

I love the look of the muffins bursting with strawberries. Just great.

Sia said...

sankranthi and new year wishes to u girl. sorry couldn't wish u earlier. there r so many posts and events to catch up and i am hardly finding any time to do so. so today all i have been doing is visiting few of my fav blogs;) till my boss catch me doing this... he he he...

Pooja said...

this surely looks yummy ! my baking is limited , though your muffin is inspring me to do more :))

Padma said...

Raaga, I think Muffins are on air these days, I also baked some today, will post sometime this week.

This looks yummy and colorful, most suitable for Valentine's day which is nearing...

Sig said...

Hey, thats sooo sweet of you, dedicating the post to Nandita... :)

KayKat said...

Mmmm ... these sound delicious. I really like the idea of using whole wheat flour - I'll bet that gives a more earthy texture.

DK said...

Multi processing at its best :) Good Ones raaga. I esp loved the pic of the cake! it luks absolute yummy :)

Mansi said...

That's a brilliant looking muffin Raaga! why don't you send it to my Game Night Blog event?? it'd be a great addition:)