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DE GUSTIBUS; THE BATTLE OVER BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Source: New York Times by Marian Burros
Published: June 13, 1987
LEAD: The subject of blueberry muffins has come up periodically ever since this column carried a recipe two years ago for the blueberry muffins served at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston. The hotel had adapted the muffin recipe used by Gilchrist's, once one of Boston's best-known department stores.
The subject of blueberry muffins has come up periodically ever since this column carried a recipe two years ago for the blueberry muffins served at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston. The hotel had adapted the muffin recipe used by Gilchrist's, once one of Boston's best-known department stores.
Several readers wrote to say that the recipe produced the best muffins they had ever eaten. But others contended that they had recipes that were even better.
One reader suggested that the best blueberry muffins in Boston were not from the Ritz-Carlton or from Gilchrist's either, but from the Jordan Marsh department store. She sent along the recipe, with a description of how she picks wild blueberries: standing in a pond in the August heat and plucking berries from bushes along the bank.
Recently, the subject of the Jordan Marsh muffins came up again. I retrieved the recipe and tested it. Whether the muffins are better than those from the Ritz-Carlton depends on how fine a texture you like. The Jordan Marsh muffins are more like cake. They have a lot more sugar and butter and fewer eggs than the Ritz-Carlton muffins. The recipe also calls for mashing a half cup of berries and adding them to the batter. This produces a very moist muffin, one that will stay fresh longer.
JORDAN MARSH'S BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar, plus 3 teaspoons
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 cups blueberries, washed, drained and picked over
3 teaspoons sugar
1. Cream the butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk.
4. Crush 1/2 cup blueberries with a fork, and mix into the batter. Fold in the remaining whole berries.
5. Grease 12 large muffin cups, and fill with batter. Sprinkle the 3 teaspoons sugar over the tops of the muffins, and bake at 375 degrees 30 minutes.
6. Cool 30 minutes before removing. Store, uncovered, or the muffins will be too moist the second day, if they last that long.
Yield: 12 muffins.
Hi Mary Ann,
I'm sorry the recipe didn't work out for you. I believe the amount of salt is correct but here is a version of the recipe listing the salt as optional.
Happy Baking!
Betsy
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