coffee cake muffins
Remember what it was like when you had time to sit down with a cup of tea? To sit down at all? Lately, those days seem few and far between. I’ve started my work term at a bakery about 45 minutes outside of the city, and my Real Job duties hit a feverish pitch at this time of year. There are lists everywhere. Dance costumes litter the second floor of our house. Chores have been left undone. Things – all sorts of things – are piled everywhere. I did, however, manage to sort through my kit from baking school, and I thought you might enjoy seeing what I had to lug around on my back all year. Et voilà:
a. gum paste/fondant tools | b. circular pastry/cookie cutter set | c. bench scraper | d. bowl scraper | e. lames | f. digital thermometer | g. timer
The sound of those timers going off – which I often referred to as the call of the Boulanger Bird – will forever haunt me. FYI, we took the internal temperature of every bread we baked, making our instant read thermometers one of our most used tools of the year.
a. measuring cup | b. water spritzer | c. measuring spoons | d. ice cream scoop | e. circular pastry tips | f. closed star pastry tips | g. decorating comb | h. pastry brushes
All of our mise en place/scaling was done by weight, so our measuring cups and spoons felt positively primitive when required. I believe the decorating combs caused more injuries than anything else in our kits.
a. small pallet knives | b. large pallet knives | c. spatulas | d. candy thermometer | e. squeeze bottles | f. whisks
That green electrical tape marked most of my equipment – it was a waterproof way to keep track of it. I can’t tell you how many times I heard, “if it’s green, it’s Rachael’s!”
a. French knife | b. serrated knife | c. kitchen shears | d. zester | e. peeler | f. French rolling pin | g. ruler | h. rasp | i. paring knife | j. (not pictured) oven mitts. I forgot about the oven mitts.
Those knives could cut stuff just by threatening to – they be scary ass sharp. Thus leaving one in the sink area was grounds for immediate dismissal from the program.
Some personal additions: a. notebook | b. bar mops/butt towels | c. Tylenol | d. lens wipes | e. blistex | f. sticky notes | g. electrical tape | h. finger condoms | i. bandaids | j. pens/pencils/sharpies | k. socks knit by Rosie Beaucoup
Every day at school I wore socks knit by Rosie Beaucoup in my steel-toed clogs. It was nice having a piece of her with me every day – especially on the hard ones. Thanks, Mummy!
So, lets talk muffins. This is a re-take on a recipe I posted about two years ago, but I’ve added some Greek yogurt into the mix for you. This is because a) Rosie Beaucoup told me to, and b) Greek yogurt is very trendy right now. Peer pressure works, people. I learned that at college. These muffins are soft and cakey, and not overly sweet. When feeling especially decadent, I’ll slather a little butter on ’em when they are still warm. I’d recommend using walnuts in the topping (their ever-so-slight bitterness gives a nice balance to the muffin), but you can use pecans if you like. They are perfect for breakfast, or alongside an afternoon tea break.
Let’s kick back for a while, shall we? I think we deserve it…
. . .
Coffee Cake Muffins
adapted slightly from a recipe handed down to me by Rosie Beaucoup, original source unknown
Make 12 muffins.
For the filling/topping:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
For the muffins:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup plain, fat-free Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Mise en place – begin by getting organized. Measure out all of your ingredients, make sure your butter is at room temperature. The batter for these muffins is thick and sticky – it’s a get-your-hands-dirty recipe.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease or line a standard muffin tin (12 wells). If your muffin wells are very shallow, you may need to adjust the portioning of the batter and filling/topping, so the muffins don’t overflow.
In a small bowl, make the filling/topping by rubbing together the brown sugar, walnuts or pecans, and cinnamon. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer (or with a hand-held mixer), cream together the butter, sugar and eggs on medium speed (3-5 minutes). Add the Greek yogurt and vanilla and mix well to combine. Add the flour mixture, and mix to combine.
Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the batter into the bottom of each muffin well. The batter is thick – just press it down/spread it with your fingers a little if necessary. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the filling over top of the batter. Top with about 1.5 tablespoons of the remaining batter – spreading a little with fingers if necessary. Sprinkle the remaining filling/topping over top of the muffins.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and a cake tester inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.
Allow to cool slightly, and then remove from pan and allow to cool on wire racks.
Don’t forget to enter!
Deadline: May 31, 2013
Oooh la la, Movita! Soft ‘n melty muffins and steel-toed clogs?!? You and I might be BFFs!!!
I’m glad you’ve finally acknowledged our friendship. Maybe we should get matching chef’s jackets?
You lost me a tiny bit when you talked about sitting down but I was swiftly back on board with pictures of kitchen equipment. It’s like porn to me, I could look at it all day and dream of magnetic racks with a variety of knives and glass kitchen aid mixing bowls…mmmmmm….kitchen aid….
Plus you rock simply for carrying all that around and knowing what it all does. Superlicisiously fabulous. Yes I made that up, I have to make up words to describe your amazingosity.
Just wait until 2.0 finds out that we have to find a place for all that stuff in our kitchen…. eeps!
That is a lot of tools and gadgets – some I am familiar with and some that make me curious to explore the world of baking – thanks so much for sharing! Happy Day:)
More detail on the finger condoms, please.
*Somebody had to say it.*
Okay. When one cuts oneself in the kitchen, one must get patched up and then wear gloves or: finger condoms. This is, of course, related to food safety. After administering first aid several times (to classmates), I decided I’d better come prepared. Because without me, my klutzy classmates might have died. Safety first!
On a more disappointing note, not one of those classmates would allow me to administer chest compressions. Not one.
so glad you asked. I didn’t wanna be the one to. I’m wondering about a few of these other things too…butt towel?!
Amy, butt towels are bar mops that you tuck into your apron – usually at the back, by your butt – for wiping your hands on. I can’t live without ’em!
Don’t let her fool you people! She was the peer pressurer!! Talked me into doing a bunch of things 😉
Get. In. The. Fridge.
I’ve loved seeing your posts about baking school. It’s like when people write memoirs about going through culinary programs – the REAL story. 🙂
This recipe looks super yummy, PS. I am all about instituting afternoon tea. With muffins.
Oh wow, now those are lovely! gorgeous :D. I love coffee cake!
Very cool seeing all your tools! That is a lot to have to carry around every day.
I love coffee cake, so I can’t wait to try these muffins!
I imagine if it were me carrying all that stuff, I would end up reaching into my pack and cutting myself on something on a regular basis. Maybe I’m just a klutz. As for the muffins, Greek yogurt *is* trendy, but I have to admit that part of me squealed a little when you said it. I love when something with a little sour to it (yogurt, sour cream, cream cheese, etc.) is added to a batter or dough. Plus, anything with the word “yogurt” in it has to be healthy, right? Right?
Right. And I’ve never meet a Greek yogurt I didn’t like…
I am coveting my neighbor’s things. Even if you don’t live close enough to really be my neighbor. I’d like ALL the kitchen equipment, plus that beautiful teacup and saucer. Mostly that. The pink one, please.
Those teacups belonged to my great grandmother – I believe. My mummy passed them on to me – I have a lovely set – perfect for the next time the Queen comes to visit…
[…] . . . Remember what it was like when you had time to sit down with a cup of tea? To sit down at all? Lately, those days seem few and far between. I've started my work term at a bakery about 45 minu… […]
The first picture looks like the perfect English tea! Though, I don’t like tea and the one time I was in England I just drank beer. It was cool learning about all your various tools, I had no idea there were so many!
I have been having hunger pains for coffee cake recently. In fact, today, I looked at a container of Greek yogurt and thought …. this would be great with coffee cake. I like your idea of muffins much btter!
I have a question. How in the world is it coffee cake if there’s no coffee in it?
Dear Krysten,
Coffee cake GOES WITH COFFEE.
Sincerely,
movita beaucoup
PS Seriously. Get in the fridge.
*hits head on table* I have been on-and-off working on a coffee cake muffin for ages now.
mine taste good, but look like mutant alien mushrooms on a good day. on a bad day, they just look like mutant aliens.
you win. your muffins are perfect.
Yay! I finally win at something!
Wait… what’s my prize? IS IT A PONY?!?!?
unicorn. a rainbow unicorn is your prize.
Dude…a great recipe and knit socks. I’m in heaven.
Your backpack contents are at the same time awe inspiring, baker envy producing, and intimidating! 🙂 Beautiful tools of the trade which you so obviously have learned to use well! Individual servings of coffee cake in muffin form sounds great!
What an incredible amount of things you had to lug around at baking school! Is there a special physical fitness program to prepare oneself to deal with this?
My mother used to “work in the tomatoes” a few summers, preparing tomatoes for canning at a large processor. If she cut herself, she had to wear a finger condom. One day at the end of her shift, she realized that one of these was missing. We always wondered … did it end up in someone’s can of tomatoes? I mean really, just imagine opening a can and discovering one of those … eeuuwww!
I love coffee cake and love it more in a form of a muffin! Pinning it as a reminder to make this. Lovely post.
All of those baking supplies all laid out gives me visions of first day of school binders, pencils, and glue sticks, and I feel the pangs of need that I often feel in the Container Store. Goddamn it, that’s awesome.
Wow, that is a crap ton of stuff. And here I thought I carried around a ton of stuff at school. You win, my friend. I could sure use a break, too. I’ll finally get one on vacation starting tomorrow. Thank goodness, because my bones ache. I’m totally in love with those knitted socks. Maybe even a little jealous, too. I tried to teach my mom how to knit, but she quickly got frustrated after 5 minutes. Sadly, I’ll never have knit socks from the heart… Unless, of course, I knit them for myself. That may be verging on pathetic, though. These muffins look delish!
Comments on this post are now closed as it was published in May 2013. Thanks for stopping by!