RodneyCk

Sorry folks for the bump in the road, but we are back on track now. Here is the next recipe to test. I came across an orange rind bread recipe that called for boiling the orange rinds in water for 15 minutes. 15 minutes I can handle. Two hours is another story. I also increased sugar, butter and liquid a bit. For the liquid I kept the richness of the milk by using a smaller amount of unsweetened condensed milk, which actually has a bit more fat content than milk, which is a plus, except for those watching their weight. I also added 1/2 cup of the squeezed orange juice, just to see. I swore I would not do this, but since I am still getting the milk in the form of condensed, I might as well pick up a tiny bit more flavor, and maybe color. Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins, take 9 Muffins: 2 medium-size oranges 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 cup cake flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1/4 cup unsweetened evaporated condensed milk 2 teaspoons orange extract 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs Glaze: 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons of butter Preheat oven to 350F and grease muffin tins with unsaturated oil. Thinly peel one orange with a vegetable peeler or sharp knife. Remove any white pith from the rind. Combine the orange rind pieces and 1 cup of water in a 2 quart saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rind is tender. Pass rind and water through a sieve and discard the water. Allow the rind to cool to room temperature and place in a food processor. Cut the orange in half and extract the juice from the two halves through a strainer/sieve over a liquid measuring cup. If the orange juice does not equal 1/2 cup, add some milk, water or more orange juice to compensate; then add to food processor. In a large bowl, add the sugar and zest of second orange. With your fingers or a pastry cutter, work the zest into the sugar, allowing extraction and distribution of the oils into the sugar. You can do this step a day or two in advance to allow for better penetration of the oils. Cut the second orange in half and extract the juice from the two halves through a strainer/sieve over a liquid measuring cup. If you do not have 1/2 cup of orange juice, add more water or orange juice to compensate; set aside for glaze. Add the condensed milk, eggs, and extracts into the food processor and pulse on/off for 40 seconds; set aside. Next, sift flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the large bowl with the sugar mixture. Add butter cubes to the flour mixture and with a pastry cutter or your finger tips, mash ingredients together until a fine cornmeal like texture occurs. Form a well in the center of the flour and add the liquid mixture. With no more than 14 or 15 strokes, fold the ingredients together. Fill the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full using a large spoon to carefully place the batter into each tin. Do not pour the batter. Bake muffins for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs on it, but with no visible wet batter. Meanwhile: Make the glaze by combining the reserved orange juice and sugar in a small pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Bring to boil, and then on low heat simmer for 5 minutes with a lid covering the pot to prevent sugar crystals. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Set aside to cool. Remove the muffins from the oven and immediately (in less than two minutes from the oven) take them out of the tins and place on a wire rack. When cool enough to handle, using a toothpick or skewer, poke several holes through the muffin tops into each of the muffins. Spoon glaze over muffin tops to saturate, allowing the liquid to sink down into the holes and any excess to drip back into the bowl, continue the same for the next muffin. Repeat this glazing twice for each muffin. Place on wire rack to cool completely.

Were not available or sold out?

You can also purchase the chai spice powders, Williams-sonoma offer a wonderful, intense product, and mix them into the liquid portion of the recipe. I used it to create a chai spice Italian meringue buttercream for a chocolate cake. It was the best!!!

Sarah, I am not shocked in the least. In fact, I think you missed the parts or blurred over the statements I made about being a purists myself. I think you also missed the part where I would create both versions, to appease egullet.orgs mission statement and those that do not follow your book or methods. I might remind you, it is baking after all. Whether YOU choose to eat it or not, is your preference. Whether YOU choose to publish all-natural recipes in your books is your preference. My intent is not market or marketing driven, as I have experienced first hand on your website. It is just to produce a good tasting orange muffin recipe. And the most important part, which you seem to have forgotten, the fun in the learning process along the way. I have learned so much in terms of recipe creation, ingredients, science of baking, and even an ethical debate on natural vs. non-natural. I could not have asked for more. My audience is for whoever wants to learn with me, and enjoy, a good orange muffin, nothing more.

Sorry, did not mean to down play leavening, bad choice in wording. Good luck with your recipes!!!

Great post Sarah and you are weighing in at just the right moment, what with having almost perfected, or at least determined, the correct mixing method and still adjusting a bit the fat/sugar content of the muffin, I am turning to flavor. I have not forgotten your past advice or anyone’s suggestions here in my calculations and trials. Orange peel, in all its forms, is the central component for an intense flavoring experience. Without it, which I have tried, a citrus flavor is hardly detectable. What it now boils down to, forgive the pun, and you have touched on it here with some of your remarks, is how to obtain it. As I mentioned in previous posts, one has to weigh convenience and ease against purist, artisan practices sometimes in cooking. I was contacted privately (keeping the identity concealed) from someone who is following my post and wanted to weigh in on the Kool-Aid debate, commented that from first-hand experience, professional chef’s cut corners and use ingredients, ie non-natural, in those $15 a plate desserts that would probably shock the experienced “foodie” to discover. That was sort of a paraphrase and something I was already aware of, but nice to know others are in the know as well, and confirm it. In fact, I think a rough percentage is one in every 100 bakeries that exist do not use mixes. Some, who have started up on their signature recipe, may still make that signature baked product by scratch, but usually turn to mixes for all others. In today’s cost effective and cost cutting world to compete, many rely on box mixes, doctored-up or otherwise to survive. It is a fact. Being a purist myself, especially on baked goods, it does dishearten me to discover that the original coffee house muffin, which was purchased from a local baker or bakery (they did not bake onsite), most likely contained artificial colorings and flavors. To obtain such by expensive oils, seed coloring methods, boiling of citrus for hours, would not be cost effective to sell and then re-sell to the customer at a reasonable price. The more artisan practice involved, the higher the price. These muffins sold for $1.50 each to the customer. I must remind the reader for all its artificial beauty and taste, I have never tasted a better orange muffin to date and this brings me full circle back to flavor and colors in mine. Going forward, I have to divide the line and offer two choices/versions. The original intent was to mimic, but that does not mean you can not use the same recipe and produce a more natural alternative. It is time to examine more closely orange skin. I want to pass on the boiling method to start. Boiling an orange or skin for two hours is labor intensive and would probably turn most cooks away from the recipe. To start, I would like to peel away the skin and removing the white pith, then grinding it down to see how much bitterness is produced. I received a message instructing me to try dried orange peel as well. I know this can be purchased commercially in most supermarkets, but you can easily dry your own. This might prove effective, but I will wait until I introduce it to see if I can cut the bitterness from the skin first. I will include orange and/or tangerine oils later. I am sure this is the easiest route. Still, one of those ingredients you see in recipes that requires the, “*can be found in specialty food stores or purchased online” statements, a last resort. As an update from tasting version 8 again, the orange flavor is even more intense today and so is the bitterness. I must have really struck a pithy orange, but good to know the orange oils from the zest keep intensifying. Not every orange is the same! The muffins are beautiful looking by the way, except for the lemon, yellowish, looking color which does not suggest orange in anyway. If I can get a bit more fat into it without compromising too much of its appearance, it will be perfect in texture and shape, coloring aside. Next recipe/version to follow…

← Thanks CanadianBakin', I was just going to post something similar. In other words, it all depends on the recipes, the amount of flour, fat and sugar, and to a lesser degree the leavening used. From my muffin experimentation, I have found the more fat and sugar in a muffin or cake recipe; the more it will obtain a buttery, moist pound cake type texture, and consequently, lesser doming. It is a fine balance and everyone has a different preference. Texture and taste after all, are very subjective, so there really is no right or wrong answer, only what the taster prefers.

Update on Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins, take 8. Baking the recipe above yielded most excellent results. The added 3 tablespoons of butter and 1/2 cup of milk really moistened the muffin. I would like to push it a little less than the buttery muffin in version 5 and go with 10 tablespoons of butter and 3/4 cup milk next time. This may lessen my doming, so adjustments may need to be made. If successful, I think it should be perfect in moisture content, flavor from the butter and soft, even crumb. I am crossing my fingers. Flavor-wise, well that is another story. With the added ground orange in the food processor, minus its juice, the flavor of the orange was bumped up considerable, but not to the extreme and almost perfect flavor as in muffin version 4. The only difference between version 4 and this one was the Kool-Aid and I will get back to this in a minute. I also was able to perfect my glaze by using one of those metal cake testers, sold by Wilton and Ateco. I found that a toothpick and/or skewer create large holes in the muffin tops, visible to the eye and not very attractive. The metal tester has a perfect width and after the glaze is applied, the holes sealed them themselves and were not noticeable. It also allowed me to pierce more holes. I applied the glaze twice in this version, letting the muffins rest a bit between each spooning, yielding the right amount of glaze and moisture inside and out. The only problem, besides not being orange enough in flavor, was a slight bitter aftertaste. It hits you about 30 seconds after eating it, sort of that lingering sour high note in the tonsil area. Being that here was no Kool-Aid in this version, I have successfully narrowed it down to the white pith from the ground orange. It was there after all. This, btw, was confirmed by my taste tester as well. So how do I utilize the entire orange flavor I am getting from the ground-up orange and remove the bitterness at the same time? For this answer, I have to turn back to Pontormo’s flourless orange cake recipe that boiled an orange for two hours. (Btw, I would like to take this time to thank all the egulletors that have helped me thus far. It would have taken me twice as long to find these solutions.) After doing some research, I found that this is a similar technique used in making orange marmalade, particularly the kind that requires the exquisite Seville oranges. In making the marmalade, some recipes require you to skin one orange and remove the white pith, then boil the rinds for two hours, removing the floating excess liquid. This process removes the bitterness and leaves your with a perfect rind for use, and so it is for the whole orange in the flourless cake recipe as well. Time to boil an orange! That may solve the bitterness problem, but I am still lacking a tiny bit more orange flavor and color. Yes, you guessed it, Kool-Aid. Looking back at using it and the ground rind in muffin version 4, it was almost spot on the mark in flavor, except for the bitterness which I have now figured out. I am guessing, that to achieve the color and intense wonderful orange taste in the original coffee house muffin, after going through all that I have up to this point, I see no other means than the fact they used some artificial flavoring agent, Kool-Aid, Tang or maybe some generic commercial product. I always detected a slight tangerine taste, so maybe it was an orange-tangerine powder. Although orange and/or tangerine oil could be used and may be included as an alternative in my recipe once I test it, I highly doubt it was used in the original muffins for the mere fact of the oils being so costly. Coming to the conclusion that Kool-Aid is key, is probably some form of retribution, karma playing itself out, for my verbal attacks on those that use cake mixes for baking. So, with half-reluctance, the orange flavored Kool-Aid will be reintroduced with a disclaimer reading (optional.) *sigh* I will post an updated recipe later.

Hi Kerry! Thanks for letting me know there is interest. I am not sure how accessible annatto seeds would be for the home baker, maybe better suited for the commercial bakeries. I have to weigh the means of getting my end result against ease and access to the ingredients, which as you suggested with the seeds, is a hard thing to do sometimes. This includes formulating the recipe as well. I try and simplify if I can. So, to answer your question, yes a good possible solution, but I am afraid no one would use the method if it requires a ton of effort to do so.

Thanks Pontormo for the two recipes. The flourless orange cake has me intrigued. I am pretty much using all of the orange, or was, and in my next attempt I am going back to using it. The only part I am not using is the juice which I squeeze out of the rind and use for the glaze. I have found that orange juice, as in my first attempt and even the 1/4 cup of pomegranate juice in the last, gave off very little orange flavor in the muffin itself. You get more flavor from milk (fat) than juice which is mostly water with flavor burning off. I found it interesting in the flourless orange cake that they boil/simmer the orange for 2 hours. I wonder why? Maybe it takes away the bitterness from the pith or just makes it easier to obtain a finer grind. I will have to look into this. It really depends on where the oranges are coming from regarding flavor. Now they are shipped in from other countries throughout the year, so you really have to try one on the spot or take your chances because they all differ in intensity and flavor. Thanks again.

I went back to Kamman's book and muffin recipe to make some comparisons. I want to increase the butter content a bit from my last attempt. In fact, I think butter and its moisture is better than the addition of sour cream in a muffin recipe. I actually tasted little to no difference in the last two recipes that contained sour cream. I also made the changes previously discussed, like the addition of the orange rind, and some that are closer to Kamman's recipe, yet trying to maintain many of the same results from the last attempt. This will be the next recipe to test... Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins, take 8 Muffins: 2 medium-size oranges 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cake flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1/2 cup milk 2 teaspoons orange extract 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs Glaze: 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, strained 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons of butter Preheat oven to 350F and grease muffin tins with unsaturated oil. Chop off the ends of one orange to remove the pith. Cut the orange in half and extract the juice from the two halves through a strainer/sieve over a bowl. If you do not have 1/2 cup of orange juice, extract extra juice from second orange after removing zest for step below. Set bowl of orange juice aside. Place the orange halves from one orange into a food processor using a metal blade or a blender. Add milk, eggs, and extracts into the food processor and pulse on/off for 40 seconds; set aside. In a large bowl, add the sugar and zest of second orange. With your fingers or a pastry cutter, work the zest into the sugar, allowing extraction and distribution of the oils into the sugar. You can do this step a day or two in advance to allow for better penetration of the oils into the sugar. Next, sift flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the large bowl with the sugar mixture; set aside. Add butter cubes to the flour mixture and with a pastry cutter or your finger tips, mash ingredients together until a fine cornmeal like texture occurs. Form a well in the center of the flour and add the liquid mixture. With no more than 14 or 15 strokes, fold the ingredients together. Fill the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full using a large spoon to carefully place the batter into each tin. Do not pour the batter. Bake muffins for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs on it, but with no visible wet batter. Meanwhile: Make the glaze by combining the orange juice and sugar in a small pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Bring to boil, and then on low heat simmer for 5 minutes with a lid covering the pot to prevent sugar crystals. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Set aside to cool. Remove the muffins from the oven and immediately (in less than two minutes from the oven) place them on a wire rack. When cool enough to handle, using a toothpick or skewer, poke several holes through the muffin tops into each of the muffins. Spoon glaze over muffin tops to saturate, allowing the liquid to sink down into the holes and any excess to drip back into the bowl. Place on wire rack to cool completely.

Thanks nakji!! I was actually going to post and see if anyone was following my progression. I find it interesting and educational, the whole recipe creation process, but was not sure if I was annoying others with my posts. Good to know. I am about to test the Kool-Aid theory. Initially, I added it along with the whole orange skin process, so not for sure how much flavor, if any, the Kool-Aid is attributing along side the rind. My next recipe alteration, which I am going to post in a second, will not include Kool-Aid, but will include the rind of 1 orange. This should give me a clue. I am not against adding coloring gels. In fact, I have just about exhausted all the natural dyes, those that would not affect flavor in a muffin, and left with artificial flavors/colors. I can only assume this is how the original coffee house muffin obtained its reddish-orange color. As a side, it was the color of the muffin that initially caught my eye, very enticing. I suppose this could open up the whole marketing debate as to why they color oranges in the supermarkets, eye-candy and sales. lol.

No, not quite. It did expand, but I don't think it doubled which was my first indication. I went ahead and used it. Loved the texture! I usually buy the 99 cent ready made dough at Trader Joe's, wonderful flavor, especially the garlic and their's always tears on me. The CI's dough was easy to form and not one tear. I do bake on a pizza stone and it was heated for about an hour at 500F. I see you used parchment paper. I forgot about that trick. I used cornmeal which was fine, but I usually have to clean out my oven afterwards or it burns cornmeal for about a week, not a good thing for making cakes, LOL.

I've used this crust recipe several times now, and like it quite a bit. Crisp outside, soft inside. I press it out with a "rim," so you eat the slice and get a peice of crust left over for dipping in sauce. ← Good to hear Patrick. I made it tonight actually, along with their sauce. I believe I had some bad yeast because mine resulted in a thin crust, nothing like your's. I liked the flavor, but it did not puff around the edges like that. The sauce was not bad, but I have had better. I am one for just using cheeses and a few ingredients anyway. I just wanted to try it. I will say it was simple to make. I will give it another try and proof my yeast next time.

Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins, take 7 Muffins: 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cake flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sugar 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup blood orange juice, strained (or freshly squeezed pomegranate juice* or POM Wonderful® 100% Pomegranate Juice or the juice from a regular orange) 1/2 cup sour cream 3 tablespoon orange zest (about 3 medium or 2 large oranges) 2 teaspoons orange extract 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 large egg 1 large egg yolk Glaze: 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, strained 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons of butter Preheat oven to 350F and grease muffin tins. In a large bowl, add the sugar and zest. With your fingers or a pastry cutter, work the zest into the sugar, allowing extraction and distribution of the oils into the sugar. You can do this step a day or two in advance to allow for better penetration of the oils into the sugar. Next, sift flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the large bowl with the sugar mixture; set aside. In a small bowl combine the milk, blood orange juice, sour cream, zest, extracts, egg and yolk. Stir to combine; set aside. Add butter cubes to the flour mixture and with a pastry cutter or your finger tips, mash ingredients together until a fine cornmeal like texture occurs. Add the liquid mixture and with no more than 14 or 15 strokes, fold the ingredients together. Fill the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full using a large spoon to carefully place the batter into each tin. Do not pour the batter. Bake muffins for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs on it, but with no wet batter. Meanwhile: Make the dunking glaze by combining the orange juice and sugar in a small pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Bring to boil, and then on low heat simmer for 5 minutes with a lid covering the pot to prevent sugar crystals. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Set aside to cool. Remove the muffins, unmold immediately (in less than two minutes from the oven) to a wire rack, and when cool enough to handle, using a toothpick or skewer, poke several holes through the muffin tops down into each of the muffins. Spoon glaze over muffin tops to saturate, allowing the liquid to sink down into the holes and any excess to drip back into the bowl. Place on wire rack to cool completely. *To juice a pomegranate, cut it in half (as you would a grapefruit) and juice using a citrus reamer or a juicer. Pour mixture through a cheesecloth-lined strainer or sieve. One large pomegranate will produce about 1/2 cup of juice. The result was a beautiful muffin with the exact texture (even crumb, muffin characteristic with a nice brown crust, but not too hard) and a bit of cake-like fluffiness. It was moist, but able to stand up to the addition of glaze for more moisture. The tops were prefect, just like I remembered. I call them the typical muffin Moon surface. You can see them in the photo. This was the first time I achieved this with any of the muffins tried. Flavor, was another thing and needs work. Three tablespoons of zest and 2 teaspoons of orange extract yielded an orange flavor, but not an extreme orange flavor the coffee house muffins had. I came to the conclusion that the ground orange rind imparts and keeps imparting most of the orange flavor even after baking. I used POM juice, a very strong pomegranate taste, bitter and what I thought, a solution to my color situation. I figured the deep color would result in a reddish-orange muffin. Not the case. I could not detect any flavor and it gave only a slight hue of purple/blue. Still need to work on this or in the end, return to the Kool-Aid which is the only ingredient at this point that has come close. Oh, and another tip from Madeleine. Turn out your muffins from the muffin tin within 2 minutes from taking them out of the oven. Any longer, and they will begin to stick to the pan. Worked Perfectly! Prior muffins left me taking a small knife and prying them out, sometimes with less than perfect results. Going forward, alter the recipe to include the ground orange skins and to work on coloring. Progress at last… As always, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Two more alterations have occurred since I last reported and I am happy to say that through trial and error, getting to the latter in a minute, I have achieved the perfect texture for my Extremely Orange, Orange Muffin. After the “take 5” glowing orange muffin attempt, I decided to return to the books and see what the experts had to say. Mind you, that muffin (take 5), which I still have a few in the freezer, was quite tasty actually. I would classify it as a bit lighter than a pound cake muffin and would probably make a good base recipe for maybe a lemon-blueberry with a lemon glaze. I will definitely return to this recipe in the future. But for my next attempt, I turned to Shirley O Corriher, author of CookWise and consultant to Cook’s Illustrated, Rose Levy Beranbaum, Alton Brown, and many others. She suggested in her book that oil is better than butter in muffin recipes creating a moister muffin and longer lasting moisture than butter. She recommends replacing the oil at an 80% ratio to the fat amount in a recipe and increasing the liquid by about 1 tablespoon per 1 cup of flour, since butter is made up of 20% liquid, mostly water and whey. This is what I did next, using vegetable oil and also added in 2/3 cup of sour cream. I do not have the exact recipe, accidentally deleted it, with good reason. I also added ¼ teaspoon of baking soda and decreased the eggs from 3 large to 2 large and 1 yolk. The result; the flavor was off and my friend said it tasted like the oil was bad. It was not, a brand new bottle. I agreed. It also did not seem as moist. The added baking soda made the muffin rise high during baking, and then fell to almost flat tops when cooled. Maybe more flour? Not only that, but every muffin I have made so far, except the third attempt which used the creaming mixing method, not the food processor, resulted in vertical strands of air pockets. I call it webbing. Oil was not the answer. It lacks flavor and imparts an off flavor, back to butter. At any rate, I needed to try something new. Here are the results; Frustrated, I found a book I had not opened in quite some time on my shelf, a very large tome of informative cooking techniques. The book was The New Making of a Cook by Madeleine Kamman. Boy, I am sure glad I found it. She, like Shirley O. Corriher, uses the art of science in her baking, but unlike Shirley, she is also a long time teacher of French cuisine and cooking techniques with a history of teaching some of America’s top chefs. It was in her muffin section I found my solution. I was amazed to read her description of my exact problem, explaining that vertical webbing in a muffin, which is quite common, is a sure sign that the muffin has been over-mixed. The light went off in my head. I knew that I was not over-mixing because in my last attempt, I only used two or three short pulses after I added the flour. It was the food processor itself that was causing the problem. I had to break off my love affair with it. To bad, because it was like a one pot, one-bowl, easy mixer-upper. So what method was best? Madeleine went on to explain and to give a muffin recipe that was very close to the Bakehouse Muffins CanadianBakin' posted (btw, Cook’s Illustrated gave their basic all-purpose muffin recipe that was also very close to this recipe.) She found the pastry method was best, using a bowl and a pastry cutter, or your fingers, to combine cold cubed butter with the dry ingredients. She even included the precise number of folds to make for combining the wet and dry ingredients. Muffins are very, very easy to over-mix, even by hand. With this new method and a rough recipe in hand, I reworked CanadianBakin'’s Bakehouse Muffin recipe and created an new, “Extremely Orange, Orange Muffin, take 7.” Recipe and more to follow…

No, I think you were on the right track with a cake. A cake is nothing but a big sugar bomb, so it will offset your less to no sweet mango mousse. I was amazed at the flavor that comes through by using mangos in filling type pastries. I made a mango curd recently. It was delicious and the mango flavor really stood out in the cake. Mangos and coconut, almond or banana work really well together in cake flavors.

LOL... Yeah, I am even embarrassed to admit stepping foot inside a Starbucks, let alone partake in their pastries. Still, there is something about those scones that makes me crave one now and again. It is like having a pastry and pancakes all in one. Gawd, it makes me so happy.

Ewww...that looks good. Cook's Illustrated has a recipe as well under their Oatmeal scones that sounds like it is pretty spot on. Their version calls for pecans, but walnuts can easily be used. You can find the recipe here; Oatmeal Scones

Here are the latest results for the Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins, take 5, recipe listed above. The only difference is that I used 3 tangerines, their juice in the glaze and rind in the food processor and 2 packets of Kool-Aid Orange drink mix. Zest of one orange. This time I added all the ingredients, so no mistakes, lol. First impressions: Very nice, the tops rose slightly during baking, not as much as when the butter was left out by mistake in take 4, but relaxed after cooling to form a flat surface. This is not bad and probably holds true to a true muffin (I think), but I wanted a slight dome-shape like the original coffee house version. Color was really orange, maybe a little too orange (the best is the first picture below showing near to the real color.) Again, I am trying to achieve a reddish-orange hue. This along with the slightly sweet taste I got from the muffins was from the 2 packets of Kool-Aid. I will be reducing this back down to one and/or trying pomegranates next. The taste was extremely orange, really flavorful, but again, a high note of sweetness. It also had a butter taste. I tasted one muffin with the glaze, one without. The one without was very moist, rich and a bit buttery aftertaste on the palate. I need to taste once it cools because texture changes. Overall, nice, but I may drop the butter down in this recipe and add in sour cream which I am hoping the tanginess will offset the sweet and slightly bitter (in a good way) orange/tangerine taste. With the 3 tablespoons of butter in the tangerine/orange/sugar glaze, it was really buttery. Some will probably flip for this because it tastes like a buttered muffin, but not what I want. Other than that, it had a nice crust, as you can see the browning around the edges, due again to all the butter and sugar no doubt. Thoughts and solutions: 1. reduce Kool-Aid to 1 packet, or omit and try some pomegranate for color. 2. reduce butter to 8 tablespoons and add in 1/2 cup of sour crème. 3. add in 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to give the muffin a little more rise 4. keep tangerine rinds for now, but may switch after the next trial to orange rinds ground w/tangerine zest. 5. glaze – still a mystery. I wonder if using actual vegetable or canola oil with orange juice, maybe even some zest and a bit of sugar would be offensive. Has this ever been done? LOL. I will work on this.

LOL...I figured I would get flack for that and understandably so. It is more for the coloring, probably a tiny bit of flavoring actually remains after the baking, but who knows. I am trying to mimic the coffee house muffin, sort of a personal quest thing, which is why I will include a "(optional- For an all natural muffin: substitute 1 tablespoon of additional zest of an orange for Kool-Aid)" in the final recipe, or something along those lines. ← Alternatively, I was thinking, maybe I could grind up some pomegranate seeds along with the wet ingredients to achieve this color instead of using the Kool-Aid. Wondering if anyone has a recipe for pomegranate muffins, cakes etc where the seeds, juice, is used? How colorful is the end result and what about the taste?

LOL...I figured I would get flack for that and understandably so. It is more for the coloring, probably a tiny bit of flavoring actually remains after the baking, but who knows. I am trying to mimic the coffee house muffin, sort of a personal quest thing, which is why I will include a "(optional- For an all natural muffin: substitute 1 tablespoon of additional zest of an orange for Kool-Aid)" in the final recipe, or something along those lines.

This is sort of an old thread, but in the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated, they gave a recipe for the perfect pizza crust. Their secret is using some cake flour in the recipe. Here is a photo demo and the recipe; http://www.slashfood.com/2006/06/14/cookin...zza-margherita/ 1 1/4 tsp instant yeast 1 cup water, room temperature 1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 oz) all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface 1 cup (4 oz) cake flour 1 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp sugar

Wow, I lived in Chicago for four years and use to drive to the original Malnati's location for pizza. Your pictures brought back some fond eating memories, best deep dish pizza around. Do not even get me started on the hot dogs. I use to eat at a famous hot dog stand on Clark St I believe, Chardog or something like that. It has been awhile.

Alterered the recipe for both muffins and glaze a bit, including better mixing instructions for making muffins in a food processor. Also included notes for possible changes in the future. Extremely Orange, Orange Muffins, take 5 Muffins: 2 oranges 13 tablespoons melted butter 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract 1/2 cup milk – whole 1 package of Kool-Aid® Orange Drink Mix 3 large eggs 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 tsp salt Glaze: 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons butter Preheat oven to 350F and grease muffin tins. Ready a food processor using a metal blade. Chop off the ends of one orange to remove the pith. Cut the orange in half and extract the juice from the two halves through a strainer/sieve over a bowl. Place the orange halves into a food processor. Zest the second orange and add zest to food processor. Once again, cut the orange in half and extract the juice from the two halves through a strainer/sieve over the same bowl; set liquid aside and discard the orange peels. Add the packet of Kool-Aid® and extracts to the milk and stir to combine well. Pour milk mixture, eggs, butter and sugar into the bowl of the food processor; pulse on/off for 50 seconds. Add flour, baking soda and salt; pulse on/off once or twice and stop. Spoon the batter into muffin tins, about 2/3 full, and level with a spatula. Bake muffins for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with crumbs. You should not see any wet batter. Meanwhile: Make the dunking glaze by combining the reserved orange juice and 1/2 cup of sugar in a small pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Bring to boil, and then on low heat simmer for 5 minutes with a lid covering the pot to prevent sugar crystals. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Set aside to cool. Place muffin tin on wire rack and allow them to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove muffins and place back on rack. Using a toothpick or skewer, poke several holes through the muffin tops down into each of the muffins, spoon on glaze over bowl to saturate allowing the liquid to sink down into the holes and any excess to drip back into the bowl. Place on wire rack to cool completely. Note: Possible changes to be made; Reduce to 1/2 cup butter Add 1/2 cup sour cream Increase to 2 packages of Kool-Aid® Orange Mix Option to replace one orange for zest, hide and juice of two or three tangerines (check weight against orange)