An Inspired Cook

Every time I go through the “Wilton” isle at the craft store I see all these pretty baking cups for muffins or cupcakes.  There are so many choices of shapes and colors and I want one of each.  I went to the grocery store in search of an idea for muffins and found the blackberries on sale so I picked up a couple cartons and headed to the craft store to find the perfect muffin cups.  I thought these bright pinkish cups looked like an open flower and thought they would be perfect for my muffins.  When I started filling them with batter I found out they were too large to fit into my muffin pan.  So, I placed some in ramekin cups and the others on a cookie sheet.  The baking cups were stiff enough to hold up without a mold, however they did spread out a bit more than the ones baked in the ramekins.  I had hoped they would look like a flower in bloom but I what I had in my head and what actually baked up were two different things.  In the end I couldn’t be happier with how they tasted, they were so moist and berry delicious.

I assembled my ingredients of sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, buttermilk, lemon zest, and blackberries.

Combine the dry ingredients of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

I melted the butter and poured into my mixing bowl along with the sour cream.  I blended these together on medium speed until it was a creamy mess.

Next I added the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium until well blended.

Add about half the flour mix.

While this is beating I poured about half the buttermilk.  When the mixture is blended, scrape the sides of the bowl and add the rest of the flour mix and buttermilk.

Once the batter is blended and smooth, add a teaspoon or two to the batter and stir in.

Fold in the blackberries.

So, these pretty baking cups didn’t fit my muffin pan.  They were more shallow and the top overlapped so I brought out my ramekin cups and placed some in them, the others I placed on a baking sheet.  This looked like the flower I was trying to showcase and I placed a single blackberry on top hoping it would look like a bloom.  It didn’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped but it was fun to play around with.

I brought back some raw cane sugar from Hawaii and sprinkled some over the batter before going into the oven.  This is just like “Sugar in the Raw” if you want to add some sweetness to the top of your muffin.  I baked these for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.  If you have a smaller baking cup you may want to bake less time.

After 25 minutes I set them out on a plate to cool.

I thought this one turned out pretty.

I couldn’t wait that long to break this one apart and take a taste.





Blackberry Muffins

1/3 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Sour Cream
1 1/2 cups Sugar ( I used 1 1/4 cups because I planned to sprinkle additional raw cane sugar over top of each muffin)
2 large Eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 – 2 teaspoons Lemon Zest
1/2 cup Buttermilk
2 (1/2 pint cartons)  fresh Blackberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine softened butter and sour cream in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until creamy.  Add sugar, eggs and vanilla, beat well.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Alternate dry ingredients and buttermilk beating until mixture becomes a smooth batter.  Fold in lemon zest and blackberries.

Fill baking cups almost to the top and sprinkle raw cane sugar over top if desired.  Bake 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. **Note:  If using a smaller baking cup adjust the baking time to 17 – 20 minutes.

Makes 18 muffins.  **Note:  The large baking cups only made 14 muffins.

My Inspiration was this cactus in bloom that I brought back from my recent trip home to NM!