In reviewing my list of "yet unbaked" recipes recently, I realized I still have a lot of muffins to bake. I made the Blueberry Muffins early on in the adventure, but the rest of the chapter was still relatively unvisited. This might be because the ones left to bake included Pumpkin-Spice Muffins, Zucchini Muffins, and these Ginger Peach Corn Muffins... all of which seemed best suited for fall baking. Thus, I was very unmotivated to make them in March.
It didn't help that I don't care for ginger either - at least not in most forms. But I knew I had to make these eventually and invited over a few friends to help me bake who are bigger fans of the spice - just in case I didn't want to keep any of them when all was said and done. Plus, baking with friends is more fun than baking alone (as long as you make plenty to share)!
I also had a hard time finding good peaches, particularly since it's March and I'm on an island where peaches have to be shipped a minimum of 3,000 miles before they reach me. I was so proud of myself when I stumbled upon a handful of soft and yummy smelling peaches at my grocers. However, when we cut into them it was obvious they had been through some trauma - instead of soft peachiness inside it looked as though they had been partially frozen at some point. Fortunately, these are tossed in agave and lemon juice and caramelized in the oven before topping the muffins, so the caramelizing served to both sweeten them up and disguise their scars.
In short, this corn, ginger, and peach flavor combination is amazing. And I'm speaking as someone who doesn't - or at least didn't - like ginger. They were also incredibly moist, even when I enjoyed one for breakfast the next day.
And so pretty, right? I love the aesthetic quality the caramelized peaches add to the top.
After being pleasantly surprised by the flavor of these darlings, I'm suddenly much less hesitant to try two other recipes in the book: Gingerbread and Gingersnaps... more opportunities to let ginger impress me!
If they freeze well, put one in the freezer. I'll be there in a few months!
ReplyDelete