Raspberry Muffins with Almonds and Sour Cream

Let's forget the promises, made just about a month ago, let's ignore the disillusioned hopes, the broken dreams and unrequited love. Let's forgive all those posts never written, all the soufflés never tempted, the curdled custards and the unleavened breads. A good old stir - but not too violent, mind you, 'cause muffins won't forgive -, a strong coffee of the darkest ones, a camera lenses' clean up, and off we go.
I start all over with some muffins. For the umpteenth time. One, two, three, let's post.

Raspberry Muffins
with Almonds and Sour Cream
for approximately 12 medium muffins

flour 250 gr
almonds 100 gr
sugar 150 gr
baking powder 7 gr (1 and 1/2 teaspoon)
baking soda 1 teaspoon
salt 1 pinch
eggs 2
sour cream 250 gr
vegetable oil 3 tablespoon
vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
almond extract 1 teaspoon
frozen raspberries 200 gr
butter for the pan as needed
sliced almonds to garnish as needed

Lightly toast almonds in the oven for about ten minutes, let cool down, and then chop them finely in a food processor, adding a spoon of sugar taken from the total to prevent them to release the oil. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, almond flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Pour wet ingredients in another bowl: eggs, oil, sour cream, vanilla and almond extracts, and mix them lightly with a whip. Combine the dry ingredients previously prepared, stirring just until the mixture is blended, and avoiding beating it for too long. In the end, add frozen raspberries and stir.
Pour a little batter into greased muffin molds, filling each one up to just over half. Garnish the surface of each muffin with few almonds' slices, bake at 350 for 20 or 30 minutes, until the surface becomes golden. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack. If you like, sprinkle muffins with powdered sugar before serving.

Pumpkin Muffins

ELAINE: Oh yeah. It's the best part. It's crunchy, it's explosive, it's where the muffin breaks free of the pan and sort of does its own thing. I'll tell you. That's a million dollar idea right there. Just sell the tops.
(J. Louis-Dreyfus, The Muffin Tops, Seinfeld, Episode n. 155, 1997)

My first time. With muffins.
I can't believe it myself, but I had to wait over a decade before letting myself being persuaded. The thing is that, although I've fallen for muffins (blueberry, ed) at the tender age of 13, more than a century ago, when my American guest made me try them and all of a sudden I thought I had arrived in heaven, for all that goodness chock-full of huge and deep-blue blueberries was not part of the world known to me until then (and I didn't know that she had made them out of a muffin-mix carton and using fruits with testosterone to the maximum strenght, but these are just details...), I was saying, although for years I kept thinking of muffins as the perfect yet unattainable companion for a lazy and lascivious Sunday, once I moved to this land more or less stably, I cheated on them right away, I mean, really right away, for these things here (and these, and most of all these... mmmm, btw, 600 Guerrero Street @18th... when are we going?).
And the poor muffin has hopelessly fallen to a subordinate role, a breakfast gigolo to wear out in a bowl of latte, too big, too bloated, too ubiquitous, too available (but it's a matter of taste, mind you; scones have the same flaws, it's just that - if done with all the right fixings - I like them better, that's all. But anyway, muffins don't exist at Tartine, just sayin'...)
To complicate matters further there's also the fact that the muffin is almost always a split personality and rarely wins you over in its entirety: either you love it for the top, more rough and erratic, or it seduces you with its soft and tender body. And although time flows inexorably away, I haven't made up my mind yet.

My first time. With muffins.
All the hot details can be found below.


Pumpkin Muffins
for approximately 15 muffins

pastry flour 3 2/3 cup
butter 1 stick
sugar 1 cup
(I've reduced it a little from original recipe)
eggs 4
pumpkin purée 1 15-ounce can
ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon
ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon
freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon
salt 1/4 teaspoon
baking powder 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon
raisins 1 cup
unsalted sunflower seeds 1/4 cup
softened butter to grease the pan

I've taken the recipe ...uhm... from this thing I scored at Christmas, which quietly and discreetly landed on my shelf with yet another excuse called special offer, coupon, loyalty card promotion, buy 2 get 3, voucher, seasonal sale, I don't remember. The truth is, now I want to go back to New York just to visit this new place of worship, which up to 20 days ago I had never even heard of. And to be honest, I can't even blame the special Christmas offer. I simply had to read that this Sarabeth owes its rise to the Olympus of America's most popular bakeries entirely to its legendary orange and apricot marmalade, and here I am, happily opening the wallet, dropping the card and casually putting the tome in my purse.
But this is now water under the bridge, and I think it's also a story already lived, can't tell you why. Better to stick to the subject matter: muffins. Before leaving you with the recipe, I'd like to point out two things, or maybe three:

1) Contrary to everything we've always known about muffins, this particular recipe (as well as others from the same book) calls for a good long initial beating of the butter, cold, followed by an equally good beating of the same with sugar. According to the author this procedure, very similar to that of a normal cake, will make the muffins' texture lighter and more delicate. The butter should be cold, so that the dough doesn't get too soft, otherwise the top will collapse and will consequently flatten (and sadden) your muffins;

2) Don't turn up your nose at canned pumpkin. After year, I too had to drop my barriers on this point. I just had to read these few lines, taken from Tartine, by E. M. Prueitt and C. Robertson, when talking about their famous pumpkin pie recipe:

Customers often ask if we process our own pumpkin for our holiday pies. We tried one year, and it was a fiasco of round-the-clock roasting and blending, and the results were never completely satisfying. Preparing the purée from scratch doesn't work that well at home either, as it is difficult to achieve as smooth a purée as you would like.

And if they did come out, how can I possibly fear a simple can?

3) How is it possible that at the first trial I got this high dome, almost like what you see around in the stores' windows, I don't know. I don't know if I should believe the cold butter trick. I actually have developed a simple little theory of my own: could it be the universally famous rule of beginner's luck?

Sift together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and baking powder, and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter, cut into cubes, until creamy, then gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture becomes fluffy and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, decreasing the speed, then add the pumpkin and stir well. At the end, gradually pour in the flour mix, stir and then add all the raisins. Continue mixing for a few seconds just until the dough comes together.
If you're not using paper cups, grease the molds as well as the outer edges of the pan with some softened butter. Otherwise, place a baking cup inside each mold, and just grease the edges of the pan to prevent the tops of the muffins from sticking to it. Using two spoons (or an ice-cream scoop), fill each baking cups with the mixture, almost to the edge. Generously sprinkle the surface with sunflower seeds, and bake at 400 for ten minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown and a wire tester inserted into the center of the muffin comes out completely clean.

Walnut, Apple and Raisin Scones - Arizmendi N.2

Long time ago, more or less at the beginning of this blog, I had told you about this bakery with the strange name, and I had talked about its scones, its buttermilk brioches, and maybe even about its special cooperative management structure, a unique experiment in the local scene, where each employee becomes an equal partner, and enjoys the same pay as any other.
Well. Now I can imagine that the news I'm about to give will not make you scream of joy, but it's with great pleasure - mine and of everyone living in the southern neighborhoods - that I can finally announce the opening of the second Arizmendi in SF, tucked between a wine bar and a yoga studio on Valencia Street, envied by all the Pupuserias and Panaderías of the Mission district. And if that still doesn't mean anything, just think that from now on I can literally walk there. Because Arizmendi and I are now neighbors!
To celebrate this joyous event, I went and grabbed from the shelves an old acquaintance of mine, masterfully escaped from the massacre of few months ago. If I remember correctly, at the time of the first Arizmendi post, I had also promised to try all the scones in the book, one by one (and very wisely, I had also avoided giving myself a deadline for the project). Hence, after 15 months, 10 days and 9 hours, here they are, Walnut, Apple and Raisin Scones, aka Arizmendi No.2.


Walnut, Apple & Raisin Scones
for 10 small scones or 6 large ones

all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cups (225 gr.)
sugar 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (75 gr.)
baking powder 1/2 tablespoon
baking soda 1/4 teaspoon
salt 1/4 teaspoon
butter, cold 1 stick (115 gr.)
dried apples 1/2 cup (50 gr.)
walnut 2/3 cup (50 gr.)
raisins 1/4 cup (30 gr.)
buttermilk 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (75 gr.)
whipping cream 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (75 gr.)
sugar and cinnamon to dust the surface to taste

Sift the flour and mix it with sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add the cold butter, cut into small pieces, and mix quickly until the butter is fully covered with flour and it's broken into small bits. Add raisins, apples and coarsely chopped walnuts, and mix. Make a well in the middle of this mixture and pour in the cream and buttermilk. Mix quickly, just until the ingredients are sufficiently blended together. Shape the dough in small rounds of about 2 inches diameter for smaller scones, or about 3 inches diameter for six larger scones. Place the scones on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, leaving them quite apart from each other, because they widen and flatten out during baking. Sprinkle the surface with 3 tablespoons of sugar mixed with some cinnamon and bake them at 375 for 20 or 30 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer them on a rack and let cool off. Right out of the oven, scones are very soft, and they will get firmer after cooling down. But they will still be very soft inside, thanks to the buttermilk.
You can make them in a second, and if you mix the dry ingredients the night before, you'll have them ready for breakfast in just about the time you can say Coffee! However, they should be consumed the same day.

Tartine Bakery Zucchini Bread

Just like blueberry muffins, raisin scones and pumpkin pie, zucchini bread is also a very inflated object over here. Every respectable coffee shop has its own recipe, and each variation has its own fans. With raisins, without raisins; with nuts, without nuts; with cinnamon, without cinnamon; with eggs, without eggs (vegan version); with cream cheese frosting or pure and simple.
To make no mistake, I got the recipe from one of my favorite bakeries, of which I had already told you about, here.

Today I made my own, but tomorrow... breakfast at Tartine anybody?


Zucchini Bread
by Tartine Bakery
for a 9" long loaf pan

flour 270 gr.
baking powder 1/2 teaspoon
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon
eggs 2
vegetable oil 125 gr.
sugar 150 gr.
orange marmalade 115 gr.
zucchini, net 285 gr.
walnuts 115 gr.
salt 1 pinch

Grate zucchini. Toast walnuts in the oven for few minutes, chop coarsely and keep them aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, beat eggs with sugar, oil and jam until the mixture is well blended. Stir in zucchini and salt, mix gently (by hand), then add the flour and finally the walnuts. Don't mix too much, it's sufficient that the dough just comes together: just like when making muffins, for a successful recipe it is important not to overwork it.
Grease a loaf pan with butter and dust it with flour, pour in the dough, and if you wish, sprinkle the surface with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Bake at 350 for 60-70 minutes. Let the zucchini bread cool off in the pan for about 20 minutes, then reverse it on a rack and let cool completely. It keeps well in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic, up to 5-6 days.

Pumpkin Walnut Bread

HURRAH for pumpkins! That is, even fall has a reason to be. So stop complaining, stop being annoyed and repeating that it's raining outside, that, oh bummer, you need to start wearing socks again, that your suntan has faded, that the next trip to Greece is over 10 months away, and that it gets dark too soon.
Go to any farmers' market, buy a ripe pumpkin, nice and sweet, and make peace with the world. Everything will turn a different color (something like orange, maybe?): cold weather becomes the excuse to turn on the oven, socks and UGGs are way more comfortable than little sandals and thongs, who needs a suntan when I'm so beautiful the way I am, how nice is the feeling of Christmas getting closer, along with chestnuts and panettone...

Now let me ask you: do you think you'll get the same effects with canned pumpkin?
Since by now I'm much more familiar with you, I can confess that these Pumpkin Breads - popular in the United States all year round, but definitely inflated between October and Christmas - are made with canned pumpkin puree, which is commonly sold in every supermarket. Nobody here will ever even think of starting from a fresh pumpkin, going through all the trouble of peeling and cooking it, when all you need is a can opener and you get the same result. (Note of the author: this may be obvious to US readers - how many are they by the way? One? Two? - Regardless, I know for sure that canned pumpkin will sound like a heresy to my Italian friends. Therefore the need to apologize and explain. Gosh! These Italians...).
OK, I know, I ruined all the romantic fantasy. May I offer you a slice and make peace with you?


Pumpkin Walnut Bread
for one medium-size loaf pan

sugar 170 gr.
vegetable oil 55 gr.
eggs 2
all-purpose flour 200 gr.
baking soda 1 teaspoon
baking powder 1/4 teaspoon
salt a pinch
fresh grated ginger 1 or 2 teaspoons
ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice to taste
pumpkin puree 260 gr.
grated zest of one orange
water 70 gr.
walnut 110 gr.

Lightly toast the walnuts in the oven, cut them in pieces and keep on the side.
Beat sugar and oil until creamy, add the eggs and mix well. Sift flour with salt, baking soda, baking powder and ground spices. Grdually add it to the egg mixture, alternating with the water. As when making muffins, batter should not be overworked, that way the loaf can have a light texture. Add pumpkin puree (canned, if you have it, otherwise be patient and make the puree from scratch, cook pumkin in the oven until tender, mash it throughly and then, if necessary, cook it in a pan until all moisture is evaporated) and the grated orange zest. At the end, fold in the walnuts.
Pour batter in a buttered and floured loaf pan, bake at 350 for about one hour or more, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
You can keep it in the fridge, wrapped in plastic, for 4 or 5 days.

Steamed Gingerbread Pudding - Christmas Rehearsal

How nice when Christmas used to arrive only in December, when you'd decorate your tree using leftover, mismatched adornments from the previous years, and when making The Christmas Crib was not politically incorrect. In those days it used to snow in buckets and it was no news, after all it was pretty normal for winter.

I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony…
Don't worry, I am not crazy nor have I taken some suspicious substances. Simply, I'm abreast of the times. A late September Sunday, I take a stroll around the city, and enjoy what may be the last sunny day of an Indian summer.
Instead, they want to convince me that Christmas is coming soon and that I, as usual, am behind. Seducing windows are suggesting festive messages and show stylized snow flakes, at Starbucks they started selling Gingerbread Lattes, the real gem of the entire Holidays, and all of sudden I want to sing Last Christmas and go robbing the mall to take advantage of sales, end-of-summer or pre-Christmas, whatever. From now until December 25th, it'll be a mawkish crescendo, a river full of molasses running before the flood, obstructed only by Halloween pumpkins and Thanksgiving turkeys.

This year I decided to let it carry me away, sometimes I too want to be up with fashion, what's wrong with that? So I stocked up on molasses, ginger and cinnamon and got down to work.

Go to buy a tree but not a true tree because otherwise it would die die die die die
(Elio e Le Storie Tese, Christmas with the Yours)


Steamed Gingerbread Pudding
for one 9x5 inch loaf pan or two smaller ones

all-purpose flour 110 gr.
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon
ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon
fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped 50 gr.
hot water 100 ml.
sugar 75 gr.
corn oil 75 ml
molasses 115 gr.
salt a pinch
egg 1

Sift flour with baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and pepper. Put ginger in a food processor, cover it with the water and blend until smooth. Pour it into a bowl, add sugar, oil, molasses and salt and beat well. Add the mixture of flour and spices, stir again and then fold in the egg. Keep stirring until batter is smooth and well mixed. You'll get a very moist batter.
Pour it in the previously battered pans and bake at 325 for about 1 hour and 10 minutes (45 minutes for the smaller loaves), or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes before inverting it onto a rack. Let it cool completely before serving.

They call it Pudding Cake because it's very soft and moist, something in between a cake and a pudding. It's perfect for those who appreciate ginger and spicy, mildly hot flavors, otherwise it's better to foist it on people who annoy you.
The recipe comes from Tartine Bakery's book which I've already told you about here. I divided it in half, because we have three months full of molasses ahead of us, and it's not polite to get indigestion already at the beginning of the party.

Arizmendi Scones N.1

I don't know if you got the idea, but I'm really in love with bakeries. And with scones too, to tell you the truth. I could even trace a map of the city based on bakeries and the type of products they sell. Do you like walnut bread with tons and tons of walnuts? Turn right. Do you want a ciabatta? Go straight for 200 meters and then left. Do you need an authentic French baguette, and furthermore baked fresh at 5 pm? Bus N. 22, last stop.

It's only since I moved in the U.S. that I got this obsession, in Italy I didn't pay much attention. The truth is that in Italy one gives bakeries for granted, just like churches: you already know that as soon as you go around the corner, you'll find either a loaf of bread or a crucifix. It's what happens here with Starbucks, a name you trust, it's so difficult not to bump into one. Artisan bakeries, instead, the ones with a real oven and a starter fermenting in the back, are a rarity. For the Average American bread is a sliced parallelepiped, chewy, wrapped in a transparent plastic bag and ready to be toasted. Crunchiness, fragrance, scent and scarpetta (Italian word for the act of dipping a piece of bread in the leftover pasta sauce) are not part of common vocabulary. This is why I'm almost moved to tears when I discover a new bakery or when I see that there are other crazy fans like me. It's because it gives me hope, and it makes me think that maybe we're still willing to reverse gear and give up for a second the commodity of ready-quick-easy-cheap in favour of something healthy and authentic. Forgive me, I'm digressing as usual...

Going back to my extremely personal map, among the milestones I'd put for sure
Arizmendi Bakery, in the Sunset district. Famous for sourdough pizza and baguettes, Arizmendi is part of a small network of cooperative businesses lead by the legendary Cheese Board in Berkeley. Reading the story of The Cheese Board is like being young and revolutionary all of a sudden, and falling in love with California again, with its ideals and its very own unconventional spirit.

The Cheese Board was born in 1967, and in the beginning it was a small specialty store that was able to sell for the very first time a variety of real imported cheeses, some cheeses cheeses, that were practically unknown at that time. Inspired by the egalitarian ideas of the Sixties and by the desire of redistributing wealth in a more equal way, few years later The Cheese Board became a cooperative where every worker is also a business partner, has equal voting rights and benefits from the same pay structure. And it kept surviving and growing throughout the years, equally supported by the faith in democracy and the passion for wholesome ingredients.

Following the same model, similar structures started spreading out in more recent years: independent bakeries, small and medium in size, operated and managed by the workers themselves, to which The Cheese Board offered the initial financing, along with the proper training and all the recipes. It's a network of cooperatives known as Association of Arizmendi Cooperatives. The name comes from Priest José Maria Arizmendiarrieta, founder of the Basque Mondragón Cooperatives, which is inspired by similar ideas of redistribution of means of productions.

Going back to our cup of tea and to the strict subject of this post, I marked Arizmendi on my map for its soft buttermilk brioches, its gold and crunchy sourdough rolls and ALL its scones, dozens of them, with different flavours depending on the season: lemon and blueberry, pumpkin, apple and walnut, chocolate, cheese. All things considered, I want to benefit the community myself, and therefore I decided to try them all, eventually. So I might as well start now. Keep a stock of buttermilk, please.


Arizmendi Scones n.1
Cornmeal and Cranberries
for approximately 6 scones

all-purpose flour 150 gr.
cornmeal 110 gr.
(I used 50 gr. cornmeal and 60 gr. fine-ground corn flour)
baking powder 1/2 tablespoon
baking soda 1/4 tablespoon
a pinch of salt
cold butter 115 gr.
sugar 65 gr. + a couple of tablespoons for dusting
dried cherries (or cranberries) 50 gr.
buttermilk 130 gr.
1 egg for brushing

In a large bowl sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add salt, sugar and cornmeal and mix well. Add the cold butter, cut in small pieces and mix until it gets to the size of small peas. Add dried cranberries (or cherries) and mix again. make a well in the center and add the buttermilk. Mix the dough briefly, just until it comes together. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
You can easily make this dough by hand, it's actually better since the secret is precisely that you don't want to mix it too much.
Gently shape the dough into balls about 2 1/4 inches in diameter, without working them too long, but trying to keep a rough, rocky surface. Place the scones on a baking sheet cover with parchment paper, brush them with the slightly beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
Place the scones in the oven at 425, immediately lower the temperature to 375 and bake them for 20/25 minutes until they are golden. Let them cool on a rack before serving.

Tartine Bakery Scones

Few weeks ago I've started running again, dreaming of New York, the sound of thousands of steps pounding Madison Avenue Bridge and the crowd crammed in Central Park, screaming at you.

One of my usual morning routes, specifically designed to avoid San Francisco hills, takes me through the Mission, and precisely at the corner between 18th Str. and Guerrero. Here is Tartine Bakery, a bakery/patisserie/cafe' that is absolutely one of the best things you can find in the city.
Those who know me know exactly how much I love this place. I truly believe that their frangipane croissant should be listed among the 10 reasons why life is worth living. French for ingredients and preparation, it's definitely American for its super-size, I think it must be around one pound, I'm not kidding. Those - rare - times I treat myself to it, I end up being sick the whole afternoon, yet I never regret it. Yes, it's THAT good!
I used to go to Tartine more often, but now that the place has become incredibly popular, one must be really persistent, if not suffering from withdrawal symptoms to be willing to wait in line over a half hour in order to grab one single croissant.
One of my little daily pleasures that I've rediscovered lately is running along Guerrero Street and start smelling that unmistakable scent of butter and cinnamon that spreads over two blocks. You cannot imagine how many times I had to resist the temptation of stopping right there and go directly to the counter to grab a brioche, all sweaty, hungry and unscrupulous.
Currant scones are a valid alternative to the infamous croissant. Buttermilk makes them very soft and the amount of sugar is really minimal, so that one can be truly deceived and think they are eating something light and with few calories. As long as you don't pay attention to the embarrassing amount of butter... yet, what kind of scones would they be otherwise? And then, everything is allowed after a 10-mile run, don't you think?

The recipe comes from their book, Tartine, which I remember buying the very same day it was published, so much I was waiting for it. By the way, I read that they're coming out with a second one, about bread this time, and I'm already on the waiting list!


Currant Scones
from Tartine Bakery
for 6 scones

all-purpose flour 340 gr.
Zante currants 50 gr.
baking powder 1/2 teaspoon
baking soda tip of a teaspoon
sugar 50 gr.
pinch of salt
butter 130 gr.
buttermilk 190 ml.
grated zest of one lemon
melted butter 3 tablespoons
large crystal sugar for sprinkling

Soak currants in warm water for about 10 minutes, drain and dry them really well. Sift flour in a large bowl with baking powder and baking soda, add sugar and salt and stir well. Cut butter (which has to be very cold, just taken out of the fridge) in small cubes, then mix them lightly with flour. You just want to barely mix them; the purpose is to get a coarse dough where butter pieces are still visible.

Add buttermilk, lemon zest and currants and gently mix with a wooden spoon. Mix until you get a firm dough. If it looks too dry, add more buttermilk, but pay attention to the butter, you must still be able to see pieces of it in the dough, this is how you get nice and flaky scones. Just like when making muffins, the secret of scones is to add wet ingredients to dry ones all at once and not to overwork the dough.

Dust the work space with flour, place the dough on it and pat it to form a rectangle approximately 5" wide and 1.5" thick. Brush the surface with melted butter and sprinkle with crystal sugar. Cut in 6 triangles, more or less of same size, place them on a buttered baking sheet and bake at 400 for about 25-35 minutes, until scones turn golden brown. You will get scones that are slightly crunchy on the outside, but very soft and buttery on the inside.
Let them cool on a rack, meanwhile get yourself a big cup of strong coffee, and enjoy the start of another beautiful day : )

I cut the original recipe in half. Scones give their best if eaten the same day. Otherwise, you can also freeze them and warm in the oven when ready to serve.