Ruby red grapefruit and cranberry muffins

Never thought I would ever hear this... but I’ve just been told that chocolate is getting boring. So I’ve been given the task of baking something that is delicious and above all, is not chocolate or vanilla.

I made a batch of orange and poppyseed muffins the other day, but thought that was a little predictable, and frankly, not that exciting. Then I came across a recipe for “essence of orange muffins” in a favourite baking book of mine. Now I had various challenges on my hands:

1.       I had no oranges on hand

2.       Didn’t have enough sugar

3.       Refer to problem stated above

A quick raid through the fridge and pantry yield the following:

1.       I have a lone ruby red grapefruit

2.       Found an (unopened) bag of dried cranberries leftover from making mince pies during Christmas

3.       Other sweet items discovered which could counter the shortage in sugar include chocolate chips, honey/golden syrup, butterscotch chips (which I got from a recent trip to the states) and sweetened condensed milk

Long story short, I decided on a grapefruit and cranberry combo. And thank goodness for the size of the grapefruit, which yield enough juice to substitute for 2-3 oranges.

And the taste? Well, I just came home from the gym so didn’t want to ruin my efforts by gorging on muffins at 10pm. I used my roommate as guinea pig, and have been assured that they are fabulous. So there.

Lesson learnt? It’s not what things are made to do, but what they can do that counts. So when you are stuck, go find substitutes. Don’t be afraid to experiment J

Ingredients:

This makes24 regular sized muffins or 8 Texas pan-sized muffins.

250g butter (melted and cooled slightly)

1 cup milk (full fat, low fat, skim, whichever you have on hand. No soy please)

½ cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice (from 1 large grapefruit)

½ cup sour cream (light, full fat, whichever)

2 large eggs

3 ½ cups plain flour

1 cup caster sugar

1 ½ tbsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Zest of 1 grapefruit

1 x 170g packet of dried cranberries

Method

Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Line 2 x 12 muffin pan with wrappers.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, juice, sour cream and eggs until combined. Whisk in the butter. You need to do this quickly, or the chill may solidify some of the butter which will cause your batter to be lumpy later on.

Shift together the dry ingredients (ie rest of the ingredients from the flour) into a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.

Fill muffin cases ¾ full. I find an ice cream scope very useful when filling muffin cases.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden around the sides, or a toothpick inserted (or other testing instrument) comes out clean.

Enjoy warm. They can be cooled and frozen, in which case, when you want to eat them, defrost at room temperature and reheat in a moderate oven for 5 minutes.

Note: I find it easier to zest citrus before its juices have been squeezed out. So plan your movements accordingly.

Recipe source: adapted from the Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather