Food Adventures of a Comfort Cook: Nov 6, 2024

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Cake Mix Muffins are Killer Good.

"Do you know the Muffin man

The Muffin man, the Muffin man

Oh, do you know the Muffin man

Who lives on Drury Lane?"

This song, or nursery rhyme, was first published in 1820, but its origin story goes back farther than that. It is based upon an urban legend about a baker in London’s West End, a poor slum region that saw little of the law. Born 1563, and died in 1612, Frederick Thomas Lynwood, aka “The Drury Lane Dicer,” would tie strings around muffins, toss them outside his shop, and lure children inside. During the years 1589 and 1598, he “diced” up 15 children, and stabbed to death 7 rival bakers with a sharpened wooden spoon. This is where the urban legend comes in, there is no documentation, no birth/death records, no court records, no written materials at all that can corroborate any of this.

The song, again, did not even come into existence until 1820, and the last line about Drury Lane was originally Blueberry Lane. There are several stories about why the line was changed, so this makes it an urban legend unto itself. Of course, this makes another nursery rhyme, with rather dubious connotations, sung to, and by, children.

When we think of muffins, it us usually the denser than a cupcake type of cake, and with a paper wrapper around its bottom half. However, muffins can be traced back to 10^th century Wales, when they were made from a yeast-leavened baked cake called "bara mean". The word muffin originates from the French word moufflet, which means "soft bread". This soft bread was cheap to make, and buy, and was later on given a more genteel name, crumpet.

In America, we equate this muffin type to the most popular brand known, Thomas’ English Muffins. During the colonization of North America’s east coast, English immigrants brought many of their traditional recipes with them. It was in 1874 that Samuel Bath Thomas created his “toaster crumpet” while working in a New York City bakery. The name was changed as its popularity grew, and became a household breakfast item.

So, how did the crumpet become a type of cake? It was later on in the 19^th century that bakeries, and baking companies, experimented with the muffin recipe to create a sweeter baked good. In the 1920s, the first muffin mix was created by Mr. McCollum of New Brunswick, NJ. By the 1950s, muffin mixes were made available, to local market and supermarket shelves, for at home use.

A basic muffin mix is a blank canvas; the pantry is a paint palette; your imagination creates the final portrait of flavors and textures. Adding in extracts, nuts, chips (chocolate, toffee, cinnamon) dried or fresh fruits, even coconut flakes, provides an endless possibility of variety.

Basic Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:

¾ cup warmed milk (not hot or scalding)

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup sugar or equivalent sugar substitute

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin pan for 12, or 2 pans for 6, with paper liners; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, butter, and eggs together until well combined. Note: if adding a liquid extract, this is where it should be added.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Add the flour mixture and stir with a spatula until combined. Note: if adding in nuts, chips, etc., this is where it should be carefully added, as to not over mix.

Use a 2 and ¼-inch wide ice cream scoop to fill each paper liner 2/3s full of the batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out cleanly. Note: a few moist crumbs attached is alright as well. Transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 12.

Ah, but I have discovered a semi-homemade way to make muffins, using store bought cake mix and a little imagination, Cake Mix Muffins.

Here is the basic recipe…

Basic Cake Mix into Muffins

Ingredients:

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

2 large eggs

1 (15.25 oz.) box cake mix (only have 13.25 box, then add ¼ cup flour)

1 cup add-ins (chocolate chips, nuts, raisins, berries)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin tin(s) with paper liners.

Add the milk, oil and eggs to a large mixing bowl. Stir until well combined.

Add the cake mix and mix until just combined; do not overmix (the mixture may still look a little lumpy). Fold in add-ins.

Fill the muffin tins about 2/3 of the way full. Sprinkle extra add-ins over top, if desired.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden and toothpick comes out of center cleanly.

Cool the muffins in the tin for 5 minutes, before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 12.

Notes:

Muffins are denser than cupcakes, so liquid needs to be reduced. For high altitude, adding extra flour will not be necessary.

Basically, any flavor of cake mix can be used, but white and vanilla mixes are more versatile. The main difference between white cake and vanilla cake is the presence of vanilla extract. White cake is a plain cake with no additional flavors or extracts, while vanilla cake is infused with the flavor of vanilla. White cake typically uses all egg whites, no yolks. This means less fat and more sponginess. Vanilla cake uses the entire egg which gives a richer texture.

Armed with this basic information, I created the most scrumptious Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip muffins. The cinnamon chips are simply dreamy; pumpkin and cinnamon…’tis the season!